Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly round-up of all the action
from the South Eastern Metro league. Well the bit that we're involved in
anyway. So where did we find ourselves this week? Down at Mentone Grammar
school, that's where, and being a private school they had all the facilities
- 2 footie grounds, half a dozen soccer pitches and a jolly hockey sticks
pitch as well. The one allocated to us was about the same size as an indoor
pitch, so the players less inclined to run would enjoy a nice easy
afternoon. After the week off last week, would the afternoon be easy or not?
You can read on to find out, or if you've seen the score above you may chose
to skip the gory details.

Weather ...  A fleeting glimpse of the sun, a brief sprinkling of a passing
shower and only the colour of a rainbow to brighten up an otherwise bland
weather day.
Pitch ... Narrow. Very narrow. In fact so narrow, we played 2,2,2,2,2
Crowd ... 15 or so to begin with, increasing to 50 when the jolly hockey
sticks game finished.
Canteen ... well done to the jolly hockey sticks club for providing one.

Special note ... today's special note is a personal one. I met Mr Tony
Dunkerley, president of the FFV and head honcho. It was nice of him to stop
a say hello and for him to say that he admired our club and held us in high
regard. He also hoped that we wouldn't win by too many today, since his son
played for our opposition. Nice.

The reserves as usual got the day underway and from the start it was
clear they were going to have their work cut out, to break down a formidable
looking home team. There were a couple of changes to the side this week, as
is the case these days. Newcomer Marty joining the club from Boroondara,
joined Mansh in the middle of the park. Sean was back in the line-up after
his trip back to England to watch Reading lose, taking station alongside
Dan, Pete S and Con K in the backline. Muzz and Gilly were the other
midfield operators and Jack D and Micky P were tasked with trying to
penetrate the tough and uncompromising home defence. Nick A was in goal for
the second game running and Simon had Stevie F, Dean and Lachlan at his
disposal on the subs bench.

       Early signs in the game looked promising, as the Waverley boys did
most of the attacking. Most of the attacks petered out though as the school
old boys team was solid in defence. Chances were few and far between, but
Jack D was doing his best to try and break the shackles. Missing Nick up
front, Micky P looked a bit lost at times, but again, it was the discipline
of the home defence that was making the difference.

       At the other end, Dan and the boys didn't have much to do except
support the boys in front of them. In all honesty the game never really got
going with neither side threatening the scoreboard.
       The second half brought pretty much the same, but the visitors
nearly got their noses in front. A ball into the box found Jack D clear and
unmarked on the edge of the 6 yard box. With the whole goal to pick his spot
from, he pushed his shot wide. A few moments later, Micky P hit the post and
this was about as close as either side came to grabbing the win. However we
mustn't forget the golden opportunity that also fell to Lachlan. He headed
over from a corner with his first touch of the game, so it was unlucky
Lochie. He could have made a name for himself. If he had a girlfriend called
Kylie, he would be so lucky.

       Performers on the day were Sean, who slotted well into left back,
Jack D and Con K, who continues to be a rock in the right back slot. Other
than that, not a lot to write home about. Away from home and come back with
a point would be the minimum requirement, so not bad. On the down side, and
it had to happen sooner or later, that's the first game the reserves have to
failed to score in 16 or so games.

Right, in between the games we got an opportunity to see what was happening
in the jolly hockey sticks game on the adjacent pitch. Lots of yelling and
clashing of jolly hockey sticks. Good to see it was a mixed game - fat guys
and thin guys, old guys and young guys plus a girl. All I can say is that it
looked like a running golf game. All good fun though and we were glad of
their canteen.

After the weekend off last week, the senior boys were hoping they
wouldn't lose any of the momentum built up over the previous 4 or 5 rounds.
As you will already see from the score, the wheels came off big time. The
line-up was a familiar one, with the only change on the bench. New recruit
Marty took his place alongside Christian, Avish, Con and Nick, the
sub-keeper.

       The lads started the game well and the early chances fell the
visitors way. Alex M and Anthony have been building up a great understanding
this season and a lot of the good attacking stuff came down the left hand
side. Alex cracked a shot wide and Anthony couldn't quite get on a cross,
again from Alex.
       The home side were obviously a bit worried about our attacking
threat and played with 5 at the back throughout. They were lucky to keep
them all on the park though, as some of the late tackles warranted a couple
of cards. The ref couldn't even be bothered to talk to the players involved
though. This uncompromising tactic paid off as the Waverley boys couldn't
make the early domination count. Anthony had a couple of opportunities from
free-kicks but some wayward shooting didn't really trouble the keeper.

       It became clear that this was going to be one of those days, and we
were starting to think maybe a 0-0 wouldn't be too bad a result. But as is
the way, when things are not going to plan or your way, the opposition take
their chance. A goal, totally against the run of play, got the Old
Mintoenails in front. This was followed by a second right on the stroke of
half time.

       The boys still had a full 45 minutes to get back into the game, but
a goal within minutes of the restart effectively killed off the game. A
loose ball in midfield was knocked through and the bearded forward slotted
home his team's third. Our lads huffed and puffed but there was no spark or
cohesion. Balls missed their targets, tackles were missed as were aerial
challenges.

       The home side grabbed a fourth from a corner. Their lighthouse of a
centre half rose unchallenged in the box and headed home under Alistair's
damaged wing. This was the cue for Al to be replaced in goal by Nick.
Hopefully Al's injury isn't long lasting and he's back, fully repaired next
week. Nick for his part didn't do anything wrong, but was left helpless as
the old school boys hammered in the final nail in the coffin, with a long
range effort. The best goal of the game probably but some say it was a cross
that went wrong.

       Not a good day and not too many positives. We suppose losing one
game 5-0, is better than losing 5 games 1-0. Probably good that collectively
everyone had a poor game, with a couple of exceptions. Dean was solid as
ever at the back and Alex was full of running for the whole game down the
left. Other than that, it was best that the game is forgotten quickly and we
all move on at pace to next week. Back on home turf on a bigger pitch we
should get back on track. Roll on next week and we'll see you all at
wherever our home pitch is.