Apologies everyone for the delay this week, but we had a bad attack
of "can't be bovvered". Seriously though, we've been a bit busy so you've
had to wait for your verbal footie fix. This week we were scheduled to play
away again, but due to Ringwood's pitch being worse than my back garden, we
swapped the game to our ground at Lum Road. As you can see from the seniors
result the venue is to be re-named Glum Reserve. After three wins on the
spin, the senior boys had been looking to continue on their march to the top
of the ladder, but Ringwood had other idea's. The reserves squad did manage
to keep the spirits up, as they took top spot with the three points. All the
details, accurate or otherwise, can be found as you scroll down.....

Weather ...  A beautiful mid-winters day. Thermometer even climbed into
double figures.
Pitch ... An artificial cricket pitch surrounded by a proper football pitch
Crowd ... 32.6, so all of us.
Canteen ... once the barbeque was fixed, everything was fine, fine, fine.

Special note ... none to speak of, but there might be some next week. So
watch this space.

Righto, here we go. Numbers were thin on the ground this week, so in came
the ever-enthusiastic U18's. Joining the regulars we had Alex V, Erick
Bakhaazi, Christian, Vassill and Jack Duffield. The rest of the team had a
solid look - Al in goal, Dan, Gilly, Sean, Muzz, Micky P, Lloydy, Mansh and
Theo.

Ringwood as always, comes with a reputation of being a hard and
uncompromising side and the opening minutes of the game gave us plenty of
evidence that the reputation was well-founded. Theo found himself on the
receiving end of a couple of tasty challenges. The ref had his work cut-out
to keep a lid on some of the tough tackling as the line was being crossed.
The Glen Waverley boys stood up to the challenges and soon took control.

Using the width well, Christian created a couple of early chances. His radar
still needs a bit of adjustment as he couldn't quite find the target. Sean
Weston was also enjoying a bit of space on the right and one delightful ball
into the box found Christian unmarked. He then blasted his shot straight at
a grateful keeper. Michael Pierce is now hot on the heels of Anthony for the
golden boot award and he too squandered a couple of chances after being put
clean through.

With Theo and Muzz now controlling the middle of the park, the youngsters
were able to play with a little freedom. Alex Vaudeau took the opportunity
to showcase some of his skills. One particular turn down near our own goal
line left the two Ringwood players chasing shadows. Plenty of "ooh"s and
"ahh's" and great to see. Not something we'd advise so close to our line
though, but what the hell. It looked good.

Anyway, the game finally got the goal it deserved and it came from an
unlikely source - the Ringwood centre back. A ball played over the top for
one of our whippets to chase was gently lobbed over the visiting keeper by
the hapless centre back. A great finish, top quality and worth the entrance
money.

(Short interlude, opening presents cos it's my birthday)

One-nil and the flood gates opened, sort of. Two minutes later and it was
two-nil, courtesy of "Ping-em-in" Pierce. He found the back of the net,
finishing off a great move down the left. Gilly found Christian in space who
then attacked the box, beating one player and squaring the ball for Michael
to finish with aplomb. Heads dropped in the Ringwood side and Christian made
their day go from bad to worse, by crashing in a 20 yard shot into the far
corner to make it 3 zip.

The lads up front were enjoying themselves by now, but the visiting keeper
was keeping his side in the game with a number of fine saves. But with the
Waverley boys going in at halftime three goals to the good, the game was
pretty much won.

Ringwood came out in the second half all guns blazing and started to win
most of the second balls and a few more 50/50's. This pressure had our lads
on the back foot and it came as no surprise when they pulled one back. A
scrappy goal but it gave Simon's boys a wake up call. But the lads held firm
and the introduction of Erick, Jack and Mansh gave the boys some impetus.
Ringwood spent a lot of energy in the first 20 minutes of the half and could
find no answer to the tenacity of the youngsters. Erick especially chased
down lost causes and put pressure on defenders continuously. He should have
capped off a sparkling 25 minutes with a goal, but couldn't quite get the
direction right, after taking the ball off the toes of a defender.

Whilst the visitors had their moments, it was the boys in green who had the
last laugh. The ref recorded the goal as an own-goal, second of the game,
but we'll let Theo take the credit and the goal. He rifled in a free-kick
from outside the box, which cannoned in off the head of a defender. Theo
will be happy, not because he's got the goal, but because we actually saw
it!

Three points in the bag, and with Harrisfield losing, Glen Waverley jumped
to top spot in the reserves ladder. Top effort boys against one of the
tougher teams in the league. Good to see, especially with the contribution
from the young lads. Performers on the day? Sean W had a good game as did
Alex V, Muzz and Lloydy. Christian is also starting to get some consistency,
a credit to him, but also to Simon for getting the best of the boys.

Now to taste the delights of the barbeque and slam down a swift half before
the seniors take to the field.

Three words can best describe today's seniors match - robust, confusing and
scrappy.

The visitors can well take out the first tag - robust, since some of the
challenges certainly crossed the boundaries on a few occasions. The referee
definitely scores the confusing moniker. How can a last man challenge in the
box which attracts a penalty not warrant a red card? The first of many
puzzling decisions. Finally the game itself, best described as scrappy.

No doubt Ringwood will be satisfied with the win and the three points, and
so they should, they battled hard for it. However there's playing football
and there's playing football. Not sure if there was too much of either. At
one point there were four or five headers clearances then back in again
where the ball never saw the ground. Hence the scrappy tag. The Waverley
boys struggled to get any rhythm in the game. Ringwood played a high line
and Anthony was caught offside more than once as he tried to break the
shackles. Anthony was returning after suspension and was partnered up front
by Nick M. Both were finding space hard to come by, but on the 29th minute,
Anthony finally got free. Heading straight to goal, he was felled by a last
ditch challenge, just inside the box. Penalty was the easy decision, but to
let the offending player off without a card was perplexing - too early in
the game was the call. Anthony stepped up to take the kick, scoring off the
rebound as the keeper kept out his first effort.

The first half had not too much more to write home about except a couple of
half chances that fell to both sides without really troubling either keeper.
Dean, Micky V, Sammy and Petey in the backline never really looked like
being breached and it would need something special if Ringwood were to get
back in the game.

This is precisely what happened in the 60th minute. A cross field ball found
their attacker with his back to goal on the edge of the box. He turned Petey
and shot into the far corner past the outstretched arm of Nick. From then on
Ringwood were in the ascendancy and looked likely to take the points, but
the Waverley boys fought hard. In the end though the visitors did snatch the
win, from the penalty spot. It was harsh as Sammy made what looked like a
great saving tackle. But the ref left us scratching our heads again, and of
course, he had no option but to leave his cards in his pocket. Nick was
unlucky as he guessed the right way and got his hand to it. The game
finished a few moments later much to the visitors delight - they obviously
don't win many.

A tough day at the office for Hoppy and the boys. A draw would have been a
fair result on reflection, but Ringwood took the bikkies on the day.

Performers today had to be Petey and Dean who were outstanding, ably
supported by Micky. Dean has got the battle scars to prove it too - chipped
teeth, fat lip, bruised shins etc.

Not a good feeling to lose, but might just be a reminder that if we are
going to finish in the top three, we need to put in just a little more. A
huge month ahead with visits to the top two sides looming on the horizon. No
need to stress the importance, but hard work over the next couple of weeks
should get us the rewards we deserve. Roll on Saturday when the Glen
Waverley cyclone challenges the Harrisfield Hurricane.

See you all at Keysie for the big match.