First game of the season on home turf and it was a very jet-lagged
president, his wife and a sizeable crowd, who witnessed a fine demolition
job on old Halley Berry. A good weekend to come back, with both teams in
fine form and a nice sunny day to make it all the more enjoyable. Satisfy
your curiosity as to the detail by reading on...

Weather ... Purely Belter. Lovely Autumnal afternoon.
Pitch ... Larpent in all it's glory, never looked better.
Crowd ... A very healthy 40 or 50, except for the bloke at the end who
coughed a lot. He wasn't so healthy.

An entertaining game played largely in good spirit, with the home side
running out clear winners. The visitors started brightly enough and for 10
or 15 minutes looked to be the stronger of the two teams. However the young
and spritely lads from the Glen eventually took control, as the visitors
tired, and started creating the greater chances. In my jetlagged haze I seem
to remember the reserves should have scored at least 8 or 9 goals, but had
to be satisfied with the 4 that are recorded on the score sheet. All three
scorers each grabbed their first goals for the reserves. Gilly's came from 2
tap-ins which mask, but capped off, the excellent build up play. Sam Carl
grabbed the third, proving his promotion from the U18's was warranted. The
most spectacular goal of the game, however, came off the boot of Nick M,
with a lovely curling long range shot into the top corner.
Another solid performance from the reserves, played under the watchful gaze
of coach Simon. Special mentions go to the U18 players promoted to the
reserves and getting some much valued experience at the senior level. So
well done Sean in goal, Sam and Daniel. Unfortunately, Daniel didn’t get any
game time, but was assured that he'll be given ample opportunities during
the season. It's encouraging to see that he enjoyed the experience
nonetheless and we look forward to seeing him show us what he can do on the
pitch in the coming weeks.

Maybe the visitors might have been better off if they sent us Halley Berry,
because the team that did turn up didn't present the local boys with too
many headaches. As you can see the boys in green ran out comfortable 5-0
winners, over a solid, but ultimately ineffective Old Haileybury side. The
visitors featured a number of experienced ex-State league players, but Glen
Waverley didn’t seem to care much for past reputations and took a solid grip
on the game.

It took an early own goal to get Glen Waverley off to a good start. The
visitors then had a couple of chances, but Alistair was equal to everything
thrown at him. Ozzie doubled the lead with a close range tap in following
some good build up play. A mobile midfield with a dynamic Prashan on the
right and Alex Martin on the left are proving an excellent combination and
giving some much needed service to the front men. The excitement really took
off in the second half. Old Haileybury were dragging themselves back into
the match, and were awarded a dubious free-kick just outside the box (they
are all dubious aren’t they?). They scored with a ripper free kick, but the
goal was disallowed, since it was indirect apparently. The Ref actually gave
the goal but the linesman flagged and it was disallowed, even though pretty
much everyone watching thought our keeper got a touch. For once, we seem to
be getting the breaks. Remember some of the decisions against us last
season? Oh well, karma I suppose. Anyway, the visitors basically cracked it
and pressed the self-destruct button. They had a player sent off for abusing
the referee and spent the rest of the game arguing with themselves and
anyone else who came within earshot. Taking advantage the Glen Waverley boys
finished the game off in style with
Prashan grabbing a brace and Anthony rounding off the scoring for the day.

Hoppy was happy ... again. We all were. 6 points out of 6 and top of the
ladder for both sides in the same weekend can't be bad. It's early days, but
this is just the start we were after. Now let's keep up the mome.......
sorry, I felt a cliché coming on. One game at a time? Over the moon? Take
your pick.
Let's say we're happy with the start, and we can't wait for next week. It's
bloody good fun when you're winning, isn’t it.