Another action packed weekend rolled into view as we loaded up our cars for
the short journey down Springvale Road to Keysborough. A quick peek at the
ladder gave us an idea that Keysborough had a couple of decent sides, so the
challenge would be there for both teams. However the word on the street was
it was their chips that were "pritty" good, so we had that to look forward
to. Did we meet the challenge on the pitch and did their chips match up to
their legendary status? Lets read on to find out ...
Round 9 v Keysborough
Venue ... Coomoora Reserve (a new venue for us. Great pitch, limited
ambience)
Weather ... Yes, we had some weather. Dry, with a gusting wind blowing
across the pitch, giving us a hint that winter is just around the corner.
Reserves
Result ... 2-3
(Halftime score ... 0-0)
Scorers ... Yure, Matt Soon
Four wins and four draws in the first eight games of the season had our lads
brim-full of confidence. They were looking to maintain their unbeaten run,
but really had no clue as to the quality of the opposition. Glen Waverley
again had a couple of changes to the starting line-up with Justin being
given a run up front and Sean Weragoda dropping into a more accustomed left
back. Other than that the side looked fairly familiar, and started the game
in confident fashion. In fact for much of the game the lads played some
attractive soccer although tended to play down the middle rather than
utilising the space out wide.
A number of chances fell to both sides during the first half, but Steve
Samelis, who was having a fine game pulled off a couple of majestic saves.
Justin, Yureshan and Murray all missed good opportunities at the other end
and it was a mystery how the teams went into the break scoreless. The home
side were restricted to long range efforts, but some class balls through the
middle from Dan, Sean and Prashan gave our forwards a number of chances.
Make chances and you are always in with a chance, so surely it would only be
a matter of time before the scoreboard would spring into life. With Bill G
replacing Murray at halftime and a little bit of a shuffle, the Larpent lads
again showed plenty of enterprise. (So where was Captain Kirk? Beamed up I
suppose.) Pushing on, a cross-field ball from Prashan caused chaos in the
home side's 6 yard box. Yureshan was there to gently knock in a rebound to
grab a well-deserved lead.
Another 10 minutes of domination and the score was doubled. Matty Soon, with
virtually his first touch of the ball after coming on for Theo G, again
followed in on a defensive muddle to knock in our second. In doing so Matt
became our 10th different scorer of the season. Not bad considering, we've
only scored 16 in total, but good to see the goals being shared around.
Anyway, 20 minutes to go and the lads were looking good and cruising.
Another change, this time Josh being replaced by Sean Weston. All the
changes seemed to unsettle the visitors and things started to unravel
quickly.
The lads conceded an own goal in bizarre circumstance and this lifted
Keysborough spirits and intensity. Credit to them as they clawed their way
back into the game. Some slack marking in the backline allowed the home team
2 further opportunities which they grabbed with both hands. There was no way
back as the unbeaten run finally came to a grinding halt. Hard to take, but
it had to come sometime. The lesson learned was a hard one in that the game
is never over til it's over, even when 2-0 up. On the day, the home side
deserved to win because they never gave up. On another day our lads will
play a lot worse and come away with 3 points.
Unlucky boys, pick yourselves up and look forward to getting even next time
round. Class performances again from Yureshan, who gets better week by week,
and Prashan. Also Steve Samelis for a top effort in goal.
Seniors
Result ... 2-3
(Halftime score ... 0-0)
Scorers ... Kon, Nanos
The sun finally poked it's face out as Steve lead his merry men out onto the
park. It had been a few weeks since the seniors had tasted victory and were
hoping today would be the turning point. Steve had changed a few things
around to try and find that elusive winning combination. Nanos was given the
sweepers role and Micky V was pushed up into the middle to give the midfield
some mobility. Steve V joined Tony up front, but the rest of the side had a
familiar look. Sav and Kon in the midfield, Alistair keeping and Julian with
the ever-dependable Ian in the backline.
As with the reserves in the first game, the seniors looked good for long
patches and created enough early chances. However our goal scoring ability
has gone the same way as Harold Holt on a swimming trip - it's gone missing.
Using Alex on the left and Matey on the right, there was plenty of width and
a lot of good balls into the box were not finished off. The first half was
pretty much one-way traffic, but we just couldn't take advantage. Halftime
came and went without troubling the scorers. All to play for in the second
half.
The home side gradually came back into the game, and our defence started to
get stretched. Alex and Matey spent a fair amount of time helping Julian and
Ian. In fact Matey put in last ditch clearances on at least 2 occasions.
Finally though the breakthrough came in unlikely circumstances. A hopeful
ball into the box was not cleared properly and Kon was there to knock the
ball in from all of 1.5m off his knee. This was Kon's first of the season
and in doing so became the club's 18th different scorer for the season.
So all we had to do was hold onto the lead. Could we do this? No, we
couldn't. It wouldn't be Glen Waverley without the usual "falling in a hole"
impersonation. For all of the control we had in the game, Keysborough took
advantage of any mistakes, and on three occasions managed to find the back
of the net. From 1-0 up to 1-3 down and the stuffing was knocked out of the
lads. Not even the introduction of Greg, Dean and Josh could make an
impression on the game, although Nanos did manage to pull one back late on.
Josh by the way was making his debut for the seniors and was given a parting
gift of a suspected broken hand. The result of a friendly stomp.
Although we had the last word on the scoreboard, it was Keysborough who took
the three points. Not totally deserved, but at this level we are finding out
how hard it is to earn the points. Still we're learning all the while and
we'll be better for the experience. As for the home team supporter who
thought he'd have the last word. Sorry mate that's reserved for me.
Enjoy the break boys and let's get back to winning ways against St Trinian's
Grammarians or whoever they are.
the short journey down Springvale Road to Keysborough. A quick peek at the
ladder gave us an idea that Keysborough had a couple of decent sides, so the
challenge would be there for both teams. However the word on the street was
it was their chips that were "pritty" good, so we had that to look forward
to. Did we meet the challenge on the pitch and did their chips match up to
their legendary status? Lets read on to find out ...
Round 9 v Keysborough
Venue ... Coomoora Reserve (a new venue for us. Great pitch, limited
ambience)
Weather ... Yes, we had some weather. Dry, with a gusting wind blowing
across the pitch, giving us a hint that winter is just around the corner.
Reserves
Result ... 2-3
(Halftime score ... 0-0)
Scorers ... Yure, Matt Soon
Four wins and four draws in the first eight games of the season had our lads
brim-full of confidence. They were looking to maintain their unbeaten run,
but really had no clue as to the quality of the opposition. Glen Waverley
again had a couple of changes to the starting line-up with Justin being
given a run up front and Sean Weragoda dropping into a more accustomed left
back. Other than that the side looked fairly familiar, and started the game
in confident fashion. In fact for much of the game the lads played some
attractive soccer although tended to play down the middle rather than
utilising the space out wide.
A number of chances fell to both sides during the first half, but Steve
Samelis, who was having a fine game pulled off a couple of majestic saves.
Justin, Yureshan and Murray all missed good opportunities at the other end
and it was a mystery how the teams went into the break scoreless. The home
side were restricted to long range efforts, but some class balls through the
middle from Dan, Sean and Prashan gave our forwards a number of chances.
Make chances and you are always in with a chance, so surely it would only be
a matter of time before the scoreboard would spring into life. With Bill G
replacing Murray at halftime and a little bit of a shuffle, the Larpent lads
again showed plenty of enterprise. (So where was Captain Kirk? Beamed up I
suppose.) Pushing on, a cross-field ball from Prashan caused chaos in the
home side's 6 yard box. Yureshan was there to gently knock in a rebound to
grab a well-deserved lead.
Another 10 minutes of domination and the score was doubled. Matty Soon, with
virtually his first touch of the ball after coming on for Theo G, again
followed in on a defensive muddle to knock in our second. In doing so Matt
became our 10th different scorer of the season. Not bad considering, we've
only scored 16 in total, but good to see the goals being shared around.
Anyway, 20 minutes to go and the lads were looking good and cruising.
Another change, this time Josh being replaced by Sean Weston. All the
changes seemed to unsettle the visitors and things started to unravel
quickly.
The lads conceded an own goal in bizarre circumstance and this lifted
Keysborough spirits and intensity. Credit to them as they clawed their way
back into the game. Some slack marking in the backline allowed the home team
2 further opportunities which they grabbed with both hands. There was no way
back as the unbeaten run finally came to a grinding halt. Hard to take, but
it had to come sometime. The lesson learned was a hard one in that the game
is never over til it's over, even when 2-0 up. On the day, the home side
deserved to win because they never gave up. On another day our lads will
play a lot worse and come away with 3 points.
Unlucky boys, pick yourselves up and look forward to getting even next time
round. Class performances again from Yureshan, who gets better week by week,
and Prashan. Also Steve Samelis for a top effort in goal.
Seniors
Result ... 2-3
(Halftime score ... 0-0)
Scorers ... Kon, Nanos
The sun finally poked it's face out as Steve lead his merry men out onto the
park. It had been a few weeks since the seniors had tasted victory and were
hoping today would be the turning point. Steve had changed a few things
around to try and find that elusive winning combination. Nanos was given the
sweepers role and Micky V was pushed up into the middle to give the midfield
some mobility. Steve V joined Tony up front, but the rest of the side had a
familiar look. Sav and Kon in the midfield, Alistair keeping and Julian with
the ever-dependable Ian in the backline.
As with the reserves in the first game, the seniors looked good for long
patches and created enough early chances. However our goal scoring ability
has gone the same way as Harold Holt on a swimming trip - it's gone missing.
Using Alex on the left and Matey on the right, there was plenty of width and
a lot of good balls into the box were not finished off. The first half was
pretty much one-way traffic, but we just couldn't take advantage. Halftime
came and went without troubling the scorers. All to play for in the second
half.
The home side gradually came back into the game, and our defence started to
get stretched. Alex and Matey spent a fair amount of time helping Julian and
Ian. In fact Matey put in last ditch clearances on at least 2 occasions.
Finally though the breakthrough came in unlikely circumstances. A hopeful
ball into the box was not cleared properly and Kon was there to knock the
ball in from all of 1.5m off his knee. This was Kon's first of the season
and in doing so became the club's 18th different scorer for the season.
So all we had to do was hold onto the lead. Could we do this? No, we
couldn't. It wouldn't be Glen Waverley without the usual "falling in a hole"
impersonation. For all of the control we had in the game, Keysborough took
advantage of any mistakes, and on three occasions managed to find the back
of the net. From 1-0 up to 1-3 down and the stuffing was knocked out of the
lads. Not even the introduction of Greg, Dean and Josh could make an
impression on the game, although Nanos did manage to pull one back late on.
Josh by the way was making his debut for the seniors and was given a parting
gift of a suspected broken hand. The result of a friendly stomp.
Although we had the last word on the scoreboard, it was Keysborough who took
the three points. Not totally deserved, but at this level we are finding out
how hard it is to earn the points. Still we're learning all the while and
we'll be better for the experience. As for the home team supporter who
thought he'd have the last word. Sorry mate that's reserved for me.
Enjoy the break boys and let's get back to winning ways against St Trinian's
Grammarians or whoever they are.