Match Day 5 – 31/05/2008 – C’s

JUN

11

The latest round of the C Grade season saw FC Adelaide playing away in the land of the giant’s, Flinders University. The usually boggy pitch was in very good condition after a warm autumn period which everyone was happy to see. Confidence was high amongst the team with us beginning this game at the top of the table. Flinders have traditionally been a bit of a bogey team for FC Adelaide, so we were not taking them lightly.

The game got off to the worst possible start, with Flinders going 1-0 up after some poor defending from the FC Adelaide back four. It all looked a little too easy as Flinders caught our boys napping, there was little Keg could do as he found himself 1 on 1 with the Flinders striker who calmly dispatched the ball into the back of the net from close range. 1-0 down after just a few minutes.

The goal was a bit of a wakeup call. It didn’t take long for FC Adelaide to regain their composure and after 10 minutes we were rewarded with an indirect free kick in the box after the Flinders keeper attempted to pick up a back-pass. Barry ‘the Bull’ laid it off for ‘Baby Bird’ who thumped the ball through the sea of Flinders defenders into the back of the net, 1-1.

We began to hit our straps after the first goal with our wide players getting more involved in the game. We looked good going forward with ‘Pipa’ and ‘El Jefe’ feeding ‘the Flash’ and ‘the Great Wall’ down the flanks. The Flash almost made it 2-1 on 20 minutes, with his effort flashing just wide of the left hand upright. ‘The Great Wall’ was the architect of FC Adelaide’s second goal, after once again providing one of his trademark runs down the left of midfield. He skillfully evaded 2 defenders in a mazy run, before providing a great pass back to ‘Baby Bird’ on the edge of the box. Baby bird unselfishly laid off to ‘the Bull’ who opened his C grade account with a bullet into the bottom corner. It was champagne football, as we took a deserved 2-1 lead.

Just as we appeared to be dominating the match, ‘the Flash’ chimed in with a cameo in defense that almost spelled disaster. Flinders were pressing for their second goal and had built up some good pressure, with the ball in dispute the Flash attempted a clearing header which headed straight towards the opposition goal. To the relief of all concerned it came back off the crossbar and the defense managed to clear it, clanger of the year narrowly averted.

The breathing space we craved came on 35 mins. After a good build up through the midfield, the ball fell to the Bull who launched a speculative long range effort which the Flinders keeper somehow let slip and dribble in for our 3rd. The Bull was causing all sorts of problems up front for Flinders who responded with some close attention from their defense. Half time ended an exciting first half.

As the second half got under way, Michael Evangelou (RM) and ‘Country boy’ Murphy (RB) replaced the Flash and ‘Lethal’ Cosma who had worked tirelessly through the first half. A real arm wrestle began to take place with neither side really dominating proceedings.

After 60 minutes we were forced into a change when ‘El Jefe’ came off after a bruised groin began to give him some problems. ‘Baby Bird’ was shifted from up front into defensive midfield, as Carlos ‘the Wedding Singer’ Sorrenti replaced him up front. Unfortunately for Carlos he was singing the blues shortly after when his notoriously suspect hamstring gave up on him again, this time on the other leg! The injuries forced some structural changes with Petros ‘the enforcer’ moving out to the left of midfield and ‘the Great Wall’ going up front towards the end of the game.

John Samaras was controlling things at the back, with Zach getting involved in plenty of the game. We didn’t really look like conceding a second goal which was very pleasing.

We should have certainly scored a fourth however after some good play by the Great Wall left ‘the Bull’ in a fantastic position to score his hat-trick. In what can only be described as a leading contender for ‘miss of the year’, the Bull did everything right as he found himself 1 on 1 with the keeper, he perhaps had too much time to think about where to put it from no more than 5 yards. It was a very John Terry-esque effort as he pushed it wide of the goal much to everyone’s disbelief.

Thankfully we weren’t made to pay, with the second half grinding out with no further goals to seal a comfortable 3-1 victory. It was a good win, but the real test is coming up in the next few weeks.

By Leigh McGillick