Match Day 1 – 03/05/2008

C’s

The first official game of the 'C' grade season saw FC Adelaide up against Sturt Marion on a beautiful sunny day for football. Our boys weren't sure whether we were playing Sturt Marion or the 36ers with the visiting squad carrying plenty of tall timber.

From the outset it was obvious that we were going to have to raise our game in order to get a result, with Sturt Marion dominating early possession.

The use of long balls was being comfortably dealt with by the Marion defence as our boys struggled to get into the game. Defensively we were looking solid with the inclusion of Benny “Baby Bird” Ward superbly marshalling the troops at the back and Peter Nicou playing his first match in goals. As a result Sturt Marion was mostly confined to speculative efforts from outside the box.

The defence cracked on the half hour mark however when a lapse in concentration allowed Marion to score from a fairly innocuous situation. The off-side flag was raised but the Ref didn't agree much to the disappointment of the home supporters, 1-0 to Marion.

To the boy’s credit, they didn't wallow in self pity, and instead they raised their game superbly. Within 10 mins, after a turnover in midfield, Fernando combined well with Lingam to feed the ball to Adam who shook off a defender and coolly slotted home into the bottom corner to make it 1-1. That's how it stayed until half time.

The second half saw a real arm wrestle with both sides missing some good chances. As the half wore on the tall timber of Sturt Marion began to tire, and Adelaide began to control proceedings. Benny Bird saw a sharp header flash just over the bar in a rare foray forward, while Adam perhaps should have done better with an effort late on when the keeper was well off his line. But the winner never came and a draw was probably a fair result.

Overall the team played probably their best game so far, if they can maintain that standard throughout the year it will be a very successful season.

By Leigh McGillick