Barbecue Day! Free Ladies! South Melbourne take on AIS on Assimilated Pagan Festival Monday

I think it's fairly safe to say that most people will turning up for the free BBQ, a select few because it's 'ladies day', and everyone else, probably parents of the AIS lads.

Last time they met:
Round 9, 2007 at Lakeside Stadium

Australian Institute of Sport 1 South Melbourne 2

South were fortunate to take all three points from this match. They scored first, but the visitors leveled within a minute. South managed to sneak a second in before the break, and after that, despite outrunning, outplaying and outlasting the 'away' team, the AIS couldn't put the ball in the back of the net, and therefore the goddess Tyche smiled on Hellas for once. The Institute had a highly competent team on the park, but ultimately lacked players with the x-factor.

Preview
The AIS are one of the better teams thus far. Three wins, a draw, and another three points here will send them top of the table. It seems they're actually taking the competition seriously this time around, not chopping and changing their squad week by week. But we are only five rounds into it, so there's time to go back to old ways. But really, what do the AIS offer Victorian football? High costs to host them since they bring zero fans. High costs to travel to Canberra to play them. Taking the spot of a local team. A team which does not have the same costs of facilities or player payments, has different transfer rules, and which should realistically be playing in the new A-League Youth, er, league, and leaving us alone to play with our stupid wog hobby horses.

As for South, they need to start winning games. That's about it. You want more in depth? Buy Neos Kosmos. Better yet, buy The Age, that great sporting paper, which would never, ever cover 2nd tier sport, unless it was aussie rules, in which case let's go down all the way to whatever level of the Under The Table Ammos or Bumpkin River District League you can find results on. Anything so you-know-who won't have to get up off the couch and report on something other than what some third rate aussie player had for breakfast before taking his position on the pine for some division 50 club in Engerlund. And let's keep those wire services going as a financial concern with crusty day old results from Portugal and Spain, which anyone who actually gave a toss would already know because of something called the Internet. Because what exists here and now, during the time when the magnificent Alpha-League is in the phase I like best, its 23 month off-season, is not worth reporting on.

By the way, South'll do well to get a draw out of this one. The way we're going, I just hope the snags are good and I don't get food poisoning.