Tomorrow at 2:00PM, we have a tricky opening Dockerty Cup game at Sunshine George Cross. The wounds of falling to lower division sides in the cup are still raw - not just once, but twice to Port Melbourne of course, and let's not forget that only a Fernando inspired 'dig up, stupid' intervention got us out of that hole against Preston last year.
Of course we can't afford to be complacent anyway, not just because we haven't won anything that wasn't a pre-season tournament since 2006, but also because of the opportunity to play in the FFA Cup should we make the semi finals. I expect Sunshine, who came off a reportedly dour but comfortable win over Brunswick City last week, to be fairly fired up.
There'll likely be an old friend lining up against us well, in the form of defender Eddie Cetkin. For the Altona East watchers out there, there's also Bozidar 'Bobby' Lojanica, a proven striker at levels below the VPL.
The last time we played the Georgies was in Round 22, 2010. That was an away game, but was at Knights Stadium rather than Chaplin Reserve. The last time we played them at Chaplin was Round 11 2009, a pretty dull game, much like its Lakeside counterpart from Round 22, except for that Fernando goal. The last time we beat them at Chaplin was probably back in 2007, a great away trip. The blog didn't even exist then.
If you haven't been to Chaplin Reserve for a while, you may be in for a shock. The Regional Rail Link works have taken their toll. The entire outer terrace on the southern side is no more. Neither is there any access to the Anderson Road hill. I'm not sure what the parking situation is like there at the moment either, but at this stage the public transport options don't seem to have been affected for this weekend.
In case you were wondering, the best public transport option is to get the Sunbury/Watergardens train out to Sunshine, and walk to thr ground, I haven't had the chance to go there since the government undertook the Anderson Road grade separation, so who knows what labyrinthine maneuvers you'll have to make. Hopefully, absolutely none. Whatever the case may be, it just won't be the same without being able to see trains go by on both the Ballarat and Sunbury lines.
If we win tomorrow, strong chance I'll end up at Port vs Northcote later that evening. If we lose, I'll be a sook and will probably just go home.
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