Five moments - South Melbourne 5 Dandenong Thunder 0

First goal - You'll miss him when's gone
What was that I said in the previous post about our only reliable avenue to goal coming from the combination of Andy Brennan and Milos Lujic? Once again Brennan sped past his opponent out wide, crossed the ball into the middle, where Lujic eased the ball home for the early opener. It was a phenomenon that did not go unnoticed even by those who don't normally pay that much attention to the game 'Brennan to Lujic, ole, ole, ole' went the chant.

Second goal - Blink and you'll miss it
Another corner, this time midway during the first half, and the decision to play it short is vindicated. While almost everyone - crowd, opposition, seagulls - were going through the motions of waiting for the corner to be sent in deep, Brad Norton received the ball on the edge of the box and somehow managed to sneak his shot through the mess of legs that stood between himself and the goal - though the FFV match report has credited it to Ramazan Tavsancioglu as an own goal.

Third goal - If a goal is scored but no one sees it, does it still count?
Brennan found himself out wide again, sliced in a cross - there's no way it could have been a shot - which seemed to hit the side netting and fall in through a hole in the net. The referee didn't count it initially, and only Brennan was celebrating, but the ref nevertheless went to the linesman on that side of the ground, had a chat, then went over to check the net, and awarded the goal. After the match when I asked Brennan if it had gone in he said yes, and that he was wondering why no one had started cheering.

Fourth goal - It's not a complicated game
With the points secured, and another game to come on Saturday - which will make it three games in nine days - some players were given an early rest and others were brought on to clean up the scraps of a disappointing Dandenong Thunder side. And thus David Stirton, who has suffered from form and and injury concerns since arriving at South from Bentleigh, came off the bench and slotted home from a regulation through ball. He seemed pretty stoked with the goal, which was a nice touch.

Fifth goal - On love
As Leigh Minopoulos streamed forward late in the game, he found himself with a decision to make - to lay off the ball to the right, or to the left. To the right was Nick Epifano, to the left Iqi Jawadi, both former Dandenong Thunder players. What tension was left in this game was heightened significantly by the sight of this complex ethical dilemma being played out in real time. Minopoulos chose left, Jawadi scored and the entire side rushed around the little midfielder who doesn't get to score a lot of goals - all of course except for Epifano, who sullenly stayed apart from the celebration. Later he managed a brief moment of solidarity with the bloke he's reputedly closest to in the change rooms, but it looked sad, him not being able to show instinctive joy for his friend's accomplishment. It may have been Aristotle who said that you can't love something which does not have the capacity to love you in return - is it therefore possible that Epifano can't be loved for the simple reason that he does not have the capacity of giving love? As an alleged human being, and not an automaton or android, does this make him pitiable rather than hate worthy?

Next game
Saturday arvo at the erratic Northcote City, to round out the first half of the home and away season.

Crowd
Our crowd counter estimates that the crowd was made up of approximately 290 people.

The Kids Are Alright
Some of the Enosi 59 crew were back in attendance last night - on a school night, no less - and no, I don't believe the rumour that they spent the first half in a corporate box. Things seem to be gelling a little more between the new and the old, and I'm not only saying that because one of the kids was offering people some of his peanuts. The chanting, when people could be arsed, was back to its shambolic best, with references to Blue Thunder Kosta's terrible old man hat, the wooden spoon that took the place of an actual drumstick, and other chants directed at the authorities which visiting stadium enthusiast Les Street described as 'subversive'. I assume that he was referring to the 'we're gonna breakaway/fuck the FFA chant'; but perhaps more subversive and petulant was the moment when, after having being asked Kosta to cut out the swearing on request from President Leo Athanasakis, only for the request to be met with an even heartier rendition of a swearing related chant once Kosta left the vicinity.

Final thought
Spoon!