You want to win every game, but it's just not possible. And not every match matters equally. Case in point, this one. Sure there's a moral standpoint, you want to try your best, and you want to finish on top of the ladder, but since it gets you nothing, there's no point in stressing about it. I suppose there's the bonus that you'll avoid Oakleigh in the semis if you finish first instead of second, but someone's got to beat Oakleigh at some point; then they probably have to play Avondale again after that. So, make sure no one gets hurt, make sure Max gets his yellow card to avoid finals suspension (done), and move on.
Both teams played well, and still have room for improvement. I still think Oakleigh and Avondale are the teams to beat, and nothing about this game changed my view. When we pressured, we looked good. Marcus Schroen should have at least one goal, but once the pressure rating fell away, we were vulnerable and less effective. Having said that, we also clearly held something back, so again, hard to get to an accurate read on things.
Hard also to get a read on things because of the weather, which started wet, got wetter, and ended up drenching pretty much everyone. Avondale's little portable stand is still out of commission because of a lack of permit, my umbrella decided it didn't want to stay open, and by the end my glasses were a mess because of the rain. I couldn't see squat even more than usual. Good thing someone scored for us right next to where I was standing so I could indeed verify that it happened.
Having lost this game, we are basically set in second place; Avondale only needs to get a point from its final game to finish first. Third and fourth are also set, and because Gully lost to the Bergers last week, the top six is also set barring the order of the last two positions; incidentally, Port and Magic, the two teams in those slots, play each other this week.
Next game
Tomorrow night against the Bergers. This is the postponed and rescheduled match-up from earlier in the season, which will now be kicking off at 6:15PM to accommodate people who want to watch the Matildas-England semi-final. I wouldn't have been at tomorrow's match in Matildas or otherwise, but I doubt that this timeslot is going to be prove conducive to anyone who doesn't either live around the corner, or who plans to stick around Olympic Village to watch the Matildas there. There's probably a good reason why this game couldn't be moved back to next week, but I'm not aware of what that reason is.
Final thought
Very annoying that I won't be able to get to either of our last two games, but what can we do? I'll see you in the second week of the finals.
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