Anything can happen in a four hour game (guest post)

This piece originally appeared on Manny's blog

As I made my way to Lakeside I had to face a delayed train, missed tram and buckets of rain. Despite these annoyances, I remained hopeful for tonight’s Australia Cup match against Olympic FC. South was coming off of a full week of rest, and Olympic was not of the same caliber as Wellington. It was sure to be a straight forward night, right?

First Half: Part I

I managed to get to the game just after kick off where I was welcomed by a vocal Olympic FC contingent. A small group of them were chanting behind a banner and dotting the white grand stand with their red tracksuits. As I made my way to Clarendon Corner I also noticed that the crowd was much smaller than that of the Wellington fixture. This only solidified my expectations of an easy win as the night felt very similar to the Sorrento game in 2017 – back then South won comfortably and progressed to the next round of the Cup.

On the pitch things were looking good. South had started the game well, and looked generally composed on the ball despite a lot of intensity and pressure from Olympic. Not long after I arrived, South even managed to score from long throw and took a deserved lead. The opening goal seemed to relax South, whereas  Olympic remained unchanged in their intensity. This allowed the game’s momentum to shift to the visitors – not that anyone was paying attention.

Much of the crowd was distracted by the black clouds slowly making their way from the city, whilst many others were closely tracking the final moments of the Carlton vs St Kilda game on their phones. It was only when Olympic scored an equaliser that the crowd really re-engaged with the game, however, by then the weather had deteriorated significantly and the officials soon made the call to delay the game. The players reluctantly hit the sheds, fan huddled under the grandstand roof and some spectators decided to leave the stadium early rather than wait out the forced delay.

First Half: Part II

I decided to kill time by doing the unthinkable – ordering food from the Social Club. To my surprise though, my order was ready almost instantly, the gyros was very tasty and the portion size was huge! I spent the rest of the break enjoying my dinner in the grandstand and watching the lightning strikes, as the stadium DJ exhausted their rain themed playlist.

Although songs like ‘Umbrella’ and ‘Thunderstruck’ helped keep the mood relatively light, the overall delay experience wasn’t the most pleasant. The weather was so bad that one of the outer bays was evacuated, we were informed by the emergency PA system not to leave the venue, and worse still – no one knew for sure if the game would even resume. Forty minutes after the initial delay, we were finally told the game would resume. ‘I can see clearly now the rain has gone’ played over the speakers.

The rest of the first half frustratingly went on to mirror the game dynamic present before the delay. South again controlled the ball, but Olympic again managed to score against the run of play. The crowd reacted poorly to this. Not just in regards to the lost lead but also to the fact that the goal seemed to come from an offside attack. When half time arrived, South were trailing and – worse still for me – St Kilda managed to beat Carlton. This left me backing two losing teams and facing a cold late public transport trip home.

Second Half

Except for the occasional attack from Olympic, South completely dominated the second half. Right from the start, South held the ball well and showed restraint in their attacking plays, often opting to knock the ball around the back rather than hit it up forward quickly. This demonstration of patience though was perceived by fans as a lack urgency and as time passed there was a sense of growing frustration throughout the grandstand. I was also frustrated at the team, especially at their inability to shoot more liberally in the wet conditions. On reflection though, the possession heavy approach did have an impact on Olympic which eventually worked in South’s favour.

Olympic were ultimately forced into an endless series of exhausting defensive runs on the extremely water logged Lakeside pitch. They sat deep with ten behind the ball which limited their attacking plays to isolated and direct efforts which were easily cleared by the South defence. Tired legs and deep set structures also meant Olympic were ineffective when attempting to win loose balls in the midfield, this often gave South second chances in their build up play. Eventually though even the Olympic defensive efforts would fail when late in the game they gave away a penalty.

Astoundingly though, even this wasn’t enough for South. Sawyer’s penalty was saved and the team still had nothing to show for an entire half of dominance. The team though, to their credit, didn’t put their heads down. South continued to pepper the Olympic box with crosses and shots. Finally, a beautifully timed overlap on the left wing saw the ball crossed to an unmarked Archibald. Archibald slammed the ball into the back of the net to equalise at the 90th minute – sending the crowd wild and the game into extra time.

Extra Time

I took the pause in play to introduce myself to Paul Mavroudis. Having read his work for over a decade, and attending South games for longer, the introduction was definitely a tad late. How late you ask? About three minutes. How can I be so exact in this calculation? Well in the brief moment we chatted not only did we miss the extra time kick off, but we also missed the Puskas Award worthy goal which put South back in the lead. Jankovic had converted a free kick from half way after noticing that the Olympic keeper was off his line. Somehow he not only chipped the keeper, but he also managed to keep the shot on target!

The rest of the extra time was a blur. Clarendon erupted into almost non-stop chanting and sang away the remaining time, after being nervously quiet for much of the game. The game remained a relatively open affair and could have easily gone to penalties, but South held on and secured passage to the next round of the cup. For me, things managed to get even better. ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ had found its way onto the speakers a little earlier – confirming the Power’s defeat of Fremantle and consequently Carlton’s passage to the AFL Finals. The rain had also managed to clear up, meaning my trip home was looking a lot better.

I eventually left the ground at 9.30, two hours after the match’s scheduled completion but knowing that both my teams were through to the next round of competition, and that I wasn’t going to be drenched on the way home.

Jimmy Armstrong

It’s also worth noting that the great Jimmy Armstrong had passed away earlier in the month. At the game, a number of memorials were conducted, including a video package that was played at half time, a fantastic banner hung up at Clarendon Corner, and a commemorative shirt which was placed by the South bench during the game. I believe there was a memorial pre-game as well but I arrived too late to catch it. Jimmy was an SMFC great that I never had the privilege of watching play, but I still managed to see him around Lakeside over the years.

One odd moment I had regarding Jimmy was after a game at the Limerick Arms. It was St Patrick’s day and my group was the only ones in the pub wearing Blue in a sea of Green. Speaking to some of the Irish expats and even the bar staff though was a bit of cultural exchange, and Jimmy proved to be the bridge between both worlds when we found out the bar tender was related to him. Moments like these emphasised how important Jimmy was for South, but also how respected he was by everyone that met him. Rest in Peace Jimmy.

Finals

South will next face Hume City in the NPLVIC finals on Friday the 30th of August with the winner progressing to the Grand Final. The week after the Grand Final, South will play their Australia Cup quarter final. The natch will be played away to either Melbouren Srbija – or possibly Hume City. For now the team will pause and recover but these will be a huge few weeks ahead!