South are Premiers! NPLVIC Centre of the Universe! (guest post)

This post was originally posted on Manny's blog.

It had been an exhausting week to say the least. First, a 120 minute Saturday showdown against Oakleigh saw South claim the Dockerty Cup after penalties. Second, over 4,000 people rocked up to watch South eliminate A-League opposition on a cold Tuesday night. Third, the boys escaped the Reggio Calabria club with a draw – and the Premiership.

On paper things could not have gone any better for South this week, but it’s amazing to me how fine the margins are between success and embarrassment for this team.

Parking the bus despite a full car park

Saturday morning was a quiet affair, consisting of a couple of coffees in the sun. The second coffee pushed us a little too far though, so that when we actually made our way to the game, we did so knowing we’d miss kick off. What we didn’t realise though, was that the carpark was absolutely chockers. After circling the Reggio Calabria club (only to find even the double parked opportunities already seized), we were forced to drive into Royal Park and walk to the ground.

As we approached the facility gates for a second time we were greeted by a roar from the crowd, thankfully in response to a South goal. It was a welcome surprise. I wasn’t confident heading into this game that we’d be able to breach the Avondale defence and considering the team’s fatigue, an early goal was absolutely necessary.

Any contest against against Avondale is tense, but this game was a six pointer with silverware on the line. For South, a draw was the bare minimum needed to secure silverware. For Avondale a win was necessary to keep their premiership hopes alive. As well as the pressure to play on the front foot Avondale were coming into this game with the league’s best attack (60 goals scored) but South were coming into the game with the league’s best defence (18 goals conceded)… the early goal only cemented how this game was going to play out.

A Decent Meccano set up

The first half though seemed to be a relatively even affair, mostly locked in the middle with a few half chances for both teams. We spent most of this half slowly walking around the ground to watch from different vantage points and I need to say, the set up has greatly improved since last time I was at this ground. No doubt though the club will need to play potential second division games somewhere else…

There was more than a few hundred in attendance with Avondale fans probably making up just less than half of that and mostly congregated on the sunny side of the pitch. The amenities were neatly organised portables offering drinks, toilets and player change rooms, with slight hill and terracing on one side offering some close and comfortable vantage points (as long as you had sunnies). A couple of food trucks had been added too so I snagged a decent kebab to sustain me for the half.

We made our way to the temporary stand out of the sun, where I was surprised to see half the seats were packed up an inaccessible. The small stand was pretty much filled with South fans and offered the best views of the ground. Overall it quite comfortable, despite the looks from the outside. I enjoyed the atmosphere from here including banter between South fans directed at the fourth official.

Could have lost badly

The second half told a very different story. Avondale came out on the front foot and threatened on multiple occasions, winning one-on-one opportunities in the box only to fire over the bar. The early onslaught though managed to yield an equalising goal in the 53rd minute and seemed to be the start of things to come. Avondale were relentless. Carving up the wings and entering the box easily. Honestly they could have had another two or three if it wasn’t for their poor shooting. A tired and at times unorganised South defence could do little to manage the threats even with numbers at the back.

However as the game continued and the nerves crept up on Avondale they seemed to play themselves out of the game. As they grew tired and increasingly desperate Avondale opened themselves up to a few decent South attacks. Sawyer managed to carve out what should have been another goal scoring chance, South generally managed to play the ball deep into the wings, and even managed to win a few threatening corners.

As the game ticked on things started getting messy. A corner clearance by the Avondale keeper collected a South head as collateral forcing a medical stoppage which seemed to break the rhythm of the game. This is how the last 20 minutes seemed to play out. Stoppage after stoppage enraged the already frustrated Avondale crowd and the pressure seemed to break their bench. The team by all measures should have been in front and the fact they were trailing seemed to leave them confused and frustrated.

In the final moments, minor player skirmishes resulted in a South red card, multiple Avondale yellow cards, a nine minute injury time period and a final free kick opportunity for the home team which was effectively handled by Lopez to seal the game.

Ceremoniously…

Honestly props to Avondale, they’ve managed to carve out a great team, a slowly growing supporter base and a neat ground despite a hostile local council. I was bit nervous going into this game as to whether they’d be any more hostility, especially considering the shenanigans at last year’s Grand Final, but was pleased that the experience as a whole was relatively cordial – Avondale staff even allowed a couple of South banners to be hung instead created petty issues which other clubs have done in the past.

A small presentation of the Premiership plate even followed the game and South nabbed a photo along the wing with fans before Clarendon Corner convinced them to also take a photo behind the goals. The mood was celebratory, but there was also a sense of relief, of rest, at the game’s conclusion. This whole week has been so emotionally draining, on the pitch and off it. Every time South seems to contest these kinds of big matches there’s always external pressure that wants to see the team lose, so being able to keep them quiet for a week was a massive relief to say the least.

The club though is looking down the barrel of more intense scrutiny, which includes a relatively favourable Australia Cup draw, and a finals series which we have only recently been banana-skinned on. Not much needed to change yesterday for Avondale to nab the win, and flashbacks of the last Grand Final have only marginally been held at bay for now. Yes, there will be a week of rest, but this will all come back sooner than we think.

Props to the whole club in managing this season and this week, but there is still a long way to go, and a lot of silverware on the line. Two major trophies though is nothing to sneeze at and one wonders how the silverware may embolden and free the team in the weeks to come.

Now though we can breath…

…and drink apparently! The celebrations continued at Lakeside after the victory, which was likely a nice family affair with fans and even the NPLW team which had played at home that afternoon (despite not getting the result). Apparently the club was even hosted at Kinisi Live to celebrate their week which honestly I love to see!

Other happenings

In a bizarre series of events earlier in the round, the Melbourne Knights vs Dandenong Thunder match was abandoned for a kit clash. There was a bit of confusion about this online as a similar kit combination was allowed to play earlier in the season when Thunder faced Hume. Perplexingly, apparently the Monday night rescheduled fixture is set to be played with the same kits anyway! If true, that’s one of the funnier ways a referee has discovered their own colour-blindness! It’s a shame the regular kick-off couldn’t precede though as the match was meant to be a final game for the Ivan Franjić, a legend of the game who deserved a better send of than this.

A few Australia Cup thoughts. South, Oakleigh, Melbourne Srbija and Heidelberg all upset higher league opposition which helped see all five NPLVIC clubs progress to the next stage. Another example of NPLVIC superiority – huzzah!

Also of note, with the additional of Auckland to the A-League, the position of New Zealand teams in the comp is creating some discussion online. Wellington are already barred from hosting home games in the competition (mostly to avoid every Australian based community team requiring passports for their squads), but with Auckland’s potential entry we face the prospect of future all-Kiwi clashes. In a worst case scenario we may see a Wellington-Auckland Cup Final played in Canberra one day! As both teams are ineligible for AFC competition qualification anyway the competition is somewhat less important for them. Perhaps it might make sense for the competition and for the clubs themselves – to remove Kiwi teams from future editions of the Australian Cup.

Another noteworthy talking point of the competition this year in the new draw process. A fully open draw was implemented this season as well as a new drawing process which saw the final four rounds drawn on the same night. Supposedly this helps with logistics but I think it also created some good discussion online as fans could discuss paths for their teams. I’d like to see future editions expand on this dynamic. A fully open draw, entirely drawn before the competition kicks off would also create a promotional opportunity for a tipping competition, allowing for fans to compete a full bracket and better engage with the comp!

Final note

Go South, fantastic week! Hope the post-Kinisi hang over clears up before finals.