Round 3, 2008 - Altona East 3 Ballarat Red Devils 1

East dominated the first half almost absolutely in both territory and possession. For the first 20 minutes the visitors struggled to even get out of their own half. Slowly played their way into the game after that, but the midfield failed to deliver anything remotely resembling decent supply. East's final balls let them down, there was a crossbar hit, but on the half hour mark Gaffar strolled in and finally gave East the lead they deserved. East scored again just before half time, Alghazaly getting that goal.

2nd half quite different. Ballarat came out with a higher level of intensity, East a little all over the place in midfield and defence, the attacks from the visitors looking more promising as the half wore on. They had a freekick well saved, and then received a penalty which was very well taken. Game on and both sides looking for the goal, with rushed end to end stuff ensuing, before late in the game Gaffar met a cross at the far post and headed over the keeper for 3-1 and the win.

Overall, this game was a bit of a wakeup call for both sides. For East, hopefully they've learnt that playing one half, even going up 2-0 is not enough, and that the game is 90 minutes long, not 45. For the Red Devils, that perhaps state 2 won't be a stroll in the park, and that against the league's better teams you better have your a-game right on from the start. By all rights they should have been out of the game at half time, but they ended up doing well in the 2nd half, and a draw would not have been a harsh result for both sides, but you always have the upper hand if you have the lead, which was a problem for East last year, often falling behind.

Round 1, 2008 - Altona East 5 Altona City 0

East came out firing in the opening 10 minutes, with only some great goalkeeping denying them, before one of the worst goals you'll ever see, from both a defensive and attacking point of view, ball sort of knocked around aimlessly and toe poked in eventually. City worked their way into the game after that, but didn't really create too many quality chances, though there was one chance, a shot over the bar, which should have levelled the scores. East scored again on about the half-hour mark, ref could have given the penalty against the keeper but played the advantage instead, and it was 2-0. Penalty late in the half against the City keeper had him sent off, 3-0, game just about done and dusted. Not sure if it was a penalty, too many bodies in the way for me to see.

2nd half, City fought and scrambled in defence and occasionally got some decent moves on the counter, but on the whole East on top again, had quite a few chances go begging, some really bad misses, but also a cracking long range shot which smashed against the post. East got the 4th and fifth goals in the last 5 minutes or so, Bobby with a hattrick, Tolli and Gaffar scoring the others. Apart from the penalty/send off, which as I said I'm not sure of the correctness of, I thought the ref was fantastic.

East looked good, when they were 'on' (the game lost much of its sting in the 2nd half) they looked comfortable working as a unit, and former South player Lester Abalos played very well, will be a great addition if he keeps up that kind of play. No Freddy Pedrotti or Zoric today either. City disappointed me today, they seemed startled by how East came out all fired up, but on the whole there seemed to be a general lack of direction on their part, but I reckon it was just an off day for them, and falling behind so early and then having 10 men for 45 minutes doesn't help either. Not sure who if anyone was missing for City today, but I reckon they'll bounce back.

Reserves game was a little farcical, East having only 11 players to start (coach refusing to play 3 or so unregistered players, and rightly so of course), and lost one of those 11 to injury 5 minutes in. Finished 3-0 to City, but in all honesty, based only on the 2nd half i saw, this was a really high standard game for state 2 ressies, there was a lot of neat passing from both sides, and lovely movement off the ball and on it.

I suppose some of the City people like Roger can come and give the story from the other side of this game, be interested to see their point of view.

Round 19, 2007 – Yarraville 0 Altona East 2

Pretty average game. The surface at Yarraville is absolutely shocking, and the quick burst of rain just after the ressies game (1-0 to East) didn't help matters. East started slightly better, but generally their through balls were too long and Yarraville's keeper wasn't scared to come off his line to collect. Best chance for East was more an accident than anything. The keeper punched the ball away but not very far, was headed over him back towards goal, and with the defender on the line waiting for it, bounced high enough to hit the top of the crossbar. Yarraville asserted themselves better as the half wore on and had one shot cleared off the line, but neither side was particularly inspiring.

Early in the 2nd half East had one cleared off the line which really should have been put away, Gaffa sent one skyward from about 6 yards out after excellent work by Juri on the byline, and with Yarraville looking pretty average, it looked like it was going to be a scoreless affair. But on 75 minutes East took the lead, Juri finding himself with plenty of time outside the area, hitting a wonderful dipping shot which the keeper had no chance of saving, 1-0. Three minutes later, Gaffa found himself with a huge amount of space and only the keeper to beat, and after making it harder for himself having to dodge a couple of defenders as well, he put it away, 2-0. Yarraville tried a little more after that, but couldn't get even a consolation goal.

East were hampered by the awful state of the pitch, but generally lacked intensity as well. Yarraville fought hard, but didn't have the cattle on the park to do the job. Perry Mur was reffing, and he got into a bit of a verbal stoush with some Yarraville fans, chastising them for their lack of originality.

Round 15, 2007 – Altona East 2 Moreland City 3

Not one of the best games I've seen, despite the amount of goals (the 0-0 against Werribee a couple of weeks back was of a far better standard in my opinion, despite he conditions). East could have wrapped this up in the first 15 minutes. Four genuine chances gone begging with some good keeping and a little luck. On about 20 minutes East's keeper piss farted around with it instead of just clearing it long, which led to a Moreland corner/throw in/whatever, the ensuing cross had a header flicked across goal and headed in for the opener. Five minutes later they had a shot from outside the box go wide. East got back on top after that, and eventually got a penalty, which was slotted away nicely by Gaffar (who had won the penalty) on about 40 minutes, 1-1, at the break.

Moreland were a better side in the 2nd half, both sides fairly even. Moreland got what to me looked like a soft penalty, which they put away for the lead once more. A bit of controversy for East's equaliser, as the cross came over the top with the keeper missing it, it hit East player's elbow, but the referee (and linesman) was on the wrong side to see it. Slotted away, 2-2. Moreland's winner about 15 from time, was a very disappointing way to lose the game. For some reason, about 3 East players peeled away from the area into which the Moreland player in possession was due to run into, he slotted a decent through ball, which our keeper probably really should have run out and at least deflected if not collected, but he did neither and was beaten on the angle, and that was the game. Moreland had one more chance on the counter but didn't take it, and East couldn't muster up too much by the end.

Some thoughts.
A studs up tackle is a studs up tackle in the 5th and 85th minute. So why won't refs give cards early on when they have the opportunity to impose the rules of the game, and discourage players from putting in bad/silly tackles? This has been really infuriating me this season in particular because i reckon it's getting worse.

Moreland tread the line between hard and reckless when it comes to tackling. One of the least impressive teams I've seen so far, but they're more than competitive, as opposed to Lalor, and they put up a better fight than Yarraville did.

Speaking of Yarraville, ex-coach Fred was there, seems much happier, and unless he's being using Just For Men, the colour (or at least, a deeper shade of grey) has come back into his hair.

How important is positioning for a keeper? Being in the right place gives you a much better chance of making a save, even from point blank range. Some keepers should take note.

One Moreland old fart seemed to check his sense of humour at the gate. After a sliced attempted clearance in defence went up into the air and was caught by the keeper, some wit yelled out 'backpass', and this guy thought he meant it.

Reserves, score was 2-0 to Moreland, both goals in the 2nd half, East put some ok moves together, but defensive fuck ups and Moreland's much more experienced team were pretty much always going to win this one, i caught the 2nd half. Was funny and perplexing to see Twist and Shout used as a club song, but it's all good.

Big game this week, Altona derby. Six points from 3rd to 10th, and we need to start racking up the points. This week is as good as any place to start.