Just made it - Werribee City 1 South Melbourne 2

Waiting in the car park for 20 minutes for the delayed Steve from Broady at Newport station meant getting to the outskirts of Galvin Park with only about five minutes until kickoff in the senior game. Parking a good half kilometre down the road was made worse when one South bloke known to us here at South of the Border managed to rock up and nab a space near the old front gate. At Galvin Park itself, once we walked past the various cricket finals being played, it looked like space had been cleared and fenced off for the construction of something new, but I'm not sure we needed to be forced to go around an extra 50 metres to get in to a makeshift entrance. One bloke looking to pay to get in almost handed me ten bucks by accident.

Even if there was no sign of the stand they're planning to build on the outer side - and who are we to judge, we who've been missing a social club for nearly five years now - at least the scaffolding was already set up by the home club this time. A couple of blokes recommend the chicken schnitzel burger, which while not containing any mayo, is apparently a nice thick piece of bird, with a flavourful crumb - and best of all, no need to wait, as they have them ready and waiting. Ten minutes later Gains and I are still waiting for them to make the schnitzel rolls, so at least they're fresh, but watching the game through the canteen's window, covered by a protective metal grill, is hardly ideal, but useful as training run for when my one remaining working retina decides to give up the ghost.

It was nearly impossible to tell what the hell was going on for those first five or ten minutes, but at least the roll once made was good, even if it wasn't as herbed and spiced as I'd been lead to believe, which could have been another in the long list of life's disappointments, except for the fact that it only costs $6 and chicken schnitzels rolls are usually terrible, having sat in a bain marie for five hours with the crumbing going soggy and the processed chicken tasting like a discarded piece of rubber.

Getting to a game late throws me right off its rhythm, and it took me a little while to realise that Tim Mala had gone off injured in the first five minutes, replaced by Andy Kecojevic who went into midfield while Bonel 'Bones' Obradovic slotted into Mala's right back spot. Apparently we'd been on the back foot early on, but we seemed to have wrested control of this game from that point on.

Now short corners, Yes, we scored off of one, and I tell you one of the reasons this happened - because unlike our usual routines of making it completely obvious that we were going to take a short corner - usually playing to just in front of the corner flag - it was played quickly to the edge of the 18 yard box, where Iqi Jawadi's shot managed to somehow elude everyone and go into the back of the net for hist first goal in an official South game.

Fantastic, great result for both Iqi and short corners. Of course, as Homer Simpson once noted, a short corner is more like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you'd step over your own mother just to get one! But you can't stop at one. You wanna drink another short corner! So of course we tried another of these later in the game, same routine and all - unfortunately we coughed the ball up, and because we had over committed players forward, had only ten fit players on the park anyway, Werribee shot the ball down the other end when it would have been better for us to play more conservatively.

But all that happened much later. Nick Epifano who was working hard got fair fair reward for effort when he was fed through on goal and chipped the ball over the keeper with a first time shot. A goal from a short corner and someone scoring for us without needing to take fifteen million touches. What a day this was turning out to be. 2-0 up at the break and all sorts of miraculous things happening. Unfortunately Kristian 'Gonzo' Konstantinidis had to go off with an in jury he picked up late in the first half, and thus Michael Eagar had to go back from defensive mid into centreback.

While we managed to keep creating breaks going forward, we started tiring - a persistent problem which we all hope will be gradually overcome as the season wears on, with us needing to peak later this year rather than right at the start - and Werribee starting winning the midfield battle. Leigh Minopoulos was brought as fresh legs but struggled, Obradovic started to lose his way a bit in his unfamiliar role, and Kecojevic started cramping up with no subs left and 20 odd minutes to play.

The home team scored to make things worse, and if not for Michael Eagar's heroics in defense, clearing time and time again, we wouldn't have been able to hold on for all three points. Even with with Eagar's desperate efforts though, we had to rely on the crossbar to save us in the 94th minute of the game, with the relevant Werribee player first exultant and then devastated that his effort failed to hit the mark.

Very impressive performance by @KecojevicAndy in the @Smfc win today pic.twitter.com/0NWyillyvO
— NPL Vic Football (@NPLVic_Football) March 8, 2015

Considering the injuries we copped, the re-shuffling required, and effectively playing with only ten men for the last 20 minutes or so, I'm stoked we got the three points. Fitness is still an issue for the tine being, but there was more evidence that the team is beginning to gel. I was especially pleased to see how Kecojevic scarcely looked out of place in a senior game.

Next week
We enter the Dockerty Cup - or FFA Cup qualifiers to those of you who are part of the FFV (and lizard people, natch) conspiracy to deflate the importance of the Dockerty Cup. We'll be playing State League 3 team Whittlesea United, who pulled off a 3-2 upset against State League 1's Clifton Hill. The date and time are yet to be confirmed, but this will be an interesting affair not only to see which depth players get more of a go, but also because former South NSL and VPL championship winner, the much loved Tansel Baser, is the Whittlesea United captain.

Teach a man to fish...
There's been a little bit of discussion recently over the FFV's decision to provide video cameras to every NPL club in order for them to film their games and provide the footage for a weekly online compilation. Those on the negative side seem to be of the opinion that as the footage from most of those games comes across as unprofessional, that rather than enhancing the product for luring potential sponsors, it actually damages the game.

I can certainly see the validity in such thinking. The footage provided so far in the NPL1 highlights packages in particular varies from the very good to the abjectly dire. A lot of this is clearly down to who's operating the camera on any given day, and I would have hoped (though I don't know for sure) that merely giving the cameras to the clubs was not the end point, but that FFV may also supplement that with some sort of training. But some of the problems with the quality of the footage fall outside individual camera operators. How many times have even those clubs who have funded their own video productions (South, Knights, Hume, etc) been hampered by the lack of suitable media facilities, such as basic scaffolding creating an elevated vantage point? Or being unable to get clear footage - and this goes for photographers as well - because the lighting isn't up to scratch?

@PaulMavroudis I hate it for the same reason
— Pave Jusup (@PaveJusup) March 8, 2015

While some have called for the hiring of professional videographers to undertake this task, I am of the opposite opinion. By giving the clubs the basic tools - and that would ideally include some training - it provides the opportunity for the clubs and some of their members themselves to learn new skills. This is not merely about outsourcing the problem to someone else, but getting the clubs to take responsibility for their own promotion. The clubs that take the time to make the most of the opportunity will hopefully get the most out of it, while those who don't will mostly be hurting themselves.

Finally, the call for a return of a weekly live video streamed game, while well intentioned, seems to me to miss the point. Regardless of how much you publicise a live stream, the audience will be minuscule unless it's for a very high profile contest, something like last year's FFA Cup games. And whether or not live streaming actually manages to get an audience, the focus at this level of competition should be on getting people to games, paying money at the gate and spending at the canteen. More people at games also creates its own better atmosphere, encouraging people to come back the next time. Few people want to spend a couple of hours at a game with only a bunch of old men and the odd relative of a player; but if more people go to games, it by itself creates a more homely and exciting experience.

Around the grounds
They tried to make me the new Steve from Broady and failed.
The plan was to go with Cuddles to the Pascoe Vale – Northcote game at the revamped CB Smith Reserve with its infamous light tower in front of the grandstand, but when we heard that that Richmond was hosting Nunawading, we decided to head to Kevin Bartlett Reserve instead. The reasoning behind this decision was that we wanted to see whether all the stories about Nunawading – playing out from the back at all times, and not taking any shots – were true, and whether former South player Anthony Giannopoulos – a player who loves to shoot at first sight – would stick out like a sore thumb.

Well when we got to the parking area at Richmond, it started raining, and not wishing to risk having to stand in the rain all game, or hide on the social club, we decided to hoof it to Fawkner instead, and if we missed the first ten minutes, well, we probably wouldn't miss much would we?

Wrong. After slogging through Sydney Road with its pervasive smell of gyros and kebabs, getting through a Friday night booze and drug bus operation that was still setting up, but which had taken out two out of three lanes, and circling around for ten minutes trying to find a parking spot, updates on Twitter, Futbol24 and via a friend already at the ground, we found out that we'd missed not only the first four goals of the game – two each to Pascoe Vale and Northcote, both times the latter equalising – but also Giannopoulos giving Nunawading an early lead.

At least we got to see the fifth goal of the game which gave Northcote the lead for the first time that night. I'm not sure what's going on down there, with Hercules not even managing to get a front of shirt sponsor, but first and foremost it's about scoring goals, and Northcote did that better than Pascoe Vale in a thrilling game which completely died in the arse once Cuddles and I got there. I spent much time next to Kristian Konstantinidis in line at the canteen, and considering the rather good crowd decided to get a cevapi roll instead of wait forever for a pizza. Having finished said cevapi roll however, Andrew Mesorouni's kid and Leo Athanasakis' kid rock up with several boxes of the famous woodfired pizza, and I somehow ended up scoffing down most of one, and being saddled with another. But a man has to know his limits!

It was also to good to finally meet Pascoe Vale president Lou Tona in the flesh, who was surprised that I wasn't fatter. Yes, South of the Border, the Australian soccer blog most dedicated to the cause of the wallflower, can also occasionally find itself among the movers and shakers. But never fear, we are still of the people! For the people! By me, and whoever else wants to write for us! The key to selling out of course is to sell when your price is high. Only time will tell whether a ride to and from Lara and a few boxes of pizza - and a can Pepsi, we can't forget that - was worth the price, or whether I'm just a really cheap date.

Final thought
Those shotput people at Lakeside can heave those balls a fucken long way.

It was cold last night - Pascoe Vale 0 South Melbourne 3

Photo: Cindy Nitsos.

It was cold last night - cold like being told by a former contributor that he hasn't read the blog since round 3. The Hosken Reserve pitch was wet, too, but there was plenty of grass on it at least, and no under 20s curtain raiser meant that we could spend more time eating the wonderful wood-fired pizzas (and the olives off Pavlaki's pizza because he apparently can't stand olives) and in my case a chinotto, too, which made the experience go up a notch from last year's already classy dining experience.

It was cold last night - cold like being the self proclaimed star of the show, but being benched by the coach for being a dickhead. Nick Epifano was reputedly dropped for disciplinary reasons, while Jamie Reed and Shaun Timmins, possibly due to injury concerns, also dropped out of the first eleven. Tim Mala was back in after serving his one match suspension, while Leigh Minopoulos also came into the starting eleven following a vacation related absence. Matthew Theodore rounded out the starting lineup. For their part, Pascoe Vale had five former South players in their starting lineup - Stefaan Sardelic, Carl Recchia, Marco Santilli, Joseph Youssef and James Stefanou. It was another one of those bizarre reunions that happen in the VPL/NPL, because that's how many players we've churned through over the past decade.

It was cold last night - and almost incessantly rainy, too, so much so that I spent the first half using my umbrella not only for my own protection, but also as impromptu shelter for South's official photographer Cindy Nitsos. It was the least I could do considering how many of her photos I've used this season. In the second half, the umbrellas behind the goal South was attacking formed an impromptu terrace roof, albeit probably blocking the view of the people standing in the only covered area available at the ground. At least we weren't playing in Ballarat.

Leigh Minopoulos slips the ball past Pascoe Vale 'keeper
Stefaan Sardelic to open the scoring. Photo: Cindy Nitsos. 

It was cold last night - so cold that at one point in the match Brad Norton asked me to fetch a ball that had gone over the perimeter fence, because he couldn't feel his hands. Hey, at least I got two separate people praising my sterling effort of jogging five metres to my right. The players from both sides struggled in the conditions, but schoolboy errors didn't help either. Theodore's lack of movement towards a ball passed to him while we were in attack with plenty of numbers committed forward saw Pascoe Vale fly up the other end, and we were lucky not to fall behind. Leigh Minopoulos opened the scoring after receiving a through ball from Iqi Jawadi, picking his spot relatively early to give us the upper hand.

It was cold last night - so cold, that when Clarendon Corner's spit roast 'Ellas, ole!' chant failed to gain any traction, my response from the corner flag to the call from the other side of the goals was greeted with 'that doesn't count'. The weather was so bad, that when someone mentioned that only the brave had turned up, only the true supporters, I sabotaged the moment by saying only the stupid had turned up.

Former South keeper Stefaan Sardelic kicks out at
 Tyson Holmes. Photo: Cindy Nitsos.

It was cold last night - cold like a soccer scoreboard which doesn't reflect the ebb and flow of a game, only the trouncing that eventuated. Pascoe Vale were more than competitive in this game up until early in the second half, when Sardelic had collected the ball but also decided to apparently lash out at Tyson Holmes. I was right there next to the goals, but I'm going to go with being unsighted and only half paying attention, because when a keeper collects the ball isn't it the natural inclination of the spectator to switch off for a few seconds? Lujic took the penalty, slamming it down the middle. The substitute keeper got a hand to it, but there was no way that he was going to keep it out. Probably only Peter Zois playing an absolute blinder as he did in this game could have stopped it (and here's the video version, with legendary commentating and awful background music).

Sardelic gets sent off for kicking Holmes. Photo: Cindy Nitsos

It was cold last night - but not so cold that at 3-0 up, Lujic's death stare at not receiving a pinpoint cross from Minopoulos didn't drop the temperature even further. At 2-0 up Lujic had provided a neat cross for Minopoulos to score his second, but Leigh could not quite return the favour. Me, I blame Milos for not running to the right spot, as Leigh had done for his goal. At 3-0 up and now cruising, Jawadi managed to get himself a second yellow card and a sending off in a fracas of sorts near the benches. Whatever the cause of said argle bargle, it means Iqi will miss the next match. But by my calculations, they were also his fourth and fifth yellow cards for the season - so does that mean he'll miss an extra game on top of that? Someone said today that there is a provision for this which could see the two yellows converted to a red card, leaving Iqi on three yellows as before, and missing the one week. But it all depends on the ref's report and it's best for the club to investigate this thoroughly lest we do something stupid like play a suspended player.

It was cold last night - so cold that that car alarm which went off in the local neighborhood rang out for ten minutes towards the end of the game, and yet no one, not the car's owner, not a cranky neighbour, nor even a local street punk bothered to come out of their homes to silence it, either by either legitimate or dubious means. Missing the train back from Merlynston station by a minute, and hiding inside the bare passenger cubicle they call a shelter for 30 minutes didn't help alleviate the chill, my hands losing all colour, the glory of the win and being one step closer to a championship warming me up, at best, on a theoretical level.

Next game
Bentleigh away on Wednesday. At the time of writing, we were ten points ahead of Oakleigh with six games to play, though Oakleigh had not yet played their round 21 match away against Northcote.

New project - Victorian and Australian soccer library
I have no idea what the hell I'm doing with this, and how popular it may or may not be. But for the moment my frustration at the hoarding tendencies of some Australian soccer collectors, combined with the difficulty in sourcing much material readily for the non-academic Australian soccer fan, as well as finally being taught how to use my scanner without needing to go through Photoshop or associated programs (white space editing be damned), has prompted me to get started on this 'thing' which I've called a library for want of a better term.

At the moment it is of course a pretty sparse cupboard, but with your help I hope to be able to expand the collection. So far, I have some Victorian Soccer Federation yearbooks, a couple of annual reports and some miscellaneous items, but I'm hoping to add some club histories as well. My pseudo-anarchist leanings mean that my intention is for people to download and share the materials as widely as possible.

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, or so they say

@PaulMavroudis Similar, but different.. http://t.co/4tVekNIC1y
— Simon Pincic (@simonpincic) August 2, 2014

For an explanation of what's going on here, refer to my 'final thought' from a couple of weeks ago. I really don't know what to make of this, especially since it's not in blog format yet. A classic case of the unheimlich if ever I saw one.

Around the grounds
Two mysteries solved
I had been coerced into agreeing to go to Hoppers Crossing vs Bell Park, but the coercer eventually coerced himself into doing some work (or something), so I was gloriously (or terrifyingly if you're into Sartre) free to choose my own entertainment. And thus I ended up at Altona East once again, who were taking on Westgate.

When last we caught up with Altona East, their coach had resigned after leading the team into the relegation zone. Despite not playing a game last week, a points deduction to Altona Magic for some indiscretion or other saw East' next door neighbour take their place in second last. Still, that was small relief when Westgate raced to a 2-0 lead early in this game, with the home team struggling to get anything going at all. But then thanks to a Westgate a keeper error - he dropped the ball - and a deflection from a speculative effort, East went into halftime level at 2-2. A backheeled goal made it 3-2 to East, and that's how it's ended up.

Now, as to the mysteries. While flicking through the 1985 Victorian Soccer Federation yearbook, I saw that East Altona were described as wearing yellow shirts, green shorts and yellow socks. How could this be? How could the club known as PAOK not be wearing black and white? Well, as it turns out, when the club started in 1979 - ostensibly as a junior club, playing out of Altona North Primary School - the folks who kicked things off didn't really have a very strong idea of what they wanted the club to be. PAOK was eventually adopted as a formal name, but it was a fairly informal name for a long time. The colours were chosen based on the fact that, 'Well, what colours should we choose?' 'Well we're in Australia, let's choose the Australian colours' and that's how it came to be.

Apparently the green and gold colour scheme lasted up until about 1985. Certainly by the late 1980s, East Altona is a black and white team. But what happened to Altona East in 1988? Apparently they bought out a mob called St Kilda, and played the second half of the 1988 season under that name. St Kilda (a post Hellas-Hakoah merger offshoot of St Kilda-Hakoah people?) disappears in 1989 before re-emerging briefly afterwards. So, a couple of questions answered and good win to PAOK to boot.

Also learned some info about the relationship between Yarraville Doxa (Glory), the demise of Melbourne Hungaria, and Hawksburn, which is probably best left to another occasion.

 - with thanks to Fred Dimitriou for the historical information.

Final thought
Even though I didn't get to meet him, a big thank you to Pascoe Vale president Lou Tona for his hospitality, it's very much appreciated.

Kiss of Death, round 9, 2014

Port Melbourne Sharks vs Hume City - Friday 16 May @ 8:30PM @ SS Anderson Reserve
Port Melbourne had the tougher of the 2 tasks last weekend disposing easily of the Ballarat Red Devils, while Hume had a 4-1 win at home to Goulburn Valley. Will be an interesting match with Hume only having conceded nine goals. Port on the other hand have scored and conceded 15. I think Hume will be too good for Port, with them just nudging over the line.  Port Melbourne Sharks 1 – Hume City 2.

Ballarat Red Devils vs Green Gully - Saturday 17 May 14 @ 3:00PM @ Morshead Park
Ballarat lost at home to Port Melbourne 0-4, while Gully once again got thumped 4-0 away to the Bergers. Ballarat has somewhat impressed me, but their discipline is their let down. Red cards in the last few matches have cost them points. Gully is having the shittest start in their history, and will most likely start rebuilding as of this weekend. Ballarat will finally get their first win at home and third overall for the season. Ballarat Red Devils 3 – Green Gully 1.

Goulburn Valley Suns vs Bentleigh Greens - Saturday 17 May 14 @ 6:30PM @ Jack McEwen Reserve
Goulburn Valley has a new coach as of last weekend. Peter Zois is the man at the helm and he has some work to do with the Suns. Bentleigh lost 2-1 at South last week and weren’t too bad for the first 45 minutes. In the second half they fell to shit. They looked like they were more worried about losing than winning. Johnny A left his subs too late, and if he had made them earlier, the scoreline might have been different. They will however be too good for the rabble that are the Goulburn Valley Suns. Goulburn Valley Suns 0 – Bentleigh Greens 3.

Dandenong Thunder vs Werribee City - Saturday 17 May 14 @ 7:00PM @ George Andrews Reserve
Dandenong had a good 1-3 win at Northcote, while Werribee drew 1-1 with Pascoe Vale, missing a penalty in the 92nd minute. Dandenong is hot and cold. They can't make up their mind if they’re winning or losing. Werribee is yet to find its feet. For their information, you wont find Leigh Minopoulos either, he’s at South. No Leigh Minopoulos, no Werribee City. Dandenong Thunder 3 – Werribee City 0.

Oakleigh Cannons vs Northcote City - Sunday 18 May 14 @ 3:15PM @ Jack Edwards Reserve
Oakleigh had a 3-1 win over the Knights, while Northcote City struggled 1-3 against Dandy. I witnessed the last 20 minutes or so of last week's Oaks vs Knights match and wasn’t too impressed with Oakleigh at 2-1 to be honest. I don’t see what the big deal is. They have more weaknesses than strengths. The Knights were severely depleted, so I’d take that win with a grain of salt. Northcote. HAHA. Suck it. Keep Rixon and all the others at John Cain. Showponies. Oakleigh Cannons 3 – Northcote City 0.

South Melbourne vs Pascoe Vale - Sunday 18 May 14 @ 5:00PM @ Lakeside Stadium
South beat Bentleigh 2-1 and Pascoe Vale left Werribee 1-1. The first half last week wasn’t too flash for South. As mentioned further up, Bentleigh looked like a team who were more worried about losing, rather than winning. Holding possession, stupid passes, and time wasting were all part of Bentleigh's pathetic attempt to beat the Team of the Century. If Johnny A made those subs earlier, they might’ve had a sniff. The second half South dominated, and were silly to concede that goal at the end. The ref, well what a dick. Six minutes of injury time for what exactly? Douche. Pascoe Vale were lucky at Werribee last week. In the 92nd minute Werribee missed a penalty and let Pascoe get away with one pint. But ah well. South Melbourne 3 – Pascoe Vale 0.

Heidelberg United vs Melbourne Knights - Sunday 18 May 14 @ 6:00PM @ Olympic Village
Heidelberg had their way 4-0 with Gully, while the Knights were unlucky I felt losing 3-1 at Oakleigh. The Knights are pretty much fucked at the moment. Injuries, injuries and more injuries. The Bergers find themselves in unfamiliar territory sitting third on the ladder. Have they been playing well? Not really, but well enough to collect points, which is all that matters this year. Get the points, finish first, and the title is yours. Heidelberg United 3 – Melbourne Knights 0.

Rumours and Innuendo
Smfcboard.com – Moron Alert.
The shit people write on there is pathetic. I was tipped off by a user that apparently, Leigh Minopoulos is unhappy and is looking to leave the club in June for first team football. What a crock. I’ve made a few phone calls overnight, Melbourne time. Leigh Minopoulos is NOT unhappy at South, Leigh Minopoulos is NOT leaving South, Leigh Minopoulos understands HIS role at South, South is one big happy family with 8 from 8. I got a few screenshots provided as well. Apparently some dick has gone and put that Leigh Minopoulos is in talks with Altona East (your team Paul), and that they were beaten to his signature by Melbourne Tornado (does this team even exist). Funny thing is, a few people fell for it!

Donuts
A cheerio goes out to Pascoe Vale president Lou Tona (@LouTona) who started following me on twitter @KODFootball. We had a good chat about the pizza and food delicacies down at Hosken Reserve. Apparently, the donuts down at Hosken Reserve are “quality”. Apparently, “introduce yourself next time and I will buy you some doughnuts”, “I will organise with latte”. Lou also went on to offer myself and Paul Mavroudis free entry into the match at Hosken when South plays there.

This my friends, is a president! A man who not only loves his team, but appreciates the people who go out of their way to write about football in this state. Unlike those mutts down at FFV who don’t even issue media passes! Lou Tona, I take my hat off to you. You are a gentleman, a true lover of the sport. Unfortunately, South will beat you guys this Sunday at Lakeside.