Finals can't get here quickly enough - Altona Magic 1 South Melbourne 4

Thank goodness there's a week's break, and that we get another one in a few weeks, too.

Another week, and another result where one need not be fussed with how any of it looked. The home and away season trundles on towards its conclusion, and we have secured a top two spot with two and/or three games to spare. We're even a chance for top spot, if that matters to you. It doesn't really matter that much to me, because finals. But I suppose some people have more pride than that.

The first half, especially the first 25-30 minutes, was awful by us. It wasn't great letting a youngish but still talented side boss us around to the point that their mouthy substitutes were having a grand old time taking the piss while they were warming up in front of Altona Magic Harismidis (or Harismovska, as the case may be). 

Coulda/shoulda been 3-0 down, but we weren't thanks to, once again, profligate opposition finishing and the heroics of Javi Diaz Lopez. This time he even added a penalty save into the bailing us out equation. After that, we gradually worked our way into the game, though my goodness it was ugly to watch. Just pure constipated grind.

One mad minute in the second half, and it was as good as ours. Ajak Riak scored his goal while horizontal, and then right after that a turnover in midfield and we were home. The other two goals were unnecessary, but nice to have nevertheless. Completely different team after the break, like someone unclogged an intestinal blockage, and things just worked again, as they should.

Other than that, not much to say, except that I should've worn a different pair of shoes (it got a bit dewy); that the Magic canteen has ditched the fancy menu in favour of reliable (and affordable) standard fare; and that the refinery next door being nowadays merely a storage facility means that the old vibe of a Paisley Park night game is not what it was. 

But then again, nothing is what it was.

Next game
The senior men have the week off. Our next game is away to Avondale on Saturday the 12th. At the moment, the fixture lists the match as being played at the Reggio Calabria Club. Seeing as how this is a Women's World Cup training venue though, it'd be wise to keep an ear out for any sudden changes.

Is there a curtain raiser?
Yes, assuming that the senior match is played as currently fixtured. However, the under 21s are listed as kicking off at 12:15, so not exactly worth the effort of getting to the game early

Around the grounds
It takes all kinds
Yes, I went to the Matildas vs Canada match. Observed a displeasing trend of teams at this tournament struggling to break down teams that had set up ultra-defensively. Had to deal with more nonsense VAR. Got seated next to a woman who knew all the ins and outs of the Matildas (with very strong opinions on the coach and the merits of certain players), while I of course was there as a much more casual spectator. Meanwhile, said superfan apparently lived right behind Monterey Reserve, but knew diddly squat about the Frankston Pines soccer club. A chance then to educate, and bore. Pointless trying to gatekeep the diverse kinds of enjoyment of the game at such a micro level.

A goal would have been nice
Brazil vs Jamaica, my fourth game, and another match where a stacked defence outlasted a blunt attack. It was so much of a stalemate, that VAR didn't even make an appearance. Two more games left for me to attend. 

Final thought
My memory has turned to mush. Couldn't remember the names of Jamie Reed, Luke Hopper, or Jai Ingham last week.

No stress whatsoever - Port Melbourne 0 South Melbourne 4

Waited like a chump for the 234 at the usual stop at Banana Alley, for buses that would never arrive; at least not until after 7pm, apparently. I figured this out  eventually with a a fellow South fan by the name of Sam, after what should have been two scheduled buses failed to appear. A bit more signage would have helped. Maybe not having to exit the app to get to the website. Maybe a lot of things.

Walked down to the next best available stop for said bus - five minutes walk down the road - hoping that some bus would turn up in time. That wasn't happening. Started thinking might be worth turning around and going home. Contemplated a cab, but thought better of it. Tried calling a mate who lived nearby to watch it at their place, but no answer. Bus eventually shows up, gets stuck in traffic around the back end of the casino, all very predictable.

Got to the ground with about ten minutes having elapsed, but no score. Who knows if anything major or interesting had happened before I got there. but within minutes it was 2-0 to us, as utterly shithouse set-piece defending from the home side gave us a very solid foundation. After that, it all becomes a bit of a blur. We scored a couple more goals, gossiped a bit about the state leagues, about work, enjoyed some banter with the Port goalkeeper who was having one of those days, and added three points to the tally.

Insofar as I paid any attention to the game, it was to observe that while he's copped a lot of not completely undeserved stick over the past few seasons (including from your correspondent), Marcus Schroen is having a pretty good year. Playing a different role to what we're used to seeing from him, more than a few times this year he's been the one to win the ball or create the turnover which leads to a goal, which was never previously a strong part of his game. 

So, that's nice I suppose. Brad Norton up to 295 matches by count. Oakleigh lost to Altona Magic last week, and drew with Avondale last night, which helps us get one step closer to a top two spot. One more win will do it.

Next game
Altona Magic away on Saturday night.

Is there a curtain raiser this week?
Yes! The under 21s match takes place before the senior fixture.

National Second Division guff
So Melbourne Knights are taking their ball and going home. Apparently Football Australia is being intransigent with its demands. The NSD is on the verge of collapse before a ball has been kicked. For their part, FA put out something very vague about intending to do things next year as planned, kinda. The worst part of this, apart from having to re-join the anti-NSD faction (because it was never going to work, and you're kidding yourself if you ever thought otherwise), is having to emotionally recommit to NPL Victoria. More of the same! And not even Preston coming up to add some media vulture interest. 

Around the grounds
Slightly perverse
Weren't you supposed to be at work, or school? OK, if you are a northern hemispherean, or a retiree, or otherwise on holidays, I get it. But what was everyone else doing at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on a 12:30pm on a Friday? Sure, I was also there, and I do have a job of sorts which I don't get paid for if I decide not to turn up for whatever reason. It's like when I first moved to Sunshine eight years ago (and even now, really), and I'm at the main shops on Hampshire Road on a weekday, and there's a full car park and people everywhere, and it's the same question - don't you people have somewhere else to be? Anyway, Canada vs Nigeria was a strange contest, not so much for what happened on the field, but what happened off it. It's not that Australians are averse to supporting the underdog, but their wilful support of the vintage Green Gully VPL tackling (no colour pun intended) Nigerians was wild. Poor nice little Canada. You win one Olympic gold medal, and everyone turns against you so they can support the heel team. Good game, though, thorough entertainment during that 65 odd minutes Nigeria weren't stacking everyone behind the ball, reminiscent of a certain team which doesn't wear green.

The world got itself in a big damn hurry
Finished work on Monday about three o'clock. Too early for the game, but too late to go home and come back into town. So I walked slowly down William Street to eventually have a quiet meal somewhere, and figure out how to kill two and a bit hours afterwards. Ended up instead helping some guy who'd just finished a six-year prison stint find the nearest branch of the Commonwealth Bank. No, it's not what you think. Probably. Chatting with him, of course he notices the things that have changed about the city and the world as a whole in the time he'd been locked up, things that seemed normal to those of us on the outside. Well, I got him to where he needed to get to, and then I got called back to work, which ended up going all the way to six o'clock. Damn judge. Managed to make it from Flagstaff to my seat at the stadium with five minutes to spare. Germany vs Morocco. Well, Morocco to their credit didn't try to sit back, and looked good in patches and moments, but never quite good enough. Thus there were lots of goals, and so many VAR moments. And this is the thing: somewhat like our ex-con friend, I get disoriented whenever I dip into a tournament every few years after a diet made up exclusively of non-VAR leagues. So now it seems refs and assistants are not even calling blatantly obvious fouls and especially offsides, because there's a machine somewhere which will let them know. 

But here's the thing - most of the crowd doesn't seem to care. So me, in my bad position and with my even more decrepit eyesight, I can still tell (or feel that I can tell) that a goal is not going to stand several seconds in advance. So what looks to me like a situation that should be called offside instantly, the sequence of play instead continues, a goal is scored, the crowd goes wild, and I just wait in my seat. I can't get excited, or upset, or anxious, or even interested, because my instincts for what a game should look like and how it should be officiated are stuck in the past. I've got tickets to four more games, and it just doesn't feel right. The way we - or rather, they - watch the game has completely changed. They've turned it into rugby league.

Final thought
Who knows how many actually pay to watch a game in NPL Victoria these days, but there is this: Port Melbourne issue numbered tickets specific to individual matches. They also break them down by adult and concession categories; no cheapo stubs for them. Last year, rocking up early to the equivalent fixture, and having forgotten my media pass, I was concession ticket no. 90. This year, arriving ten minutes late, and no longer bothering to apply for a media pass because clearly I am less than half-arsing this thing these days, I was adult ticket no. 30. Makes you think.