The Men of Balmain Rovers are this week looking at the bottom of their beer glasses trying to figure out where we went wrong last weekend. Two defeats against
well-drilled Balmain Wanderers sides were a blow after the luxury of a week off. There were plenty of injuries and substitutions over the two matches, and this did nothing to help the situation.
Our opponents this week are Strathfield, the matches to be played at Callan Park - 1pm for the Reserves match and 3pm the Firsts. Good luck Rovers, we're about due for some big results! A call to all Rovers supporters: we need you at Callan Park this weekend to provide some noise in support of the teams. It gets the boys going and provides you with the perfect reason to enjoy the wonderful, unseasonal sunshine currently about.
I've received various reports emanating from the Far East (yes, you Mr Kieran File) that my editorials aren't much chop - I happen to have a large fan base from AROUND THE WORLD and not just for my writing ... and I'm still in a job! And I'm not getting substituted at half-time either, but I do hope you're keeping the bench warm in Nippon, KF!
Sydney Amateur League Round 8
Balmain Rovers v Balmain Wanderers
Easton Park, Rozelle
Sunday 29 May 2004
Reserves Kick-off 1pm
Firsts Kick-off 3pm
Reserves: Match Report by Steve Adams
Derby day at Easton Park and the preparations couldn't have been better - four teams trying to play on one pitch. Our first (and only) victory of the day was
keeping the Over 35s off our pitch, leaving us with a shortened game. Ideal for those who'd been out the previous night drinking with Adrian Mole!
We picked up where we had left off in the last game, the trademark Reserves 'battle for every ball'; desperate to get the early goal. Both teams gave a good account of themselves in the early exchanges, with Wanderers having the greater amount of possession but Rovers looking the more likely to score. The breakthrough came from an outstanding burst of speed from Jeff. The Wanderers right back seemed to have plenty of time on the ball when suddenly, our Jeff
appeared from nowhere and robbed the player of the ball. Not only did he win the ball but he turned the player inside out and delivered a super ball across the box, just asking to be spanked into the back of the net. I did my best to squander the chance but fortunately Serge was on hand to supply a precision finish: 1-0 Rovers. We were looking good for keeping the unbeaten run going for a whole month!
Just before half-time, the first of our three hamstring injuries for the day occurred and I had to leave the pitch. With the amount of running the midfield were asked to do, Pier also had to retire and we began the second half with fresh legs on the field. We started well, but the size of the pitch and the work we were putting in was taking its toll. Alan left the pitch and that seemed to give the opposition the edge. A Wanderers corner was swung over to the back post and after a couple of headers, the ball was in the back of the net.
This took the wind out of our sails and before we knew it we were 3-1 down. Serge had run himself into the ground so Nick was given the task of turning the game around but we'd left it too late. The one highlight of the second half was Chris' flying leap that saw him leave the ground near the penalty spot and nearly bang his head on the floodlights. Final result 3-1 to Wanderers and our unbeaten run ended.
But we're still unbeaten in June!
Goals:
Sergio
Pele points:
3 - Chris
2 - Jeff
1 - Michael
Firsts: Match Report by Les Clarke
Coach/keeper Shaw wasn't mincing his words in the dressing room before the start of play: "Get out there and work, you maggots! You know it makes sense!" That mightn't be exactly how he expressed it, but the sentiment was the same. And work we did.
Good solid running and vision from Marshall at the back characterised our first half effort, with penty of running from Benny Jones and Brendo (nice one, Brendo!). Rob (golden, I mean silver boots) Liney was doing plenty of hassling and to be honest the Wanderers' back line looked a bit scared when the big fella came charging in. Wanderers scored two fortuitous goals in the first half, both from deflected shots that left Stew with too much work to do.Speaking of Stew, he was bloody fantastic in goals for the whole match and has proven to be a super keeper so far this season.
"So at half-time from Easton Park, it's Balmain Wanderers 2, Balmain Rovers nil".
More hard work and 'thinking on the ball' was the order of the day at half-time chitter-chatters, but to be honest we didn't really do any of that in the second half. We were tired and with depleted personnel the task of containing our opponents and then scoring a couple looked unlikely. Gaping holes starting appearing in the middle of the park, and Wanderers were more than happy to exploit this, scoring three goals in the second half, taking the final score to
five-zip. We didn't deserve that scoreline, but with players playing out of position and injuries to Glenn and Dave G, the task was never going to be easy.
Tough luck fellas, but we can do it this weekend, so keep your heads up! Hope to see you all there come Sunday.
Pele Points:
3 - Stew
2 - Marshall
1 - Dom
Futsal Report by Bruce Fackerell/Rob Liney
Rovers v Wear Dark, Thursday 20th May
Running late to a game is never a great thing. Turning up and finding the other guys haven't showed ain't good either. Barely had the team all got there and the game started. No team talk. No golden gems from Al to get us over the line. But hey, we were playing the bottom of the table - what could possibly go wrong?
Marshall stretched for the ball - goal!!!!!! Oops, wrong direction. Wear Dark 1, good guys zip. Time to wake up. Umm, Wear Dark 2, us zip. Could have been 4 if not for Stew's good goalie work. 10 minutes to go in the half. We then woke up. Bruce scored a nice looking goal down the right. Rob slammed a goal at pace causing the Wear Dark goalie to ... well, wear dark.
We started the second half strong with Rob banging in another 2 and - wait for it - Rob passed to Bruce and Bruce (feeling he would never get passed to again if he missed the goal) breathed a sigh of relief as it sailed past the keeper and between the sticks. At this point Wear Dark went through a renaissance and scored a quick-fire two. We would stand fast, bang in another goal and remember that next week we need to wake up before the game. Good Guys:6, Wear Dark 4.
Rovers v The Jets, Thursday 27th May
After last week's performance I thought we could only get better. I also thought that this report would be a bugger to write, not being one for writing match reports - I was wrong on both counts!
Basically we were appalling (I was going to use a different phrase but this is a family website).
To give the opposition their due, they chased well, passed the ball, finished well and were solid in defence with all players getting back when required. Note to ourselves for next week - this is how we should, and did use to, play. Final score 8-3.
Next game: 7.20pm Thursday 3 June, vs Blitzkreig NSW Futsal site
Award Standings
Pele Medal
8 ---- Chris Daley
7 ---- Miles Martin, Dominic Salomoni
6 ---- Ben Jones, Jeff See
5 ---- Marshall Moir, Stewart Shaw
4 ---- Dave Hull, Rob Liney
3 ---- Steve Adams, Les Clarke, Sergio Fiorenza, Ricky Onsman, Michael Penman, Jim Wragg
2 ---- Simon Bush, Brendan Coutts, Ruben Davis, Dean Lenz, Radan Sturm, Kristian Wiles
1 ---- Rick Currie, Matt Linton
Golden Boot
11 --- Rob Liney
3 ---- Sergio Fiorenza, Dave Griffiths, Jeff See
2 ---- Dom Salomoni, Radan Sturm
1 ---- Simon Bush, Chris Daley, Dave Hull, Ben Jones, Marshall Moir
Next Match
Sunday 6 June 2004:
Home to Strathfield @ Callan Park, Rozelle
balmain rovers
