12th May 2007 - Round 5: Scotch vs Mercedes

A1: Scotch 0 - Mercedes 6 B1: Scotch 1 - Mercedes 7 A1 SUMMARY I guess we all knew that the game was going to be extremely tough and that we'd be up against it all day before the whistle had even blew. Mercedes were top of the table, had not conceded a goal yet in their 2007 campaign and are by far the banchmark in the Collegiate League A1's. We changed formation for the game from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 in the hope it would help us absorb pressure better then counter attack when able. Due to asevere lack of numbers of players in both squads for the game, Andy Dean and Dayne played the 2nd half of the B's then had to start in the A's, with Dayne carrying an unstable ankle anyway. Well done boys, you did really well and we all appreciate it!!! Two new recruits to the club in the last couple of weeks had their 1st start in the A's today. One is very talented midfielder (although played up front for the game!!) Patty McConville (unfortunately he is an avid Celtic supported though), and new goal keeper Dietmar who has a very good football resume with time spent with Adelaide City in the old NSL, and highest level south australian federation. We appreciate him coming out to help boulster the squad in his so called 'year off'...he just couldnt resist playing with us!! :) And what a baptism of fire it was for him to begin with! Another new recruit that came off of the bench after playing a full game of B's and testing his fitness after three years of not playing, is Paul Cadman, formally of Birkella in the SASF, and who will no doubt be very important to the A's throughout the year if he decides to stay!! The game had been changed midweek from Mercedes to Scotch due to their pitch being unsuitable. Everyone was OK with this and managed to handle the change of location.... apart from the Ref's though who didn't show for either game!!! Always knew you can't trust them!! The game began OK for us, absorbing pressure and having our own share of confident possession. Throughout the 1st half however they struck home two lucky goals from defensive errors and we were our own worst enemies again as in previous weeks. Throughout the course of the game we spent a lot of time behind the ball, chasing and defending against a team that didn't seem to have a player ubder 6 foot, under 85kg, or that wouldn't be able to hold their spot in any federation team in the state!! We were basically outplayed throughout the entire 90 minutes, with the most dissapointing aspect of the day being our inability to stay disciplined and hold shape, and the lack of physical fight we showed. I understant being so undermanned didn't help the situation at all! As we tired throughout the course of the second half they put another four goals past us. Of very positive note however were several performances. Chris Rogers played a wonderful game in the heart of defence where we need him for both his skill and physical presence, although being up against it all day. Dietmar pulled out a number of very tough saves and stopped us from being embarrased any further!! Thanks mate! Our midfield tired throughout the match, but we did have some positives with the play between Johnny and Eirik, and they did get some extra fitness!! Keep running boys!!! :) Patty played very well in a tough lone role up front against a very tough opposition defence adn had an immense work ethic all day. Well done mate! We have now played the top three teams in our opening rounds, so the next month or so of football is going to be very important as we need to pick up all available points againts teams of similar standard to ours, starting this week in the 1st round of the Collegiate Cup. It is vital that we work even harder now on our game as a team, that we stick together and support each other both on the pitch and socially, otherwise we will not improve and grow in the competition. With everyone available we have a fantastic team and results will come!!! 3 votes: Chris Rogers 2 votes: Dietmar Keovec 1 vote: Patrick McConville B1 SUMMARY Scotchies B's should again hold their heads up very high! Playing with a very makeshift, undermanned and inexperienced line-up, it was always going to be very tough to get anything out of the game. Into the team today came new recruit Paul Cadman who had his first taste of football in three years and ran his guts out, playing very well in the middle of the park. We also had Quentin Crouch, one of the origional Scotch boys returning to the club after two years away overseas. He brought with him from his travels one of our best mates Matty Luker (normally an AFL maestro!!) out to help with numbers and to get his first game of ''real football''!!! Both had very good games considering their lack of sport in the last couple of years, and Matty could have even scored a ripper in his 1st match if the football Gods had been smiling on us a little more, with the keeper pulling out a great save. He left the GLORY!!! of the 1st B's player to score this year to our number 10 mean machine Chien-wen Liew, who hammered the ball into the back of the onion bag half way through the second half for our 1st goal of the season! GGGGOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Plenty more to come now boys! Again a dissaponting result of course, but with the elements against us there we need to take out the positives like we have!! Did I mention we scored our 1st goal??!! Yeheeeeeeeeeeeew!!!!!!!! 3 votes: Paul Cadman 2 votes: Will Rogers 1 vote: Andy Mudie