Soccer

This is the report from two weeks back. I ended up with a cracked or chipped bone in my pinky, which swelled up for a few days.

It was actually me who chose to "take away the shot rather than commit to the tackle" in the description below. But it was a good result against the league leaders.



Rd10: South Port (h)

Round 10-MPFC 3rds vs. South Port United

MPFC 1-1 South Port United
Scorer: Big Mac
After an up-and-down first half of the season, which thankfully finished on an up, the mighty MP3 were strangely full of confidence for the visit of perennial division champions and current table-toppers, South Port United. A narrow loss to Olympiakos East Kew, followed by creditable wins over Kooyong and Old Xaverians had created a sense of optimism in the MP3 camp as it was beginning to show that the early-season travails of the squad were firmly in the past.

The conditions were ideal, with the sun mostly shining and just a thin layer of dew on the pitch, which is proving to be one of the best in the league these days (whodathunkit?). Both teams were summoned back to the change rooms by the Scottish referee for a pre-game talking to. The lads were surprised to hear the match official slip in something about making sure to go and fetch any balls that go out of play, rather than continue with a new ball. His concern for the cost of replacing any lost match balls could only have been a result of some whispering in his ear by club treasurer, “Disney” Furness.

Coaches Wolst and Parmar had been starting the last three matches with the boys in blue lining up in a 4-5-1 format, getting a firm hold in the match before reverting to the more familiar 4-4-2. This tactic was extended this week for much longer, with MP3 playing 4-2-3-1 for over an hour against South Port. The tactic seemed to be working in the first half with the good guys enjoying a fair bit of possession in midfield. Big Mac and Rich Abbey formed an imposing barrier in front of the retooled back four, led by Dutch Thunder at sweeper. Andy Webster and Rob Ledger provided the width on the wings, while Andy Lumsden and Ian Sadler were full of running in their roles and solo striker and attacking midfielder, respectively.

South Port were content to play mostly a counterattack style in the opening stages. However, although they had pace from their wide players, they were capably neutralised by the disciplined performances of fullbacks Parmar and Dave “G-man” Godden. Mark “Veal” Schnitzius was also very effective in his stopper role. All was going well for the 3s until the wheels momentarily came off at around the half-hour mark. On a rare occasion when the MP3 defence wasn’t tightly man-marking the South Port attackers, Ammers found himself faced with two opposition strikers with the ball at the top of the penalty area. Choosing to take away the shot rather than commit to the tackle, Parmar gave the striker just enough time and space to loft a cross to an unmarked teammate to Ads’ left. After a quality finish, the boys in blue trailed 1-0.

In days past, such a setback would have spelled the end of MP3. However, the boys are made of sterner stuff these days. The good guys got their heads up and took the game to South Port for the rest of the half. Good things followed when it was a case of 3rd time lucky for Big Mac. After seeing an earlier back post header glance wide of the target and another land harmlessly in the ‘keepers’ arms, Dave hammered a firm header into the top of the net from a superb Robby Ledger corner. Last kick of the half, game tied 1-1.

As the teams came back out for the second half, the referee gathered all together for yet another talking too. He made it clear that in the second half, he would be taking a zero tolerance approach to foul language. He insisted that he would show a straight red card to any player using profanity that could be heard from both sidelines. The South Port player-manager, who had come on as a half-time sub, obviously thought he was bluffing, as he unleashed a giant F-bomb at one of his own players early in the 2nd half. The big Scotsman, grumpy as he was after repeated failures in his attempts to acquire a cup of tea from Pikey at the bar during half-time, was true to his word and immediately brandished the red.

Surprisingly, South Port played their best football once they were reduced to ten men. They pressed our boys for the rest of the way, forcing MP3 to concede a worrying number of dangerous corners, while the 3rds could only mount the occasional counterattack. It was clear why South Port is a near permanent fixture atop the league table, as they showed their quality in that second half.

To be fair, though, the Parkers seemed lose a bit of their cohesion when the inevitable string of substitutions started. Alex came on for Rob Ledger at halftime, as did Leon for Ian. Matt Davies also came on for the last half hour, joining Leon up front as MP3 went back to a 4-4-2. Richard Abbey was the last to make way, with Colin coming in at right back and Ammers pushing into central midfield. Although both sides created a few chances, there were to be no more goals. The game ended in a draw. It was a fair result for both sides, although I’d speculate that it meant more to the home team than to the visitors. Undefeated in three matches, MP3 look forward to another tough match, with joint top Caulfield Cougars to visit next week.



MPFC 3rds: Ads, Robin Tunderman, Mark Schnitzius, Dave Godden, Amrit Parmar, Dave MacDowell(Colin Davis, 75), Richard Abbey(Matt Davies, 60), Ian Sadler(Leon Ochsenbein, 46), Rob Ledger(Alex Zuluaga, 46), Andy Webster (Capt.), Andy Lumsden