Soccer

Last week was the first official game of the season with the new Middle Park "veterans" team (over 35). We lost 9-0 but it was still a lot of fun and by all accounts, despite the score line, we didn't play all that bad. I was highly out of shape after my USA trip and even had to put up my hand and come off at one point (luckily there's free substitution in this league).

The official account:

Rd01 V South Park Rangers (Away)
Thu, 2008-04-17 11:54 — pwiddows

South Park 9- Middle Park 0

The all white strip in which the team took to the pitch for the inaugural Veterans league match conjured up images of Real Madrid. This similarity was strengthened further with a number of our starting line-up sporting the Zinedine Zidane hairstyle. However, the 9-0 pasting from South Park suggested that any comparison with the Galacticos, like a 16yo in the process of losing his virginity, will be premature. Real Madrid? Try Real Bad.

Bizarre as it sounds though, as 9-0 defeats go, this was one of the better ones. If anything, the Parkers were unlucky to draw in 1st round opponents in South Park, a team made up of ex Port and South Melbourne players and while we didn’t have goals to celebrate, there was plenty to suggest that things will improve once the team begins to gel and adapts to the different (read slower) pace of the Veterans comp.

Slower doesn’t mean worse and some of the South Park goals (especially the opener) and play wouldn’t have been out of place at a higher, or younger, grade. Middle Park saw plenty of the ball too. While Pete’s post match assertion that the Vets had 60% of the possession was generous (unless he’s also included as possession the time Graham spent picking the ball out of the back of his net), the comment did contain a modicum of truth. Too often though, possession was wasted as we tried to play a style of game that didn’t suit our level of fitness. South Park didn’t have a great deal more possession but what they had was efficient and controlled.

The scoreline indicates that the only thing the Giganticos (like the Galacticos-just bigger) of Middle Park threatened was the stitching on their X-L tops, however the team did have a number of chances which on another day may have resulted in a swag of goals. Marty’s header from a corner disallowed for an imaginary infringement while the score was 0-1, Pete’s cracking free kick that smacked the cross bar and Scott’s header again off the cross bar early in the second half all hint of what might have been, and hopefully what will be as the season unfolds.

Certainly, a team with a spine that includes Graham “ the Cat” Wallace (the only cat with 9 goals instead of 9 lives), Adrian Pender at the back, Richard Cook & Dom in centre midfield and Scott McGregor & Goran upfront will be competitive and pick up results. More game-time under our belts and some learnings from the game just gone will help this process. Roll on next week and the chance to get off the mark.