2008 ROUND 14
LUSC Old Boys vs Ashburton 5 - 2

Goals:

Cifone, Paul (1)
Berends, Derrick (5)
Carmichael, Matthew (38)
Wilkinson, Ian (58)
Phillips, Gabriel (62)

Go Back to Old Boys Team Page here


The Flight of the Bald Eagle

Having only beaten Ashburton 12:0 in the first game, the Bald Eagles knew they were lucky to get away with that win, and that the opposition would be looking for revenge. However, no one was prepared for the underhanded tactics that Ashburton were willing to resort to, to keep the game under double digits.

When the La Trobe players arrived at the ground two minutes prior to kick-off, they were confronted with some sort of brown, wet, sticky substance unbeknown to many of the players. Gerry and Wilko was able to revert back to early La Trobe historical records and inform us that this substance, commonly called ‘mud’, had in fact been prolific at La Trobe during the 1980’s before its demise. The big question now was how did it get there? Initially, the players thought that either Paul “Captain Bug” Umina had returned form Africa for a field experiment on Ashburton worms, or possibly the great Irishman O’Cif had been dabbling in a bit of outdoor potato growing before choosing his now preferred hydroponic method.

However, it has now come to light that the Ashburton groundskeepers were up throughout the night watering the pitch in order to slow it down. Apparently, they were concerned about the speed of Gonis, who caused so much damage in their first encounter. If they could only negate the effect of the rampaging G-train and his counterpart Wilko up front then they might have some chance. As a result, the selection committee had to make the hard decision to drop fast midfielders such as Gonis and Tranner, instead, bringing back the likes of the slower Robbie Slater, Luca and the Gabmesiter. Jimmy Zap was a late arrival and the boys are a little concerned about his state of mind at the moment. Not knowing what the scores are, who won, where the game is! It might be time to sit him down with club psychologist Moutis for a session.

After the dirty tactics of ‘pitch-tampering’, the La Trobe coaching staff got together pre-match to work out a counter plan of attack. What Gabmeister and Boz came up with was nothing short of coaching brilliance! Knowing full well that Ashburton had done their homework and were prepared for man on man tagging tactics, La Trobe decided that they would start the game with two less players (although this was quickly changed to one as it was pointed out that they probably should start with a keeper). With one extra player, the Ashburton team was in disarrays, utterly confused on who was going to mark their own free man. La Trobe capitalized on this and Paul Cif had a goal on the board within a minute. Within five minutes, Boz had headed in La Trobes second goal, after a great corner from the Gabmeister. The Bald Eagles brought on the 11th man which almost proved to be a tactical blunder as Ashburton quickly replied with a goal after the defence were caught out discussing the health benefits of mud and its natural healing properties.

The Thai Superfreak showed his diverse skills by ’volunteering’ as goal keeper. He was put to the test when Thunder Tek brought down the Ashburton forward in the box for a penalty. Television replays showed that Thunder didn’t actually make contact with the player but rather a combination of Thunder G forces, the resulting minor earth tremble and the Ashburton player absolutely ‘packing his dacks’ as Thunder bore down on him caused the fall. Unfortunately, the Thai Superfreak had his contacts in back-to-front and was completely deceived by the penalty. At 2:2, Ashburton lifted and couldn’t believe they were still on level terms a third of the way through the game. A great first half performance by Robbie Slater was rewarded with a goal at the 38 minute mark. Paul Cif worked hard up front with Sava who constantly demanded the ball be put at his feet. They were unlucky not to be further ahead at half time.

The boys came out strong in the second half and were rewarded when Wilko put in the fourth goal in a goal box scramble at the 58th minute. The goalie rotation policy has worked wonders this year and it was decided that Wilko would be handed the golden gloves (or brown gloves) and become the ninth Bald Eagle keeper for the year. Gab scored the fifth goal a few minutes later after a misjudged cross from the keeper was dropped at his feet for an easy put away. Robbie Slater put in all day and with potential sponsors watching, showed that the big red billboard on top of his head would be perfect for advertising. Today it was the brand of soccer ball they played with, tomorrow it could be Jim Beam and Cola. Watch this space! The game wasn’t pretty to watch however the boys all put in well with strong performances by everyone in trying conditions. With the top team dropping points on the weekend, the clash between La Trobe and South Yarra is building to be the Grinders Game of the Day.