I know it is a Cliche, but a week in Football is a long time.
Today we travelled to Caloola Reserve to play Monash, who were sitting on equal points with us at the top of the ladder, only 1 goal separated us from 1st and 2nd spot. It was a cool and clear morning, and the ground was in good condition, albeit the early morning dew would make for a skidding and slippery ball.
The result of this match would determine who moves to a clear lead on top of the ladder, with the looser more than likely dropping to 3rd spot, as it was likely that Bulleen would win their match against Manningham.
Monash were warming up by 8.15am, so we could tell that they were serious about giving us a run for our money. Our boys had trained well during the week and were really looking forward to a competitive game. You could feel the sense of anticipation around the ground and everyone was keenly waiting for the game to get underway.
Our Ref today was a young man called Xavier, who plays U13A grade Soccer. Upon speaking to him prior to the match, I could tell that he was nervous. Unfortunately this nervousness manifested itself during the first half in the form of a lack of confidence in making decisions. Those decisions that were made, often went the wrong way, which not only frustrated both teams but also created more tension on the sidelines.
It was disappointing that the FFV put this young man in such a situation, especially given that this match was always going to have a lot of emotion attached to it. The FFV did send down a Supervising Referee to watch him, but he did not arrive until late in the first half when the damage had been done. As such the senior referee took over the 2nd half of the game. I hope that this budding young Ref was not too disheartened by his experience today and that he continues to learn his trade.
Getting back to the game, it was Monash who came out on the attack and they were unlucky not to score in the opening minutes. Slowly Box Hill started to get into the game, but it was obvious from early on that we were playing well within ourselves. Monash were awarded a dubious free kick on the edge of the 18 yard box midway through the 1st half. Their player hit the ball very well and Billy managed to parry it down, but failed to take it cleanly, allowing a Monash player to pounce and kick the ball out of his hands for their first goal. Some might say that Billy was infringed by the Monash player, but the scored remained.
Box Hill tried to rally after that and we did have a couple of good chances to equalise. However try as we might we could not finish effectively and we went to the break 1 nil down. The 2nd half saw Monash come out strongly and press us hard. There was a lot of play in and around the box and Monash were doing everything they could to keep the pressure on our defenders. Eventually they scored their 2nd goal after we failed to effectively clear a ball from wide of the box, the cross being finished clinically by their forward.
Late in the 2nd half we did manage to get some forward movement underway, but once again the resolute Monash defence cleared the ball effectively. On the final whistle we actually did manage to score a consolation goal, but it was disallowed due to an infringement in the box.
So our first defeat for the season and a solid wake up call for all of the boys. Stackie was disappointed with the efforts of many of the boys today, especially in a game that had so much riding on it. The result has now seen us drop from 1st to 3rd on the ladder, with Eastern Lions only 4 points behind us.
Qualifying for 'A' league next season is not a Lay Down Misere and we must work hard every week to ensure that we finish in the top 3 at the end of the season.
I think the game was summed up best by one of the Monash players after the game. As he walked around congratulating his team mates he simply said, "Well done boys, we wanted it more than they did..."
Life is tough at the top and even tougher in 3rd place...
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