Probably the coldest, most miserable day that I have ever had to watch a game of football. I can remember wetter days, but not any as cold as it was at Gardiner's Creek Reserve today. Our Round 16 clash with Eastern Lions was always going to be a challenging encounter, but the conditions just made it that much more difficult for both teams.
As it turned out Eastern Lions had come to play and salvage some pride for their season. They are a good side and have been competitive all season, only missing out to Monash, Bulleen and ourselves. Our mission was to walk away with 3 points and stay in touch with Monash....we would be happy with a 1 goal victory.
The match however turned out to be quite a tussle for possession with most of the play staying in the middle of the park. The Lions were able to defend very well in the early stages and even managed some nice counter attacks. Their athletic striker was always looking dangerous and if not for some clever defending on our part, he would have been through with the ball on a few occasions.
Once again our finishing let us down and we went to the half time break with both teams failing to impact the scoreboard. I have never seen 2 teams vacate a ground so quickly at half time, such was the bitter cold. In the change rooms you could hardly hear Stackie's voice over the clatter of shivering teeth !
The 2nd half was better for us and we managed to keep most of the play in our attacking half. Eastern Lions were defending well and their Keeper was getting a good workout at the same time. However the long ball out of defence was always a threat and at one stage it was just Billy vs their Striker....the ball going wide of the post....luckily.
Our chances kept presenting, but we either hit the ball wide, hit the woodwork or hit the Keeper....it just wasn't going to happen for us today. So we walked away with a point each from a very busy encounter with both teams working hard in challenging conditions. Needless to say that unless there is devine intervention we probably won't be able to catch Monash at the top of the ladder.
A bye next week with the catch up round taking place, but we have a couple of Wed night games planned with Knox City and Croydon City Arrows.
We also have the Cross Border Trophy taking place in late September which will be a fantastic finish to the season for all of the lads.
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