Magic of the Cup

What a difference five days can make. I was going to touch on our FFA Cup fixture a little in the next post after this Saturdays NPL game, but it definitely needs its own one now.

Absolutely flat out with work these last couple of months and will probably stay that way until I head overseas in about 6 weeks. So I was seriously considering giving this game a miss, especially after our loss on Friday night. In the end I decided to make the long journey to Oakleigh (on my own because no one really wanted to go) and am eternally grateful that I did because it will be a match I will never forget. 

2011 Mirabella Cup Semi Final

There's just something about playing Oakleigh in the Cup that is so fantastic. Our last encounter in the Cup was back in 2011 when we also came from behind to win 2-1 and book our spot in the 'Mirabella Cup' final against Northcote City who went on to win the one and only 'Mirabella Cup'.

The only difference to the starting eleven was the inclusion of our most experienced campaigner Ben Surey, who did well to control the middle of the park. Perhaps the biggest difference tonight was the man between the posts. Michael O'Farrell had an outstanding game, pulling off a save for a definite goal to put Oakleigh up 2-0. If you hadn't watched a Knights match this year, you would have thought he hadn't conceded a goal all year with the confidence he came out with. Great to see that he has been able to pick himself up and have a great match after what he has gone through so far.

Magic of the Cup!

From the get go we were the better decide, and it seemed fairly likely that we would be the side to progress further into the Cup. However an Oakleigh goal just on half time from a quick break gave the hosts and unlikely lead. As the second half wore on, it was looking more and more likely that our Cup run would be ending very early this year, with the baby faced referee not doing us any favors in that regard (wouldn't be surprised if he was a bricklayer to be honest). But, the boys didn't give up. And when the Oakleigh keeper through the ball out to go down with an injury which I believe he was faking just to waste time, the match took a turn. The resulting throw in lead to a corner for us, where Milan Batur leveled in what looked like a bit of a goal mouth scramble. It's fair to say that it felt absolutely fantastic to get an equaliser in the last minute, but I wasn't expecting what happened next. It all happened to quickly that I can't even recall exactly how it happened. Almost immediately after the kick off we gained possession sending the ball straight up to Josh Brekalo who did well to take the ball past the Oakleigh keeper and put it into the roof of the net, sending the small but chaotic number Knights fans completely mental. I mentioned to someone that I hadn't celebrated like that in a while, jumping around like a little kid trying to jump higher than everyone else. It was the kind of finish to a match that you dream of and don't get to experience too often, which makes progression in that Cup that much sweeter. Not sure when the draw is for the next round but it might not matter cause they will probably 'randomly' draw us against South Melbourne again.

Speaking of South Melbourne, didn't they have an eventful NPL match over the weekend? I will leave my comments on that until after our match this Saturday at Epping.

Decided I would give the Oakleigh donuts a go tonight. They weren't as large as your normal donut so I decided to get two. As I was walking up I noticed there was only one left which got me down a little, especially since there was a 10 year old kid there before me eyeing it off. To my relief the guy out the back brought out another 8 hot fresh donuts, when the kid belts out, "I'll have 9 donuts". Are you fucking shitting me kid? 9 donuts? Do you know what all that sugar will do to your teeth? Anyway I waited about two minutes for another batch off fresh ones and they were delicious. And at a low price of $1.50 a donut you can't go wrong. Fresh hot donuts and two goals to win in a minute, is there anything better?