Kind of weird to have that name when you lose isn't it?
I was very close to not attending this match. It was one of those worst possible time situations where I had more than enough things to do/places to be at the exact same time. But after weighing things up I don't think I really had a choice. Being so busy I naturally turned up about five minutes late. I do hate being late, but when it's due to my own actions and there is legitimate reason behind it then I am ok with it. I must admit it also felt a little sweet to get some revenge on the person that made us late to Richmond.
As mentioned prior to the match, there were separate entrances for home and away supporters. What they failed to mention about who went to the left and was where they were looking from? Is it to the left walking in or to the left from the other side of the pitch? As far as I could remember it was the opposite of what I would have expected. And in the end probably pointless as Victory officials didn't allow their active supporters inside the venue anyway.
Going into the match I was expecting a 1-1 draw. But quickly changed my mind to a certain win when I found out we pretty much had a full strength squad available. And just our luck that it only stayed that way for half an hour or so, after Ben Surey came off second best in a 50/50 challenge hurting his knee. Still haven't heard anything as yet but I would hope it's not too serious as at his age and with a fair amount of time already spent on the sidelines through injury in the last few years, a serious injury wouldn't leave much hope of seeing him return at the top of his game.
Nikola Jurkovic did well to replace him in what I believe was his best performance for us so far. I also didn't mind see him getting in former player Anthony Duzels face after we got the winner.
— Donald Sutherland (@DonSutherlandMF) May 2, 2016Was somewhat surprised that Victory Youth were on top of us in the opening stages. Not sure if they were good, or we were shit, or there plan was to just try and hit us early and hope for the best. Kind of made for boring viewing until we started to lift our game. Luckily for us there was a group of around 30 or so 'Victory Youth' fans who seemed to look like they couldn't really give a shit about the result and was probably the last reason that they turned up.
No matter how scrappy our opening goal was, it was a great one. Even though were playing the Victory Youth side it was still beautiful to put one past them and take the lead. I thought we would have put a few more post them as by that stage we were well and truly on top of them, but it just wasn't to be. The half time break came but not before a few vocal exchanges between supporter groups. The highlight having to be a handful of them singing something along the lines of Ustase Pickice or some other form of bad grammar. I don't think anyone could help but laugh and applaud them. And more an embarrassment than a highlight was them not only ripping off BBB with their 'If you want to stay alive go home gypsies' chant but the broken English accents they tried putting on while singing it. I understand that when you are a part of something like that you have your ultra goggles on and struggle to see how ridiculous you look. Take for example the 'there is only one team in Melbourne chant'. Well no, clearly there are hundreds of teams in Melbourne. Most of them in existence well before yours. But if you had to pick one team going by name, wouldn't you naturally go with Melbourne CITY?
The second half saw former South man Vaughan Coveny make two early subs allowing Victory Youth step it up a level and get on top of us. An equaliser followed with the goal scorer getting a bit smart with Knights fans. A little disrespectful just like his clubs supporters who repeatedly insisted we make our way home for the sake of our lives. I must commend the members of VicPol who were there guarding them as they braved the threats and stood their ground for the full 90 minutes. Seriously though, why wouldn't you just move them on?
The return of Robbie Zadworny was a very welcome one, with the winger having a few darting runs down the line before his lengthy downtime caught up with him.
For the second time in only a few days, we got another win that dreams are made of when (WHO ELSE BUT) Jason Hicks belted the ball right under the keeper into the back of the net. I don't think a description of the celebratory scenes will be necessary as it's exactly as you would imagine it to be, with not only MCF but most Knights fans in good voice.
Like it always seems the case is with us when we are winning, too many minutes of stoppage time are added. But not enough to further alter the scoreline. The match was over and Victory was ours.
After the conclusion of the match I was stopped by security at the gate who informed me that VicPol had ordered them to keep Knights fans behind for a little while. Kind of stupid if you ask me, and probably now proven to be a dumb idea after what transpired. If you have a group of 30 looking for trouble, isn't it smarter and easier to contain them for a further 15-30 minutes allowing all other fans to leave, rather than allow them to 'leave' and then lead innocent bystanders into a planned ambush? For those that don't know what happened in the car park you're not going to hear it here, I'm sure there are plenty of other places/people you can here it from. But from what I have heard, Melbourne boys are still #1.
The FFA Cup draw took place today and saw us drawn at home to fellow Croatian club Dandenong City. It would be expected that we would progress to the qualifying match for the FFA Cup proper, but I'll just be looking forward to a great night in the Croatian Community.
And finally the big one has come. The original Melbourne Derby. We take on South Melbourne at home this Friday with all females gaining free entry for mothers days. I have nothing else to say about this match other than, Jason Hicks, it's your time to shine!
What happened in the carpark?
ReplyDeleteThe same as any other time in a car park. People made their way home after a match, simple really.
Delete