Friday 25 March 2016

Back from the dead!

Some of you may have been wondering what has been going on for the past month or so. To cut a long story short I cracked the screen on my laptop just before Round 1 and have been out of action since then. If I didn't break it then, I would have a week later, purposely. I've only managed to get around to buying a new one this week which why there has been no activity up until now. 

 Quite a bit has happened since I reported on the Friendship Cup. Some of the bigger things you may have noticed at Knights Stadium this year are the new fence and the new car park. Even without going to Knights Stadium you more than likely would have seen or heard about #FenceGate with the coverage it got on social media. 
Knights Stadium
Melbourne Knights Car Park
Cosmetically not too much has changed at Knights Stadium in the past 10 years, which makes these improvements look and feel even better. When I heard about the new car park I was expecting it to be asphalted to match what the majority of the existing asphalt looks like, but boy was I in for a surprise. We have gone from crushed rock and recycled asphalt plagued with puddles and pot holes to not just one of the best car parks in the sport, but in the country world. It kind of felt weird that for once the club had actually done something properly. Full credit to Tony Karlusic, his board and all others involved for getting this and the fence done.

 As good as the car park, it's hidden away from most people that don't have the privilege of parking there like sponsors and players/officials. Which is why the new fence is rightfully more impressive and important. Gone are the 'dark days of the NSL' where players and supporters were separated by barbed wire. Whilst I do admire the intimidating feel of a nice tall wire fence, nothing looks neater that a nice short fence that you can lean on while telling an opposition player what you really think of them.
So impressive is the new fence it even prompted Les Street to come down and take a few snaps. It seems to have had such an impact that I even overheard people still commenting on it at the game last night.

 The last and most recent change to the venue (which I don't believe was at the hands of the football side of the club) was the removal of the trees between the South end of the ground and the club rooms. It's not that I liked the trees that were there, but it kind of just feels too empty now.

 So onto our opening match of the 2016 NPL season against overrated and talked up Green Gully. The first thing I noticed after the car park and fence was the new and improved match day programme. Like with the car park and the fence, it is a massive leap forward compared to the black and white edition that was photocopied in the clubs office up until now.
I'm not going to claim to know what an A-league match day programme looks like, but I somehow doubt that any of them would be better. Full credit to the Knights media team and anyone that has contributed to the quality content that has gone to print so far.
As far as the match itself goes. I don't think anyone would have turned down a point if it was offered to us pregame. I mentioned a lack of preparation for the season and it clearly showed in the first half. Fortunately for us we only managed to concede once and a returning Jacob Colosimo was on hand to level the game to send us all home satisfied with the result. It's a shame the same thing couldn't be said about the next game!

 In my 20+ years of supporting the club, I cannot once recall contemplating leaving a match early because of the result. The opening 20 minutes against Heidelberg were an absolute disgrace. Without a doubt the worst opening to a match I have ever witnessed, with the overall result not being too far off what South Melbourne did to us the year Adrian Cagalj came off injured early in the first half at Bob Jane Stadium. I don't think we can put this down to a lack of preparation, rather a lack of desire to want to even play. Our half hearted attempt of playing the game coupled with Heidelberg coming out with a point to prove after being embarrassed by South Melbourne led to a perfect storm. As I mentioned earlier, If I hadn't already broken my laptop, I would have then. Perhaps it was better I didn't have an avenue to vent after the events that took place that day.

 Our first victory of the season in our third match against a Northcote side that many will tip to go down this year. While our performance was much better than the week before, it's safe to say that Northcote were no where near the standard of Heidelberg. I was pleased with our first half and thought we should have punished them even more, but was left quite frustrated when we let them back into the game in the second half. Even though I felt that we still weren't playing quite as well as we should be, it was an improvement on the first two games. Fraser Chalmers made his debut and looked comfortable from the get go. And again it's a shame I couldn't say the same about the next game!

 I wasn't quite sure what to make of our fourth game at Port Melbourne as I don't know too much about their squad. The only thing I do know is our record has been fairly good there in the past few years, which I guess counts for something. We didn't make the best start to the match with Port being in control from early on, and it didn't get any better when Chalmers kicked the ball straight out to Port Melbourne leaving captain Milan Batur with little choice but to take the man down in the area awarding them a penalty and himself a couple of weeks off. Luckily though Chalmers redeemed himself by making a save and keeping us level. It seemed luck was on our side from then as Port Melbourne continued to waste any opportunity they had in our area, whilst we took our chance up the other end with a penalty of our own, as Jacob Colosimo made it 3 goals from 3 appearances. Seemed though that luck didn't want to stay on our side with Port being awarded yet another penalty that they weren't going to miss this time. Even though we didn't take our chance to snatch all 3 points in the end, I think we were all content with the point and proud of the way the boys (majority of them very young) fought for each other and gave it there all. It felt like we had gone from a side mixed with new individuals to a team.

 Once again the FFV fucked up royally with the commencement of the FFA Cup for NPL sides. Not only did they have the draw 3 days before the first game, but made a 'catch up round' in the league to accommodate for the fixtures. As much as they like to label it as the FFA Cup this early on, no one really gives a shit for these rounds, especially when you draw Eltham Red Backs. So rather than scheduling the matches over the Easter weekend when no one goes to the games anyway, they do it a week before when clubs could have maintained healthy early season crowds. Great job guys (thumbs up).
Regardless of which lower league team we draw, it's always good for the boys to get a bit of a confidence boost. Was also great to see us not take them for granted and put out a full strength team from the first minute. Not sure when the next fixtures will be drawn but you would hope it's more than 3 days in advance.

 And finally we are back to last night, which brings me back up to date. With the courage we showed against Port and the confidence booster last week, I felt quite confident going into this match. Always difficult going up against a newly promoted side early on as they are still unknown. The addition of 3 of our former players (Alinejad, Colosimo, Covarrubias) as well as Griffin McMaster in goals suggests that they can't be too bad, but results so far wouldn't suggest they are excellent either (despite drawing to the mighty South Melbourne, more on them soon). Thought we started well and had the better of the play in the first half and deservedly took the lead through Hicks who get's more impressive each week. Even sweeter that he left South for us who said they didn't need him when they found out he left, but talked him up when they first signed him. Fraser Chalmers also pulled off a killer save in the first half which is becoming the norm for him. I'm going to put it out there now and say he is better than Chris May (who is looking for somewhere to buy metal studs because of something about all the grounds being no good, didn't have a problem when you were keeper of the year with us last season? Hmm.) The second half should have seen us 2-0 up with Hicks missing a clear cut chance. And former player Covarrubias could have leveled at the death when he blasted over the bar from inside the box. Would have really hurt to concede in the 95th minute when there was meant to be 4 minutes added on even though there was barely 2 minutes of stoppages? Anyway overall I was pleased with the way we played and obviously the result. Seems like we are starting to gel nicely now and should only keep getting better each week as we have been up until now.

 Next week we take on the other newly promoted side in Richmond. Looking forward to getting back to their ground for a good feed. Always liked them as a club and felt very comfortable and welcome whenever we have played there. Got a funny story about them actually, not too funny because we face them next but funny because of who they did it to.

Trailing 1-3 to world beaters South Melbourne at half time, they came out in the second half to smash 5 goals past the Oceania Super-Club of the Century to take their first 3 points in a 6-3 romp. That's pretty funny, right?
Back in about a week provided I don't break my laptop again.

 Wishing you all a very safe and Happy Easter!
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