With two-thirds of the Management Team celebrating St Patrick's Day, several key players out injured (without calf's blood or peptides in sight), we entered the game against Balmain low on numbers with one fit reserve ready to be called upon. We also handed a Baggy Green cap to debutant Goalkeeper Karl, keen to make the number one jersey his own with local journalists on hand to analyse the rookie's performance in the custodians role.
We were lucky enough to start the game running with a gale force wind that only Captains of the Sydney - Hobart Yachts would be praying for. Balmain jumped out of the blocks with an attacking fervour but soon hit the breaks against a resilient Maroubra defence marshalled superbly by Jimmy with deputies Francis, Kevin and Dennis stamping their authority over their attacking opponents. Keeper Karl was called upon early in the game when a Balmain forward found some space at the edge of the box and not knowing who to pass to, decided to have a low shot, sending Karl diving to his left and parry the shot past the post which sent the local journalists reaching for their iPads.
After the early Balmain raids, the benefits of the strong breeze at our backs began to influence the game as we were camped in their half for 20 minutes, with the other 20 odd minutes spent retrieving the ball from the canteen and CSP1. When the ball was in play however, we did really well, patiently building up play, with our passing game showing signs of gradually coming together. We were unfortunately undone in the last third with several opportunities going wide of the mark with our best opportunity falling to our left back Dennis. After negotiating the tricky wind, Napoleon was able to swing in a corner which was headed away into the path of a rampaging Dennis who brought the ball under control, flicked it onto his "trusty" left boot and shot passed a hapless goalkeeper only to rattle the cross bar for a goalkick.
At half-time and the score at 0-0, the Balmain lads were jumping for joy thinking the second half would be easier with the wind advantage but the Maroubra reinforcements arrived with Stefano and Justin. Maroubra quickly scuppered Balmain's ideas in the second half of winning the game with Napoleon (and Rod in the first half before succumbing to injury) working tirelessly to stretch the play and the opposition down the flanks, utilising the speed and skill of John, Nelson and Selim. We created several chances again with John and Nelson having their shots saved by the keeper and Stefano with an overhead kick that narrowly floated over the cross bar and potential hamstring injury concerns alleviated.
With the game peetering out to a 0-0 draw, there were plenty of positives to take out of this game. I was extremely impressed with the attitude and commitment shown by every player and lots of positive communication which are key ingredients to forming a successful team. Despite our lack of goals there were encouraging signs and with lots of shooting practice in the coming weeks and working on combinations I am certain our fortunes in front of goal will improve.
Defensively we were strong and congratulations to Karl for keeping a clean sheet, the first of many I envisage and dare I say a smokey for the prestigious "Golden Glove Award" this year.
On the down side, we suffered a few injuries with Rod coming off at half time and Jimmy sustaining a hamstring injury but hopefully will be right to go when the competition starts in 3 weeks.
Team: Karl, Dennis, Francis, Jimmy, Kevin, Napoleon, Rod, John, Selim, Leo, Nelson, Eddie, Justin, Stefano
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