Match Reports Season 2008
Division 1 Firsts / Reserves | Division 3 Firsts / Reserves

Bianco Cup Round One Saturday 24th/ Sunday 25th May 08

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DIV 1 FIRSTS 3 v 1 MSSC BLUE EAGLES

Stenta (2), Rossi (1)

Sparapani, Ciano, Matthews, Zanin, Drazetic, George, Kari (Rossi), Ripa, Stenta, Sawicki, Manou

The first round of this years cup saw us pitted against perennial pre-season rivals MSSC Blue Eagles at the Glenunga Super dome.  Spirits were high amongst the Wolves pack after securing our first win of the season the week before and watching the 11-0 drubbing the B’s handed out to Vipers (DESPITE HAWKSEY’S SHOCKING MISS!!) in the curtain raiser.  With the week in week out pressure of the league released, Coach Romano took the opportunity to shuffle his deck and try a few things out.  Zanin and Matthews came into defence for the cup-tied Condon and the missing Barolo.  Drazetic was moved deep into the holding midfield role and Kari pushed further up the field.  Ripa and Stenta were thrown into the wing back roles which released the apathetic Sawicki to roam free and graze amongst the fertile lands of the strikers, partnering Manou up front in his first start of ‘08.

The Wolves began slowly though as we were lulled into a false sense of security by a combination of the glorious Saturday afternoon weather, and our opponents not making their way out of the change rooms until 5 minutes before kick off.  Weathering the early storm though, our midfield soon took control and it wasn’t long before we were creating chances.  The first goal was reminiscent of a five year old’s birthday party where the piñata was the main attraction.  After a long throw by the old Manou, which landed virtually on the goal line, the Iggies players lined up to have their swing.  Stenta, Kari, (maybe even George) and anyone else who was in the vicinity of the Blue Eagles goal mouth took turns at beating the piñata ball, but to no avail…it would not cross the line!  Stenta finally managed to bumble the ball over the line and spill the sweets with a tap-in that was destined to be the easiest goal of the year.

At 1-0 we were confident and switched over into cruise control.  One attack after the other lead to goal scoring opportunities with the quality of Iggies play improving with every venture forward.  The pick of these was a neat little passing play that started with George winning a tough ball in the midfield before a string of first time passes between Kari, Stenta, Sawicki and Manou ended with a shot on goal that just went wide.  Ripa was menacing out wide with the veteran squeezing everything out of his sinewy muscles.  The back three had things well covered too and Sparapani was solid when called into action.  Even Drazetic, battling this season with his well known ‘Mark Cosgrove-like’ issues, was more than a solid contributor.  But things were a little too easy, and just as we were beginning to feel comfortable, we relaxed and Blue Eagles equalised.  We would again concede from a corner, but this time it would be via an own goal.  The ball swung in wickedly and was flicked on at the front post by a Blue Eagles player before being volleyed beautifully by Ripa into his own net.  If it had gone in the other end, the volley could possibly have been a contender for goal of the year.  1-1 at the half then.

Coach Romano resisted ringing in the changes as he so often does at the half and it paid off.  The Wolves came at Blue Eagles again with renewed vigour and confidence and, although the scores remained deadlocked for quite a while, it always seemed like we had the calibre of players to score and take the win.  The goal would come from some hard work up front by Manou, who chased down a loose ball with more tenacity than one would expect from the newly reformed ‘Mr Mum’.  Manou’s blistering pace caused panic between the keeper and last man of the opposition who tackled each other near the edge of the box.  Pouncing on the loose ball, Manou played a square ball to the incoming Stenta who passed the ball into the back of the empty net.  This goal would now undoubtedly become this years easiest.

At 2-1 Coach Romano bought on ‘the sperm’ – AKA Rossi – in a move he described as ‘tactically great’.  Rossi again had the desired effect by playing another valuable role off the bench.  Between himself, Ripa and Manou, many chances were created.  Manou had probably the best two of these but proved that he had left the ‘scoring boots’ at home by missing both.  Rossi smashed the final nail in the coffin with a neat finish with about 10 to go after being put through with a superb ball by (I can’t actually remember).  Overall, it was one of the most assured performances by this group, albeit against lesser opposition.  We now turn our gaze to next weeks match against our rivals from last season, Africa United Allstars down at Cowandilla.  President Uren is expecting big things from the Wolves and plenty of goals, especially considering our two matches last year ended 4-3 and 5-4 respectively.

DIV 1 RESERVES 11 V 0 VIPERS FC

Scorers- Dario 3, Hawkes 2, Kostadinov 2, Barone 2, Dieso 1, Sparapans 1

As another cup journey started for the 1Bs against Vipers FC at Glenunga, all players were keen to put our poor form from the last two weeks behind us and get back on winning terms.

After much deliberation coach Sparapani decided to remain with our 4-4-2 setup, keeping with the flat back four that brought us success early in the season. The message was clear from the outset if we didn’t score at least 5 goals then there would be trouble!

With this message clear, the Old Ignatians dominated the game from the first whistle knocking the ball around at will. With the side playing its best possession football for some-time it was only a matter time before we would break through the stacked Viper’s defense, with Bar-One making a wonderful run down the right channel and slotting the ball calmly past the on-coming keeper.

The 1Bs continued to hold large chunks of possession throughout the first half but were finding it difficult at times to break down the resolute Viper’s defense. This was until speed-wagon Pavia won the ball and made a great run into the 18 yard box before being fouled and awarded a penalty. He calmly slotted it away.

The 1st half ended much like it began with Viper’s not getting a sniff. Finally, just as the first half drew to a close our Dutch-like style of football created another goal that was calmly finished off by ( I’m not entirely sure who scored this goal, Hawkesy I think).

The half time talk called by focus from all and to continue to play the football from the first half.

We started the second half lazily losing possession in our own half and almost conceded from a corner. To the teams credit we quickly re-focused and began to absolutely tear Vipers apart. Even though we only had two on the bench our superior fitness allowed us to run other Vipers and net 8 goals in the second stanza.

Good game by all, but our attention must quickly be turned to our next league game where we must surely win in order to keep in touch with the leaders.

DIV 3 FIRSTS 2 V 7 SALISBURY VILLA

Lineup: Callaghan; Condon, J.Kitching, Caeran (Angley), A. Rossi; Al-Hinai (D. Ciccarello), Cosentino, A. Kitching, Ortner; Woods, Balestrin

Goalscorers: J. Kitching (pen), Balestrin

This was a perfect opportunity, given the progress made in the previous 135 minutes of football played, to test ourselves against the best opposition in Division 3 without any ramifications to the relegation battle.  We had been humbled by Villa 9-0 in the second round of the season and were determined to at least give a good showing of our selves.  We were a completely different team as well: Callaghan stepping up to play in goal, Chief making his debut for the 3As, Cosi and Balley facing off against Villa for the first time, as well as missing 7 players who had played that day.  Only 6 of the 13 who played in last week’s win against Murray Bridge backed up this week.

It was emphasised pre-game that the last game against them was history.  Missing both of the first-choice centre-backs, Captain Kitcho went into the heart of defence, and his younger (and better looking) brother moved into defensive midfield.  Aside from that switch, the team lined up as expected in a 4-4-2.  The Baxter Detention Centre was cleaner this time, which was a bonus.

The initial period of the game saw OISC sit back and soak up a considerable amount of pressure.  Villa had two young African boys with excellent agility and acceleration.  Consequently, Captain Kitcho sat behind Caeran and played as a sweeper, controlling the channel in front of him.  Condon was his usual composed self to the right, whilst ‘Fernando Torres look-a-like’ Rossi on the left bore the significant brunt of the Villa attacks.  After the initial period, we became more adventurous and the Omani terrorist Al-Hinai decided to plant a bomb in the Villa defence, going on a number of mazy runs.  However, we lacked precision in the final third and were unable to test the Villa ‘keeper.

A nothing ball up the line amazingly provided the opening score, and we can proudly say we led against Salisbury Villa for approximately 30 seconds.  Ortner ran onto to the ball placed behind two defenders, beat them both to the ball, and was brought down inside the box for a penalty.  Captain Kitcho stepped up and found the ref had placed the ball in a ditch behind the white penalty spot.  After placing the ball on the white penalty spot, and ref proceeded to inform him that the white spot marked was not correct, and that he would have to take the penalty from the ditch.  A weaker man may have crumbled, but given that the Salisbury Villa goalkeeper was already dreaming of the shaslicks on the BBQ, Captain Kitcho only had to place the ball to ensure a score – which he did, to the left of goal.

Unfortunately this lead was brief.  A harmless ball down their right wing was knocked into the box and struck the arm of Rossi.  A cruel blow for the youngster, especially considering the proximity of the referee to the situation (read: centre circle).  Callaghan had no chance as the Villa striker buried the penalty. 

Within 10 minutes we went behind.  A sloppy clearance in the box bounced awkwardly in front of Captain Kitcho, ricocheting off of his knee and perfectly into the run of the incoming left winger, who tapped in from two yards.  To the credit of the boys, they did not drop their heads, and Balestrin scored a wonderful individual goal to level the scores.  Robbing the ball off of Villa’s left back, Balley beat one man before running at a second.  Obviously expecting Balley to turn onto his right foot, our left-footed wonder striker turned the defender inside out and curled the ball into the bottom right corner from 18 yards.  However, the impromptu ‘Bebeto’ celebration by the striker – the waving of the arms to signify the birth of a child – had the local Salisbury lasses lining up for a shot with the blonde bombshell.  Meanwhile, Caeran could be heard in Melbourne shouting out ‘That’s my cousin, that’s my cousin’, in an attempt to jump on the glory bandwagon of the goal.

We holed up for the rest of the half but were let down right at the end.  Cosentino and Chief had been extremely solid in midfield, not allowing their creative players any freedom, whilst Caeran had been immense in man-marking Villa’s lone striker.  We failed to clear a corner properly, three men standing and watching the ball, and one of Villa’s young Africans popped up to slam the ball in the back of the net and take the lead with them to half time. 

We had by no means disgraced ourselves in the first half (we were 6-0 down at half time in the previous fixture) and were determined not to allow Villa to run away with the game.  However, their superior creativity eventually overwhelmed us in the second half as we began to run out of legs on the horse paddock that we were playing on.

We conceded a soft goal at the start of the half which knocked the wind out of our sails.  Callaghan should have picked up a ball rather than kicking it, clearing it straight to their striker who knocked it into the net.  We were under siege for the rest of the half as their midfield took control.  Caeran re-injured his damaged ankle and Angley came on up front, forcing a reshuffle at the back.  As a result, the brothers Kitch lined up alongside each other in defence for the first time. 

Although we held out for a significant period, Villa knocked in three goals in the final 20 minutes (as well as hit the post three times) to add some polish to the scoreboard.  The first was an unfortunate own goal by Callaghan – a shot bounced off the crossbar and hit in the back and rolled over the line, the second was a long-ball scramble in which the Villa attacker beat our defenders and Callaghan to the ball, whilst the third came with the last kick of the game, a one-on-one.

Despite the final score, for 60 minutes we had matched it with the best team in Division 3, taken the lead against them, and equalised.  Had the soft goal conceded right on the stroke of half time been prevented, a completely different scenario would have potentially played out in the second half.  However, mistakes were made and Villa’s class ultimately pushed them over the line.  We approach the Strathalbyn game this week with quiet confidence, although as we found out in McClaren Vale, we have to be switched on from the start.

DIV 3 RESERVES 0 V 11 ELIZABETH DOWNS

Lissner, Trengrove (Hurt), Craig Walker (C),  Jimenez, Nastasie,  Fantasia, J Bolognase, Brett Durand, Earls, M Bolognase, Green (Innamorati) 

Cup time is always an exciting time as we all know anything can happen! However the odds of anything but a loss this weekend were pretty low. Think Morecambe VS Man United and you have an idea of the monstrous task that was ahead of our innocent Div 3 reserves boys.

The referee stamped his authority early by visiting both teams prior to kick off and giving everyone a run down on the kind of conduct he expected, this settled the nerves with a few boys giving off sighs of relief that they might actually come home alive.

With our six spectators keeping one eye on our cars and bags and the other on us, the boys warmed up with vigor, Innamorati giving Bacon an excellent preparation for a busy day. A quick word from jimmy and the rest was up to fate.

“Welcome to the Downs!!!” were the first words Robbie Fantasia heard as he climbed out of the crowd after he had been floored by a ridiculous body check 2 min after kick off. The 50 strong downs supporters cheering in adulation at the destruction of the Italian work horse – Robbie was effectively out of the game after that hit – to his credit he played on with the heart of a stallion.

The Downs came hard through the middle early looking for an early goal. With great defense work from Durand, Jimmenez and the Journeyman Center back El Capitan’ Texas Walker – the downs had great difficulty, ultimately resorting to shooting from distance or attempting the long ball to the strikers. After a solid 15-20 min of back against the wall defending the downs got their first goal, which was soon followed up by another within the next 5min. Then Bacon got his chance in the spotlight, a dubious penalty awarded – a downer stepped up and blasted it top right, bacon flew with the grace of a dove pushing the shot wide!...... Then he woke up, realizing that he had essentially fallen over and the ball had been shot him, with cat like reflexes he threw his body on the ball to prevent the follow up. To be fair it was great work for someone who has as much experience between the sticks as Balley does with women ; )

Iggies put in a great defensive performance for the next 20 holding the downers at bay. The downers realizing iggies strength through the middle changed their strategy and started to play down the wings exposing our experience and speed. Another two goals came just before the half, the reality is, it was a fair indication of the strength of the downs.

Jimmy gave an inspiring talk at half time that visibly lifted the boys – with Innamorati coming into the middle for Matt Green who had to leave, tom earls was pushed forward with Mick Bolognase.  Innamorati linked well with Durand early and brought the forwards into the game more, we even managed to get called offside! Alas the very disciplined side that is the downs kept their heads and even showed iggies enough respect to keep at the game and continue to chase goals without much thought to the score line or taking the easy route of backing off completely.

Danzo came on for the ever sturdy Trengrove at right back and I’m sure he enjoyed the experience. After the amount of work the Downers put him through he may want to put the gloves back on.

After the 60’th minute mark it was all downhill as the downs attacked in more waves than Japanese WWII Kamikaze planes. The inevitable final score –     11 – 0.

Overall it was a great learning experience, the Downs are easily the best competition we will ever play against, and surprisingly not for individual talent, but for their unsurpassed discipline and drilled playing style. After being showed how football is played, there is a lot we should take away from the experience. The boys should also take heart in the fact that for long periods the downs really had to work to get their goals and if their finnishing hadn’t been so precise then the score line would have been a lot slimmer. Hopefully we can use what we were shown in next league game and play as a better team.

I’ll leave you with some inspirational keywords from the Morecambe coach Mark Lillis “What will get us results? Character. Commitment. Spirit. Professionalism. In it Together. Belief. Hard Work.”