30/03/2014 St John Bosco 1-7 Kirrawee Kangas Grays Point Possum Pit Attendance: 22,400 (sold out) The first match of a season is like peering through the windscreen while driving down a foggy highway, often quietly confident of what lies ahead, but any twist, turn or absolute thunderbastard of a shot can catch you off guard and shatter your dreams. It’s often why teams approach the early games with caution. Not Justin Ng and his tricky Kangas. With a double promotion following last season’s much publicised premiership and the recent announcement of a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Asahi, alongside three big money signings, the Kirrawee Kangas have made no attempt to talk down expectations. Both player/manager Ng and his skipper Brendan Hill have affirmed that another title is the goal for 2014 while speaking in their pre-match presser. This confidence seems to have rubbed off onto their fellow squad members, none more so than Damian Sebastian who nonchalantly swaggered into the stadium late and sipping a chai latte. As the season got underway at the “Possum Pit”, cracks appeared early on at the carpark end on a pitch described as “absolutely shithouse” by new midfielder Christian Zeleny, before adding that “I wouldn’t have to put up with this sort of shit if I stayed in the 1s”. Kirrawee conceded an early goal after failing to deal with a Bosco quick throw, allowing them to get in behind and shoot past goalkeeper Brad Schmoif, who had made a good one-on-one save minutes earlier. Brendan Hill’s socialist gesture of wearing no armband to promote equality amongst his squad – perhaps also in tribute to the upcoming anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution – appeared to have backfired and the Kangas were staring down the barrel of an unexpected loss. They responded well however, unlike David Housley when asked why he was wearing a jumper in 25 degree heat, and created a number of chances only for the profligacy of the team’s strikers meaning they remained behind; Sebastian the biggest culprit as a Zeleny rocket – which easily could break a car’s windscreen if you ask me – was parried into his path. Sebo calmly strode to the ball and casually passed the ball to the Bosco keeper who was lying helplessly on the ground. Will “Frumpy” Edwards – who EA Sports have just announced has been given a passing attribute of 0 on their latest title FIFA 14: Kangas Dynasty – eventually drew Kirrawee level but the charity resumed as Schmoif shanked a penalty wide. Nonetheless, the Kangas pressed on and were winning the ball back quickly before clever ball movement and intelligent runs helped slice Bosco open time and time again ensuring they scored again before halftime to take a deserved 2-1 lead into the break. The start of the second 45 proved why this team are title favourites and was a thing of beauty, rivalled only by Michael Flatley’s stirring performance at his Riverdance farewell all those years ago. From the kick-off the ball was moved between 9 Kangas; front to back, back to front; before culminating in a delicate passing move between Sebastian and Wishart with the former gliding past the onrushing keeper with the elegance of a Korean ice dancer practicing in an Autumn sunrise and coolly slotting into the net. It’s moments like this where his title of “the Black Pele” seem most apt. (On a side note, the cohesion between these two players of distinctly different cultures and upbringings – one on the mean streets of Kuala Lumpur and the other in the NT outback – should be made into a DVD and sent out to all public schools for Harmony Day as proof we can all exist together peacefully). 3-1 and a crushing blow to the Bosconians, less than a minute into the second half. The frustration really crept into their play with both Houston and Wishart taking exception to a few cynical tackles that went unpunished thanks to a referee less inclined to dish out cheese than a Meals on Wheels for the lactose intolerant. If St John Bosco was the patron saint of late tackles then my word the name is fitting. The goals continued to tumble in with mazy runs from Egyptian attacking midfielder John Beshay, fullbacks David Mooney and Sean Johnson bombing on and incisive passing from Chris Big Dog Bielby feeding Edwards and Sebastian who finished with 3 and 4 goals respectively. The mixture of possession football and brutal counter-attacking have drawn comparisons to Bayern Munich from the media and today’s clinical second half will not put those comparisons to bed any time soon. Aside from a brief spell in the first 15 minutes Schmoif was rarely troubled in goal thanks to a solid performance from the back four and even got to enjoy a late cameo up front, much to the delight of the travelling supporters, hopefully helping them forget the lacklustre performance from star player Matt Bielby, who looked seriously off the pace following a rough bout with the flu last week, and the absence of injured duo Alessandro Del Humphrio and Phillippé Morahané. 3 points for the Kangas and top of the league, they’ll be hoping they can stay there with a solid performance next week in the first home game of the season at the newly named Asahi SuperDry Pouch. Copyright Fox Sports Australia 2014
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 09:15:30 +0000
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