Newcastle vs Perth

Well for personal reasons I had to leave The Muddy Farmer at half time, so will have to follow the rest of the game on the net, but I must say to begin with that I was enjoying the football much more than last night.

Perth deserved that goal. From the first few minutes I was more impressed with what they were trying to do, as much as how they were playing. From now on that's what I'm going to be looking for I think. It's something philosophical.

Not that Newcastle were playing that badly - they weren't, and they had a couple of good opportunities, but when they just lob the ball straight from the defenders to the forwards (well, to Rodriquez), hoping that wonderman will cast the spell, it's boring.

A possible irony occurred to me about these magic imports. I have no doubt they can be great for the Australian game, but is there a risk that teams will base their strategy around the magic players (especially if they're strikers), thus compromising the development of a whole beauty of play? At this stage this is just a thought, but I'm going to be watching for this. Certainly what I love about Roar (acknowledging my bias to be sure) is they have a lot of emphasis on the midfield. Matt McKay is certainly a pleasure to watch, but one of the big hero imports is Seo, who is also beautifully skilled and central to the Roar game. Anyway, I'm thinking aloud. Not an expert, but a bellowing voice in the crowd (as anyone who read my rant last night can attest).

It's minute 60 and I do wish I was watching. It did look like it could get exciting. Perth, from my impressions, can not be written out of this competition. Newcastle too are playing a better quality football than New Zealand or CCM in my view, despite their position on the ladder. Sydney has been bloody lucky.

How many Australians would be watching this game if you didn't have to have Fox Sport or go to the pub to watch it? It's not even on the bloody radio, and checking the net every five minutes is a useless experience. I'm worried about Sunday - it promises to be the best game of the season to date, and I will most certainly be watching it, but I just know there'll be a raucous pack of rugby fans already drinking, especially toward the end of the match. Oh well... the perils of a football fan in Oz.

3:0 must be the final score. From the half I saw it was deserved. For predictions, a point for Jacob. Newcastle - players and fans - must be devastated.

Good night.

Perth vs Melbourne

Frustrations of a Football Fan in Oz

There was an evil choice to begin with this afternoon as I really wanted to watch this game but it clashed with the social football in Davies Park. I may as well advertise it here, as all are welcome, all ages, men and women. Every Sunday, 4.30pm in Davies Park, West End (corner of Jane St and Montague Rd). Anyway, I did pop along, but without embarassing myself with an excuse, took off quickly to go to the Clarence, one of my preferred pubs for over five years now, for the game on Fox.

It is the last time I will go to the Clarence for any reason. Fortunately I did arrive just in time to witness Reinaldo score for Manchester United against Reading. It was a beautifully placed long shot, expertly between two defenders and taking the goalie quite by surprise. The result of that match was 1:1.

But the barman point-blank refused to put a screen on the soccer, as the cricket final was on. It wasn't clear even whether it was Fox's decision or his, as he was looking at the program saying, "yeah, it was on here, but it's not on because of the cricket final." I was disappointed, to say the least. Finishing my schooner of Gold, I had enough time to carefully observe that noone was watching the cricket on any of the four screens it was playing. If anything I saw one old couple look up and observe the score once, which is about all you need to do with the cricket as far as I can see.

Anyway, I went home frustrated, wishing I had just gone to the kick-about, and discovered on the Net that in fact the football was on the other Fox channel.

Back in my car I went to The Muddy Farmer in Annerley, closer anyway. Upon walking in the football was already on, on the first screen I saw. Sure they were playing the cricket on other screens (still noone watched, and when some kids came in soon after they turned the main screen over to Jurassic Park). But this pub has a new convert. Especially because I can bring Jacob here too, I'll be coming here for the games in future. The Clarence Corner Hotel can officially go f*** itself.

Anyway, I arrived in the 27th minute and was pleasantly surprised to see a very equal looking competition. Ten minutes later Jacob called me - he was following it on the Net. We both wanted Perth to win just so Melbourne wouldn't leap too far ahead of Brisbane on the table. From his internet perspective, Perth was getting most of the possession and goal chances, but from my perspective I could see that they were beng professionally foiled all the same, so it looked pretty equal.

In the second half Melbourne came on meaning business and I do think the best team won, however many times Perth got the ball up the field. Melbourne's defence was very tight. Possibly Perth's relatively inexperienced goalkeeper let them down a bit as well. At the same time, after such a persistent concerted effort the final goal was also deserved. The result was about right from my view.

The final frustration for the evening, and a reason I am rushing this review, is that half way through the second half I was invited to dinner and single malt whiskey with Jacob's coach and the same's housemate (father of Gary, who was the top goal scorer in Jacob's team). The reason that was frustrating is because I was already half way through the Muddy Farmer's Catch of the Day: Steamed fillet filled with jullienne of vegetable on jasmine rice, topped with a mild tomato and sweet basil salsa, grilled prawns, salad and fries. $17.50. Very nice, but unfortunately also a bit filling.

The whiskey at least will be appreciated. Cheers!