Midweek evening games always seem like a great idea when they are first suggested. Then on the day the reality of a busy day at work sets in and by the time I get to the ground, I have what you might describe as limited enthusiasm for a game. One person who could never be accused of having limited enthusiasm is Bernie, who was already up and about by the time I arrived. Buoyed by American headlines proclaiming Bernie’s surge in the Democratic Primaries, our man had a decent strut going pregame. He pulled the team in for a quick chat and with his infectious enthusiasm, it was inevitable that the whole team began to ‘Feel the Bern’ (just in case anyone can’t get their mind out of the gutter, that is a commonly used unofficial catchphrase for the Bernie Sanders campaign) so there was a good feeling in the group as we took our places on the field. Climate Change-driven weather events (yes Climate Change is real) have forced sporting bodies to implement extreme weather policies to protect player welfare, but it turns out it’s not just the governing bodies making these types of policies. Whilst most of these policies are related to hot weather, Knighty and Hendo’s personal tepid-weather policies kicked in when the temperature dropped below 12 degrees, making them unavailable (I’m gonna feel real bad if either of them had a family emergency) and bringing us down to 12 players, which made it fortunate we would be playing three 25-minute periods. Ordinarily, a 25-minute period sounds shorter than Shae’s legs, but knowing half of the players on the field would be literally half my age, I suspected 25 minutes would seem plenty long enough. The ground itself had lines that were less visible than ministerial standards in a Liberal Government, so both teams took a while to get their bearings. Kingborough probably had the better of much of the early play. Beachside's 3-5-2 formation and a strong wind advantage contributed to allow the Lions' defence time on the ball and options to work the ball into the midfield safely. They had plenty of pace on the field too, shutting down Beachside players quickly when they were in possession. But for all that, the Lions struggled to achieve any dangerous chances, with their forwards being fed worse than residents of Australian nursing homes. The green-clad standard-bearers of all that’s pure (no bias here) worked their way into the game the longer it went and Harry had the best chance of the half when he was put through 1-on-1 only to push his shot to the left.
After a change of ends, the second period favoured Beach more heavily, with their strength around the contest evident in the number of disputed balls that were won. Personally I’d found it hard to work into the game until now and had made more bad decisions than Scott Morrison in a bushfire crisis, but I found a bit more time on the ball in the second period. The Man of Stone came on at left back, whilst Josh really came into the game with his powerful tackling, which contributed to a number of goal opportunities. A powerful shot was parried onto the crossbar where it bounced down and was judged to have stayed in before being hacked away by the defence. Several more chances went untaken before Harry put us into the lead with left-footed shot that squeezed under the keeper. Shae was throwing dummies more often than a six-month old baby, but he seemed to even confuse himself when he found himself in front of an empty net, somehow getting less contact with the ball than refugees in Australian detention facilities get with medical services (jokes aside, our treatment of refugees is shameful). Harry’s second goal gave Beach a deserved 2-goal lead to take into the second break. The third period started promisingly for Beach but credit to Borough who probably had the better of it by the end. Beachside had a number of great chances to kill of the contest, but Kingborough were at least breaking even in midfield possession and were looking a bit more dangerous in their attacks down the flanks. Beachside’s wastefulness in front of goal was summed up by Shaun somehow missing an open net from about 3 metres out while a number of other chances went wide as well. Borough's hard work resulted in a deserved goal late in the game when a missed pass in midfield (probably by me- I was biting off too much more often than Clive Palmer at a buffet) and a missed tackle in defence left the keeper exposed. Despite an awesome first time save, Tom couldn’t stop the follow up shot from close range. The final score of 2-1 was on merits a pretty fair result. Kingborough had a lot of the ball at times but rarely looked like beating the defence, whilst Beachside’s attacking play created dangerous opportunities that were largely let down by poor finishing.
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