Fri 6-Feb-09 6.00 Corio 0 Geelong Regional Football Assn 0 A

Fri 6-Feb-09 7.20 North Geelong 0 v Surfcoast 0 B

Sun 8-Feb-09 6.00 Geelong Rangers (Troy Hardy, Chirs Harding own goal, Jumo Wade, James Blackburn, Alister Smart, David Ellis) 6 Hoppers Crossing 0 B

Sun 8-Feb-09 7.20 Geelong 0 Bell Park (Marinko Pausak, Eric Lawrence) 2 A

Fri 13-Feb-09 6.00 Bell Park (Liam Nelson, Rodney Antoine) 2 GRFA (Luke Delmo 2) 2A

Fri 13-Feb-09 7.20 Geelong Rangers (Scott Davison 2, Alister Smart) 3 Surfcoast 0 B

Sun 15-Feb-09 6.00 Hoppers Crossing (Marc Barbieri, Zia Sherzai, Nicholas Munro) 3 North Geelong 0 B

Sun 15-Feb-09 7.20 Corio 0 Geelong 0 A

Fri 20-Feb-09 6.00 Corio (Nenad Joldzic 2) 2 Bell Park  0 A

Fri 20-Feb-09 7.20 Geelong Rangers (Alister Smart, David Ellis) 2 North Geelong (Matthew Demo) 1 B

Sun 22-Feb-09 6.00 Surfcoast (Jack Taylor 2, Ry Hernan) 3 Hoppers Crossing  0 B

Sun 22-Feb-09 7.20 Geelong (Andrew Longo 2, Zoran Rstevski, Chris Balaburova) 4 GRFA (Nathan Talbot) 1 A

Fri 27-Feb-09 6.00 Bell Park 5 Hoppers Crossing 0 P O
(Nick Hopper 3, Stipe Kump, Liam Page)

Fri 27-Feb-09 7.20 Corio (A1) 0 Surfcoast (B2) 1 S F
(Ry Hernan)

Sun 1-Mar-09 6.00 GRFA 0 North Geelong 1 P O
(John Patti)

Sun 1-Mar-09 7.20 Geelong Rangers (B1) 3 Geelong (A2) 0 S F
(Troy Hardy, Daniel Earley, Scott Davison)

Sun 8-Mar-09 4.00 Corio 0 Geelong 1 3rd
(Nick Bosevski)

Sun 8-Mar-09 6.00 Surfcoast 0 Geelong Rangers 1 F
(James Blackburn)

Group A

Team P W D L F A Pts

Corio 3 1 2 0 2 0 5

Geelong 3 1 1 1 4 3 4

Bell Park 3 1 1 1 4 4 4

GRFA 3 0 2 1 3 6 2

Group B

Geelong Rangers 3 3 0 0 11 1 9

Surfcoast 3 1 1 1 3 3 4

Hoppers Crossing 3 1 0 2 03 9 3

North Geelong 3 0 1 2 1 5 1

Goalscorers

Given Surname Team Goals

Total 43

Nick Hopper Bell Park 3
Scott Davison Geelong Rangers 3
Alister Smart Geelong Rangers 3
Nenad Joldzic Corio 2
Andrew Longo Geelong 2
James Blackburn Geelong Rangers 2
David Ellis Geelong Rangers 2
Troy Hardy Geelong Rangers 2
Luke Delmo GRFA 2
Ryan Hernan Surfcoast 2
Jack Taylor Surfcoast 2
Rodney Antoine Bell Park 1
Stipe Kump Bell Park 1
Eric Lawrence Bell Park 1
Liam Nelson Bell Park 1
Liam Page Bell Park 1
Marinko Pausak Bell Park 1
Chris Balaburova Geelong 1
Nick Bosevski Geelong 1
Zoran Rstevski Geelong 1
Daniel Earley Geelong Rangers 1
own goal Geelong Rangers 1
Jumo Wade Geelong Rangers 1
Nathan Talbot GRFA 1
Marc Barbieri Hoppers Crossing 1
Nicholas Munro Hoppers Crossing 1
Zia Sherzai Hoppers Crossing 1
Matthew Demo North Geelong 1
John Patti North Geelong 1

Melbourne Victory Youth squad versus Queensland Roar at Green Gully Reserve on 26 September 2008. Back row, left to right: Mehmet Durkaovic (Coach), Robert Wynne, Mijo Marinovic, Nathan Elasi, Steven Pace, Milos Lujic, Daniel Vasilevski, Steve Mautone (Assistant Coach). Front row: Matthew Foschini, Mathew Theodore, Aziz Behich, Steve Pantelidis, Ante Cicak. Photo: Milan Ninovic.

Melbourne Victory Youth 0 Queensland Roar Youth 2

On a dry, bumpy and windswept pitch at Green Gully Reserve, Melbourne Victory went down by two goals to nil in the opening match of the new National Youth League on Friday, 26 September 2008.
The Victory squad was only finalised this week and though the players had been together for the best part of a month, the home team was clearly struggling to find cohesion.
In the first half Victory looked reasonably sound in defence but could not create much in attack and it was the 38th minute before Nathan Elasi had a shot which came back off the post with Roar keeper Griffin McMaster saving Steven Pace’s attempt to put away the rebound.
The Roar was more adventurous particularly on the flanks but crosses were often overhit in the blustery conditions and the first half ended scoreless.
Queensland coach Rado Vidosic brought on Josh McVey for Michael Angus at half-time and the move paid off five minutes later when Mitch Nicholls, the man of the match, worked his way along the bye line and found the substitute on the edge of the area. McVey thrashed a shot into the top corner.
Two minutes later only a great one-on-one save by Victory keeper Mijo Marinovic prevented the Roar going further ahead, but the big custodian, who had looked extremely sound up to that point, then tried to dribble round Nicholls. He lost the ball and Nicholls walked it into the empty net.
Victory raised its game in the last ten minutes and Elasi drove narrowly over, while Queensland was reduced to ten men after Ben Griffin pushed Milos Lujic in the face.
Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic said afterwards, ‘The players will learn from their mistakes. The pitch and the wind were difficult. We did well in the first half but the mistakes cost us in the second.’
Rado Vidosic was pleased with the three points and the overall performance of the whole squad. An interesting difference in approaches emerged from the remarks of the two coaches. While both are concentrating on the development of their young players, Durakovic said he was trying to get his charges to play in the same style and structure as the senior team so that young players could move up knowing what was required. Vidosic on the other hand was emphasising adaptability and getting players to take on different roles so that they could appreciate what was needed in other positions on the field.
Also Roar Youth will play a number of their games as curtain raisers at Suncorp Stadium, while Victory Youth will rotate around a number of Victorian Premier League venues. If the Youth League is to get the exposure it deserves and the youngsters are to have the best possible conditions and atmosphere to play in, the Roar approach is much preferable.

On Sunday evening at Telstra Stadium, Melbourne Victory Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Miles said, ‘We wanted to take the game to the clubs, which is why we are playing at Green Gully, Anderson Reserve, Port Melbourne, Epping and Bentley Greens. If we were to play at Telstra we would have to start three hours before the seniors; players could not take part in the youth and the senior game; crowds would not turn up; and there would be problems with the overuse of the pitch.’

Date Round Home Team Goals Away Team Goals

26-Sep-08 1 Melbourne Victory 0 Queensland Roar 2
26-Sep-08 1 Central Coast Mariners 0 Perth Glory 1

27-Sep-08 1 Adelaide United 0 Newcastle Jets 0
1 Sydney FC Bye

Adelaide United 3 Central Coast Mariners 0
Sydney FC 2 Queensland Roar 1
Newcastle Jets v Bye

League ladder

Team P W D L F A GD Pts

Perth Glory FC 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6
Adelaide United FC 2 1 1 0 3 0 3 4
Sydney FC 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
Queensland Roar FC 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 3
Newcastle Jets 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Central Coast Mariners FC 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0
Melbourne Victory FC 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0

After a hiatus of four years the new National Youth League kicked off again yesterday at Green Gully Reserve when Melbourne Victory went down by two goals to nil to Queensland Roar. The Victory squad was only finalised this week and played like a team which had not practised together.
While it made entire sense for the Football Federation of Australia to concentrate on its A-League and the Socceroos in the first years of its existence, a consequence has been that the career path for young Australian players has been truncated during that time.

Those who were not selected for the Australian Institute of Sport and the equivalent state bodies had no other outlet for their development apart from State league competitions where coaching support and selection in senior teams could be problematical.

Now the ladder of opportunity has been restored.

FFA CEO Ben Buckley said, ‘For more than a decade football has been the sport of first choice for boys from 5-14 years and, now with the establishment of the National Youth League, there is substantial and regular high-level competition in place for talented, male athletes.’
FFA National Technical Director, Dutchman Robert Baan added, ‘The key to improving the technical skills, proficiency and tactical maturity of players is playing games—and as many games as possible. The National Youth League provides players aged between 17-21 years of age a clear pathway from youth leagues to senior level and then on to professional level. When combined with existing State-based competitions, players in the national youth league will play between 35-40 games each year.’

Victory had two Geelong players, Ante Cicak and keeper Mijo Marinovic in the starting line-up. Cicak looked solid in defence but his passing was often awry, while Marinovic had a nonsense [meltdown in Addy] when he tried to dribble around Mitch Nicholls and lost the ball and the goal. Substitute Josh McVey scored the other for Queensland only five minutes after coming on.

Melbourne Victory Youth played Perth Glory Youth at Green Gully Reserve on Sunday 5 October and looked much better in the first half than they had in the opening game against Queensland Roar. Nick Ward, the marquee youth player, started and looked a different class. He had only played about five minutes the night before at the end of the senior game and needed the run. Mathew Theodore and Michael Foschini also stood out, though Foschini was unlucky to be booked for a foot-up challenge by a somewhat fussy young referee, Lucien Laverdure. But Perth got the first goal when an inswinging corner was raffled by Mijo Marinovic and Adrian Trinidad bundled it in at the far post. Then in the second half, Steve Pantelidis was sent off after the Assistant Referee on the far side spotted a push on Trinidad who was booked. At the airport afterwards David Mitchell said that there was little in it and that referees should be looking out for violent tackles not that sort of incident. I left about ten minutes before the end, and David told me that Trinidad scored again in injury time to make it two-nil at the end.

Goal Weekly, Monday 11 May 2009, p. 12.

I know this column is called Blast from the Past, but given that most people believe the first game of Association Football was not played in Australia until the 1880s, what, you may ask, am I on about? It is, however, 150 years since the first set of rules for what became Australian Rules were written in Melbourne. The other day when trawling through Bell’s Life in Victoria in 1864 I came across a letter by a fellow who signed himself Free Kick, who was very familiar with what was happening in the United Kingdom and Australia at the time. And this is what he wrote:
‘The game of football appears destined to become as popular in this colony as it has already become in England, where it is now fully recognised as the national winter game. … Within the last year or two … football in England has received a great impetus, and clubs have been formed in various places, the movement having been warmly espoused by many University men, who have to a great extent shaken off their old prejudices, and are favourable to the formation of a universal code of rules, by which, in future, the game should be played. … The Football Association was accordingly formed, and set of rules drawn up, which by a very curious coincidence, are very nearly similar to those which were decided on at a meeting of representatives of football clubs, held at the Parade Hotel, near Melbourne, some 5 years ago. … and it is certainly creditable in every way to the judgment of the gentlemen then appointed, that the very rules they then decided on have subsequently been adopted by the members of the Football Association in England. Whether a stray copy (for the rules were neatly printed and got up) ever found its way home I do not know, but if not it is a strong argument in favour of our own code, that the football parliaments assembled on opposite sides of the globe, should bring the identical same result of their labours.’

Football 1870s style. The Graphic, December 1872, reproduced in The Rules of Association Football 1863, Bodleian Library, Oxford, 2006.

Our man, Free Kick, seems to be suggesting that the clubs which formed the Football Association in 1863 might have gained inspiration for their set of laws of the game from what was happening in Melbourne four years before. To me this is a bit far fetched, and a bit like the claims for Aboriginal or Irish influence on Australian Rules, or at least Melbourne Football Club rules, as drawn up in 1859. But when you read what the Europeans saw Aboriginal children doing you begin to wonder.

Early European settlers and travellers reported the existence of their games and sometimes provided extensive descriptions. Blandowski commented on the game he had seen, which is represented in Mutzel’s etching, ‘The ball is made out of Typha roots: it is not thrown or hit with a bat, but it is kicked in the air with the foot … The aim of the game: never let the ball touch the ground.’

It is beyond doubt that Aboriginal games which used a purposely-made ball existed. Since many of the references apply to the period before 1859, just what did observers have in mind when they used the word ‘football’ to describe what they saw? It could not have been the Australian game since this did not come into existence until then. My good friend, Ian Syson, points out that Blandowski’s description looks more like soccer than Australian rules, or rather the football exercise which we used to perform in our youth in Scotland called ‘keepy-uppy’, keeping the ball off the ground by use of feet and body not arms and hands. Those migrants who came from a Scottish or English background might well have seen and played a similar type of game in their youth, since the majority of reported observations come from people who did not attend English public schools or universities. There was a strong Scottish presence in the western district of Victoria, particularly around Warrnambool and Portland.

One problem with all this, of course, is that there is no real contemporary evidence that the English referred to Australian rules or that the Australians mentioned Aboriginal activities when drawing up their respective codes. So while these are interesting speculations, or myths if you like, it is worthwhile keeping up the search for information on both possibilities. Who knows we may be able to find connections if we look hard enough.

James Blackburn (centre) of Geelong Rangers in action in the Goforyourlife Cup. Photo: Roy Hay

Geelong Rangers won the Goforyourlife Cup by a single goal against Surfcoast on Sunday night. It was the first time that Rangers had triumphed in a Geelong pre-season tournament since 1987 and James Blackburn’s superb strike in the 57th minute conjured up memories of Willy Muir’s equally spectacular winner all those years ago. Rangers hit the woodwork in the first minute and twice more in the second half through Jonathan Ryan and Troy Hardy and it looked as if the Provisional League team would manage to deny its State League Division Two opponent. Then deep in defence Steven Tillinger launched a long ball forward. Blackburn held it up, beat his man and found enough space to fire a shot into the top corner of Barry Schroeter’s goal. The young keeper had no chance with that one. Ian Crane, Rorie Flanagan and James Brooks worked their socks off for Surfcoast, but Rangers had most of the possession and its game only broke down in front of goal.

In the third place match, Geelong overcame Corio by a goal to nil. Zoran Rstevski was brought down in the last minute of the first half and Nick Bosevski scored from the penalty spot. Bosevski had played as sweeper all through the tournament, but for this game he was moved into attack and he came closest to adding to Geelong’s lead with a header which just skimmed the bar from a corner by Chris Balaburova.

Geelong 49ers winners of the over-45s Australian Masters football. Back row, left to right: Peter Duque, David McMurray, Rod van der Chys, Mick Oppermann, Eddie Radojevic, Micky, Svaljek, Damir Medic, Drago Skok, Eddie Kovacev. Front row: Steve Sodomaco, Peter Hey, Kenny Prior, Zed Dula, Steve Radojeciv, Drago Perinac, Slobode Bosevski, Billy Munro. Absent: John Coutts, Joe Malesic. Photo: Roy Hay.

Two of Geelong’s teams won gold medals in the Australian Masters Games tournament held at Bell Park last week.

The Geelong 49ers led by Steve Radojevic and Rod van der Chys won the over-45 age group while in a big upset Barwon Heads knocked off the highly fancied Australian Defence Force team in the over-35s.

In the semi-finals of the over-45s, the Gold Coast Beach Boys, who had a strong Geelong component in their line-up, probably played their best game to defeat Mount Gambier Force by three goals to one.

By contrast the 49ers had their worst outing, scraping through by a Mick Oppermann penalty kick in the 55th minute against the other team from Mount Gambier.

The final, on the main pitch at Bell Park, the Beach Boys dominated the opening exchanges, pinning the 49ers deep in their half and putting keeper Peter Duque and his defence under pressure.

But in the last ten minutes of the half the home team came out of its shell and Radojevic, Drago Skok and van der Chys had efforts on goal.
The breakthrough came a minute before the break when a tackle in the area resulted in a penalty kick for the 49ers, which Mick Oppermann converted.

Early in the second half, Rod van der Chys drove a shot past Everett Nelson in the Gold Coast goal, but a moment later the Beach Boys pulled a goal back when Geoffrey Taylor took advantage of an error and rounded the stranded Duque.

Both sides kept at it till the final whistle, but the 49ers held on for a narrow but deserved victory.

The ADF had won all its group games and downed Surfside by three goals to nil in its semi-final.

But Barwon heads also recorded a good win over Pressure with Mark Linney scoring a hat-trick in the five-two result.
In the final the locals showed both skill and physical resilience to win by two goals to nil.

In the other groups, BOBS took out the over-40s from PHE Voltaren Dependant and the Australian All Stars won the women’s competition.

Luke Delmo (3) of the GRFA and Nathan Talbot (obscured) take on Michael Talevski of Geelong

Geelong Rangers continued its march to the finals of the Goforyourlife Cup with a two-one win over North Geelong at Myers Reserve on Friday night. North introduced a number of senior players, while Rangers stuck to the players who have got it through the opening two games, with the addition of Drew Corry. Both sides lost players early in the game. Bojan Msljenovic limped off with a leg injury and James Blackburn had to retire after a head clash in the tightly contested first half. Rangers took the lead in the 39th minute after Drew Corry muscled his way past Michael Radojevic out on the right and his cross was headed on by Troy Hardy for substitute Alister Scott who grabbed his third goal in as many games. Just over a minute later Joanthan Ryan’s deep cross was headed home by David Ellis. North scored its first goal of the 2009 competition when Matthew Demo fired past Lyndon Malesic, but North could not add to its tally and Rangers were deserved winners.

In the early game, Bell Park held Corio scoreless until the 26th minute when Pero Prodanovic’s pass was picked up by Nenad Joldzic who had time to turn and slot the ball past Joe Fiala. Both sides made and missed chances and Park came closest when youngster Liam Page shaved the upright in 56 minutes. Eight minutes later Joldzic seized on a loose ball and made a run at the Park defence. As it retreated he kept going and finished with a fierce shot which gave Fiala no chance.

On Sunday, Surfcoast made sure of a semi-final spot after a three-nil win over Hoppers Crossing. It took half an hour of a see-sawing game before Ry Hernan got the break through with a powerful shot into the corner of the net. Two late goals by youngster Jack Taylor saw the Coasters home. Taylor is a real talent, but his impetuous and clumsy tackling earned him a yellow card and is something he will have to curb if he is to make progress in the game.

Geelong needed a three-goal or better margin against the Geelong Regional Football Association to turf Bell Park out of second spot in Group A. Andrew Longo’s shot from outside the area gave it a sniff off a result in 30 minutes, but when Nathan Talbot’s persistence resulted in an equaliser for the GRFA in 40 minutes, that target seemed far away. The match turned on a penalty six minutes later converted by Andrew Longo. Cedo Rakic crossed for Zoran Rstevski to make it 3–1, but in doing so Rstevski pulled a muscle and had to limp off. Geelong refused to give up and Chris Balaburova powered home a free kick with only eight minutes to go to give Geelong the outcome it wanted.

In the semi-finals next week, Geelong will face favourite and host club Geelong Rangers, while Corio will take on Surfcoast.

Geelong 49ers opened with a three-one win over MG Force from Mount Gambier. Mick Oppermann powered in a header from a cross by Rod van der Chys in the seventh minute to settle nerves in the home team. Two quick goals after the interval, the first by van der Chys from the penalty spot after Steve Sodamaco had been fouled in the area, and the second a neat lob over the keeper by Oppermann, secured the result. Mount Gambier scored a neat goal with three minutes left to play when Lou Ferguson received a pass through the centre of the defence and gave Peter Duque no chance with a precise shot.

In the second match in this group the Melbourne Latinos, drawn largely from Brunswick Juventus ranks, drew one-all with the Gold Coast Beach Boys. With 70-year-old Everett Nelson in goal the Gold Coast went ahead in only three minutes when a move along the right goal line involving three attackers resulted in a goal credited to John Kubina. Mario Mantella brought the Latinos level nine minutes afterwards with a header over Nelson. Both sides had several chances after that but it finished one-all.

In the 40–45 group two matches were played, with Castlemaine Gold Spice beating BOBS by two goals to nil, both scored by T Cooper. PHE Voltaren Dependant had a three-nil win against Melbourne Latinos’ younger group. Michael Hof, G Redpath and R Braithwaite scored for PHE.
Finally in the 30–35 group, ADF with goals by G Gillard and K Naughton accounted for Barwon Heads for whom Mark Linney scored, by two goals to one.