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.

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.