WA Over 50's - 2005 Match Reports

WA vs ACT - Friday, September 23, 2005

Result: WA 2 - ACT 0 
We rose at stupid o'clock Wednesday morning and from our separate abodes and wended our way in the darkness to the airport where the usual chaos awaited. Friends were greeted, luggage labelled and loaded, lapps scanned and nail files removed from carry-on bags. 

Our 2 massage therapists had an anxious time on standby when they found their tickets hadn't been booked but did get on the flight with the rest of us. There were no empty seats on this flight, it seems the whole of Perth is flying to Melbourne to watch us play, or at least for some sporting event or other. In fact you can hardly walk a block on the place without seeing at least a dozen Eagles scarves or flags or shirts. 

The buses were ready and waiting with a separate truck to take the luggage - full marks to Rising Stars who organised this. 

Once settled into our St Kilda Road apartments, we headed for Chapel St to stock up with supplies. Both the Queenslander and NT girls are also staying nearby. Last year we swapped socks with some Qld girls but one who promised to send them later, since she'd already packed hers, didn't deliver. Every time Kymberley met a group of Qld girls she greeted them with "Where're my socks!" 

That first night we travelled on the tram to Federation Square for dinner at the Chocolate Buddha, a Japanese restaurant. There were lots of Buddha statues around, but no chocolates on the menu. 

Thursday morning we had a training run at the stadium. Despite being prompted by our navigator, our driver went one corner too far and we finished up heading the wrong way on the freeway. Much embarrassment for her, since she has lived in Melbourne before, till we got to the first exit to do a turn around and caught up with another 3 of our buses, who'd all made the same mistake.

We had a good run against the 45s, without overdoing it and risking injury. 

After lunch some of us hit the seconds shops and factory outlets in Bridge St while others had a quiet time back at the hotel, before heading out for the opening ceremony at 6pm. 

We then had a rude lesson in Melbourne traffic taking 27 minutes to cover a 1 km stretch in Peel Road in the 5-30 traffic. In the end we got there 30 minutes late but still caught the end of the speeches, flag raising and National Anthem. 

After a frenzy of merchandise buying - why are our usual sizes always too small in these? - we returned for a team meeting and social evening in the coach's room. 

First games started today. Ours was the 3rd and last of the WA games, with our 40's going down 1-2 to Tassie and the 45's winning 1-0 after an early goal against ACT. 

We also played ACT and were on the attack from the start. When Betty's shot from a tight angle from the right went in, the game was less than 2 and a half minutes old. We were perhaps fortunate to be awarded a flick shortly after but when Macca put that safely into the lower right backboard it was 2-0 before half way through the starting term. 

We continued to press the attack for the rest of the game with lots of chances but no further scores. ACT had only one corner, which was hit wide and our goalie PD literally did not touch the ball in anger the whole game, although she chased down the ball a few times over the back line to remind her what it looked like. 

Janese and Betty were given the coach's award but everybody played well in this game and the manager placed our mascot, "Snifty" in Keils charge as a reward for her pirrouette around one of the ACT defenders. 

WA vs QLD - Saturday, September 24, 2005

Result: WA 2 - QLD 0 
Last night's dinner was at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow, a traditional English pub in Fitzroy St. It was only a short walk from the hotel across the park. As we were walking there one of the new girls asked if it was a BYO place. 

In the morning we returned to the St Kilda beach front area for coffee and a bit of shopping. Our game wasn't till 5 - too early to watch the football but late enough to make us want to keep busy during the day. 

We had another 2-0 victory this time against Queensland. A flick at goal by Kymberley was stopped illegally giving Macca a chance for her second penalty flick goal and again she delivered. Our second goal was also in the first half with a shot from Dale getting a deflection from Betty. It looked like we were going to get another flick but the ball just dribbled over the line. 

PD had a bit more work to do this game and made a couple of good saves and clearances. Again the halves and backs did a great job and there were a few more chances for goals that just didn't quite get there. The coach's awards went to Macca and Karen Adams and Shirley gets to look after Snifty tonight. 

All our teams played Queensland today. Both the 35s and 40s drawing 1-1 and the others had a loss.

WA vs VIC - Sunday, September 25, 2005

Result: WA 4 - VIC 0 
With a late game again, we headed off to the Victoria markets mid morning to do some more shopping, followed by a swim after lunch. 

Today we played Victoria, the home side and also undefeated in the first 2 rounds, so we were expecting a tough match. We started with a press and soon were into attack but didn’t score until about the 25th minute when Betty ran into the circle from the left and put one home behind the goalkeeper. A short corner variation to Kymberley and a mistrap by the defender allowed Karen Allen to push one in from the left post so again we were 2-0 up at half time. 

Karen scored again with a follow up after Dale and Betty took it into the circle for our first second half goal for the championship. With 18 seconds to go we took a short corner. Janese laid it off to Kymberley who rocketed one through the goalie's legs for a 4-0 victory. 

Coach’s awards for today were Dale, Caroline, Karen Allen and Kymberley and Karen Adams got to mind Snifty as a reward for her diving clearance. Another great game by all of the team. 

We stayed to watch the 55s who lost to Vic 2-0 before heading to the food court at the casino for a late dinner. Other results for today, all against Vic were 35s 0-3, 40s 1-2 and 45s 1-3.

WA vs NT - Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Result: WA 11 - NT 0 
Monday was a bye for our age division so it was off to the shops in Bridge Road again late morning. We originally planned to move to Smith St where the sports stores are, about 12 but it was well after that and lunch before some of us made the move, while others stayed where they were. The Championship dinner was Monday night at Flemington Racecourse, so we all dolled up for that. It seemed we all had a good time dancing and socialising but reactions were mixed on whether the food was good or not. To some extent it depended on whether you were at the start or end of the queue. 

Our 35s and 40s beat NT 5-0 and 1-0 respectively but the 55s went down 0-4 to NSW. 

Tuesday was a general bye and our team and the 45s had a training run at the Hawthorn sand turf. A group of us headed to the art gallery afterwards to see the Dutch Masters. 

Dinner that night was in Lygon Street where we dined al fresco and chatted to many Eagles supporters as they passed by.. 

Wednesday we played NT and again started hard. At 3½ minutes we scored with a good team goal with several people passing and Karen Allen pushing it home. This was followed by 2 goals from Janese off short corners and a goal from Kymberley who intercepted an opposition pass. Betty then scored a field goal and we were 5 goals up and it was only half way through the first half. Janese score her third from a field goal and Macca put in her 3rd penalty flick for the tournament to put us 7 up at half time. 
Betty scored her second after the break and then Kymberley 2 more for her hat trick. The second was a dive at full stretch to knock in a one hander. Clyde rounded the day off with a deflection on the post to give us a final result of 11-0. 

PD again didn’t touch the ball with the defenders keeping the ball out of the circle. Since that’s what the coach ordered she received the coach’s award along with Shirley and Vicki. Gail’s pirouette earned her the manager’s vote and care of Snifty for the night.

WA vs NSW - Thursday, September 29, 2005

Result: WA 3 - NSW 0 
Our other teams had late games yesterday, their results were: 35s 0-3 to Tas, 40s 3-2 over SA in a come from behind win, 45s 0-0 v Tas and 55s 1-1 v SA. Today we played NSW and started on the defensive but our backs held them out. Late in the half Janese passed to Kymberley who had a trap and quick reverse flick to get our first goal. In the second half Betty had a couple of runs and managed to get our second goal on one of them to give us the breather. Janese scored on a short in the last 4 minutes to put the icing on the cake. We didn’t feel we played that well today but still managed a 3-0 win. We play NSW in the semi tomorrow so we’ll need to duplicate or better this effort. We finished the round robin undefeated with 22 goals scored and 0 against so full marks to PD who won the manager’s award for that effort. Coaches awards went to Carol Samsa, Alma (manager), Maris, Gail, Yorkie and Bron (Massage) 

WA vs NSW Semi-final - Friday, September 30, 2005

Result: WA 2 - NSW 1 
Last night the 55s invited us over for dinner. We had a pleasant but short time with them before leaving for a team meeting and an early night. 

Our game was at 8am so it was an early start this morning. This was the first semi 1st v 4th against NSW. 

We were into attack early and had a couple of chances and 2 short corners but were unable to score. About 10 minutes in, Betty got crunched and limped off with a sore knee. They scored at the 25 minute mark and at half time we were still that one goal down. 

This was our first time chasing so we had to concentrate and not get intimidated. Kymberley got a pass and raced down the right. Pushing the ball right and veering left, she collided with the defender who moved into her path and both went down. Kymberley was winded and eventually got up to continue the game but the NSW girl was off with a sore neck. 

Betty returned and with another run she pushed the ball past the goalie to go in an inch from the right post to equalise with less than 20 minutes to go. Six minutes later Kymberley had the ball on the back line and pushed it across the face of goal aiming for Legs. The NSW defender kindly deflected it over the line to put us in front and there we stayed till full time. A very hard game today but it was good to limp away with the win, even though a draw would have been enough.

WA vs VIC Final - Saturday, October 1, 2005

Result: WA 7 - VIC 1 
Last night all teams got together for dinner and skits at a restuarant along St Kilda Rd. We got there early and had a sit down dinner - mostly asian and italian - while the other teams came later, some straight from the grounds. The 35s and 55s had elaborate skits to entertain us. It was another early morning with a 9 o'clock game for the gold medal, but many of us were awake from 4 or 5am. We started well and when Kymberley intercepted a 16 hit and passed it to Shirley we had our first goal in just over 2 minutes. Victoria then equalised from a short corner and the game had only been going 4 minutes. A bit later Maris took a quick free to Kymberley who again put it across the circle and this time it was Betty who scored. We stayed at 2-1 till half time. Again, it was quite early in the second half when we had a short corner and Janese took a straight hit at the top of the circle to put us 3-1 up. She then intercepted the Victorian pass back and ran down to score another goal before the rest of us could even catch up to her. Next it was Kymberley's turn with a drag past the defender, a push square past the goalie and then a whack into the goal. Janes scored again off a short corner after a 1-2 with Dale and a bit later she scored again for her 4th, with a rebound off the goalie to give us our final score of 7-1. It was a hard game but we never gave up. Even when we were 6-1 up, we still believed we could win it. After collecting our gold medals, we watched the rest of the finals with Queensland winning the 45s and Victoria taking the other 3 after playing in all finals. All our other WA teams finished 5th in their grades. Betty and Janese were selected for the Trans-Tasman over 50s team with Janese being nominated for the leadership group. PD and Legs were picked as shadow players. We were pretty worn out by the time we got back to the hotel at 7pm but after dinner we gathered for secret friends and a last get together. It would be another very early morning on Sunday, to get all of us and our luggage to the airport for our 8-15 flight. Some of us wisely headed for bed but others danced till after midnight. PS Kymberley finally got her socks!