Saturday, 30 May 2009
Juventus 0
Narrabundah FC 3
Dziubinski 55′, 78′, P. Romero 81′
Narrabundah overcame a self destructing Juventus team in an all too predictably dirty match, marred by language not fit for anyone under 47, horrendous challenges, off-the-ball kicks and abuse, diving and general skulduggery. Substitute referee Kael Da Costa bravely offered his services before the match and it probably only took five minutes for him to truly regret that decision, although he performed admirably given the conditions.
It was a mature and ‘wily’ Juventus team that showed up only half an hour before kick-off and had only just managed to get the nets set-up on time on a freezing Saturday in Downer. The match started off at a hectic pace as per usual but both teams settled quickly and began knocking the ball. Juventus may have shaded possession but Narrabundah looked much more dangerous going forward.
Indeed Da Costa had his first hard decision of the match after only 5 minutes when a weak Brett ‘2 left feet and ugly shoes’ Romero cross from the left found the first defender, only for him to follow up, dispossess the two defenders dilly dallying over the ball and play himself in. At this stage the large Juventus center back, mistakenly believing it was full time, attempted to exchange shirts with Romero whilst he was running, nearly tearing the shirt straight off his back. Romero played on, took his shot off balance (due to the aforementioned shirt ripping) but only managed to force a corner.
A let off for Juve but Narrabundah continued to threaten with the pace of Dave Muller, Dziubinski and Harvie up front continually causing problems for the Juve defense, who were having trouble finding time to run to the sideline to eat cannoli in between Narrabundah attacks. Without the energy the sugary delights provide, Juve tired quickly and began to resort to the black arts. As Juve players began to hit the deck any time a Narrabundah player approached them, assumedly the result of a hidden sniper in the trees, dirty tactics off the ball also intensified with several players falling victim to kicks behind the referees back and abuse from both the players on the field and on the sideline.
As the match heated up, one of the more ridiculous scenes occurred when, after falling ‘victim’ to a standard tackle in midfield from Quiroga, a rather rotund Juve player hit the deck screaming, subjected any player within 10 meters to foul mouthed tirade and then, in an attempt to get Quiroga carded, began claiming that he would now be out for the rest of the season. He did play the reminder of the game woefully, although how much of this was down to any injury is debatable. As the half time whistle blew, it was a depressed Narrabundah side that came off the pitch feeling they should have been ahead.
After the restart, Narrabundah continued to boss the play with the experienced Emilio Park bringing a cool head to midfield. Narrabundah were beginning to get the upper hand but worryingly, chances weren’t being created regularly, and when they were, they were being wasted. Eventually though the breakthrough came. Quiroga picked the ball up in midfield and played a delightful diagonal ball to Scott ‘blinkers’ Dziubinski. With the keeper over committed, Dziubinski had the simplest of tap-ins. Narrabundah were up 1-0 and the relief was tangible.
Meanwhile, Juventus were completely self destructing with players lashing out at each other and the ever charming Omar using the little Italian he had to abuse the midfielders who had provided him with little service. Narrabundah continued to create chances with Dziubinski twice firing wide with Quiroga perhaps better placed and Dave ‘I was a bit tired’ Muller opting to sit on the ball rather than tap the ball in from all of two meters.
In another ridiculous incident, during a substitution when Quiroga was to come off, several of the Juve players began to claim the striker had left the field early in an (almost successful) attempt to get him red-carded. A completely fallacious and insignificant claim and a real insight into the mindset of the Juve team at the time.
Narrabundah though continued to press and were soon rewarded with a second. Dziubinski once again the recipient of a through ball which he managed to slide home calmly. It would not take long before it was three with Muller doing the build up work before Paulo Romero managed to finish off after a clear foul and failed clearance, referee Da Costa intelligently playing the advantage. As Juve continued to self destruct, thankfully still turning their rage onto themselves rather than the Narrabundah players, Narrabundah continued to press but were unable to find another goal that would have given the score line the convincingness that Narrabundah deserved.
So Narrabundah finally back in the winners circle then, a fact that will bring much relief and confidence to a team that has been sorely lacking the latter for the past few weeks. Although the finishing today left a lot to be desired, the Narrabundah midfield continues to improve with Tim McConkey proving an instant success in his debut as a holding midfielder and Aaron Perryman continuing to add new steel to the Narrabundah defensive unit.