Bayside Pirates Seven Day Review

What a busy seven days it has been!

The team flew up to Sydney on Friday afternoon to take part in the Tiger Street Football Tournament, which was a lot of Razzmatazz and Hype on Circular Quay. It was arguably, the best place in Australia to host such an event and getting their photos taken with the legendary Fabio Cannavaro was a bonus! The boys gave it their best shot, only to narrowly lose to the eventual winners Team Gaganiani 3-2 in the second round. It certainly is a game where you have to take your chances, otherwise you are out!  The Pirates stayed in the same Hotel as the overseas and interstate teams, where we all shared our thoughts on football, futsal and Tiger Football. Interestingly, when they started talking about Tiger, all the teams would have preferred to play with a futsal ball and not the football that was used. The common opinion was that it would have resulted in a more skilful and quicker game, with less aerial ping pong. Same rules, same cage; just change the ball. Food for thought for the organisers of the Tiger.

On the Friday night, the Pirates ventured out to Dural to play in a friendly match against the Australian Club Champions, the Dural Warriors. This was part of the Pirates pre season cycle, before the FFV Premier League started. Talk about planes, trains and automobiles. Every team has a travel story to tell. This story started with the Pirates getting “JetStared”. Off loaded at Melbourne airport, because they wanted to use a smaller plane and thus fill up the three quarter full Qantas flight an hour later. The players were told the two airlines were different companies, but Qantas was going to “help us out”? Go Figure. Obviously, this made the team over an hour late. After doing a quick check in at the Hotel, the team tried in vain to get a Maxi Taxi to take them out to Dural. No luck! Thus two buses later and add Sydney’s notorious peak hour traffic (Melbourne is not much better) and they eventually arrived.

The Dural players had been patiently waiting for the Pirates to arrive. After a shorter than normal warm up, the game began. The experience of the Dural side immediately began to show and it was not long before the Pirates were two goals down. But, some rhythm started to come into their game with Captain Reuben Langerak forming an understanding with new signing James Vaughan. Together they were creating chances, which enabled young Anthony Elmer to get on the score sheet. At the other end, Clayton Chappell was outstanding in goal, making some great saves, which kept Dural at bay for most of the match. In the end, the score was 4-2 to Dural, but it was the experience that mattered. For a new team, with very few practice matches together, playing at Dural was the objective and it was well worth the effort in getting there. Many thanks to Dural for their hospitality and waiting patiently for the Pirates to arrive.

Back in Melbourne the Pirates then had a couple of days to get ready for their Premier League clash with the Eagles. A very sluggish start saw the boys go into half time 3-0 down. It must have been a hangover of sorts from the Sydney trip?! When they did start to gel, they scored two quick goals form Vaughan and Jonathan De Biase, which brought them right back in it. However, the Eagles hit straight back on the counter attack and made it 4-2. Another new player to the team, Daniel Oteng, persevered to slot home a third. This set up an exciting finish, but only for the neutrals. Despite the Pirates pressing for an equaliser, they could not convert and simply ran out of time, losing 4-3.

That brought an end to a busy few days for the Pirates. JetStared, Dural, Tiger and the Premier League! The coming weeks will be a bit more sedate, with training and the Premier League to look forward to. That will keep the boys busy.....but not for long!

The Pirates with Fabio Cannavaro

Going into the Cage to do Battle

The Tiger Pirates:

Back Row: Daniel Oteng, Reuben Langerak, Sebastian Forero Torres, Jonathan De Biase

Front Row: Mark Borchert (St Albans), Clayton Chappell, James Vaughan

The Pirates Welcome Two Kiwis to the Club

The Pirates are pleased to announce two new signings. James Vaughan and Clayton Chappell have made Melbourne their home and have joined the Pirates. Both players bring a new level of experience to the playing group, as both are All Whites with OFC experience. James is also an experienced Coach and has joined the Coaching Staff, while studying for his Masters degree in Melbourne.

Club President, Mark Georgeson, is very pleased with the two players. " It is something I have been working on for a while, forging new partnerships, with the likes of the New Zealanders, who it has to be said, are making fantastic strides with their Futsal programs. Having played my junior football in Wellington back in the 70's I have a very good understanding of the Kiwi resolve and determination. Clayton is an out standing Goalkeeper and will compliment the younger Roland De Biase very well. James is the consumate professional; he loves his Futsal and Football and he is very methodical in the way he approaches things. Overall, the boys are a great addition to the club".