Match Report Wednesday 5th February

 Welcome Pelicans to the first, albeit somewhat delayed, match report for 2025.  We had a good turnout on a mild sunny morning at Altona.  After the customary stretches and warm ups, team selection was delayed as the club's  two leading anarchists staged a reverse mutiny and resigned their captaincies.  This imbroglio was eventually resolved by forming teams on a geographical basis, and those traditional rivals Red and Blue took to the field once again - 5 a side plus goalie, a referee, and notional 5 minute rotations.

 

The first half was well underway when Jim made a spectacular entry in the Ceiling Ball of The Year competition.  In any other venue, this beauty would surely have scraped the tiles, but it fell a bit short here at Altona.  Meanwhile our newest members, Ian (poached from the Near North), and Marlene (recruited under the sister-sister rule) demonstrated their skills in both defence and offence - keep an eye on these rising stars!  Kon assailed the goals with his usual vigour, and finally managed to get one cleanly into the net.  But, wait a minute, Michael wasn't here to see it, so was it really a goal?  If a tree falls in the forest…

 

Competition in the second half hotted up, although significant periods of play were lost while our amateur referees entered into esoteric disputes with some of the more encyclopaedic team members - where was Hugh when we needed him?  The deadly Red duo continued to pressure the Blue defenders, with Alan's geometric passes down the boundary line to Robert lurking in the forward pocket creating multiple scoring opportunities.  Perhaps by accident, or perhaps motivated by Jim-envy (we will probably never know the real reason) El Presidente kicked (or should I say launched) the Ceiling Ball to end all Ceiling Balls that very nearly took out the very top row of louvre windows.

 

And that highlight (pun intended) pretty much brought the match to an end.  The score?  I can't quite remember, but I think it was Something All.