Nannas 4 plays Tortelleni 400 5
Att: DC (Arse), JH (MOM, 2), AW, TW (1), JC, MC, JM (MOM)

The Nannas were asleep for the first five minutes of this match. We really were. I didn’t touch the ball once in those first five minutes—I did get subbed after two minutes—but in those early exchanges the ball went a couple of times to the opposite side of the field, and both times the enemy snaffled it, and scored.

Admittedly, we were a team of three Nannas, three ringers. It’s an old cliche, but it can take years for a group of people to click into a finely tuned team, and on this occasion it seemed like we were far from that.

But that was the first five minutes.

After that we started to find some cohesion and get into the game. They were a lot younger than us (except for Misha). They had foot skills too, sometimes the equal of a Nanna, sometimes not.
What they also had was a fine goalie. In that first half, I must have been one on one with him, or heading toward goal, at least half a dozen times. I couldn’t get it past him. He closed the space down extremely well, and was quick with his hands too.

I am pretty sure we went into half time at least three goals down. We didn’t score one and they got three, that is.

After the break, and a serious talking to by Dan (the Arse Coach Postecoglou), we went at them. I got one off a long throw. I managed to head it into the keeper, who spilled his lollies, and I scooped up the scraps and into the back of the net.

Tao, also finished nicely down the left side (speaking of left sides. I did have many forays down that side, but on this particular evening my crosses were particularly shit. I do remember thinking, especially in the moment, that I had to shoot at every given opportunity, which I did, but we would have been better served with a few more judicious crosses).

We also got another at this point, but I forget who got this third goal. At this point the score was 4-3, and we were really coming, the game was very open, and the contest was up for grabs. That’s when they scored a particularly good goal, struck from well outside the box after a pass to the centre of the court. I did swear.

That should have been it. And it was really. But the Nannas were not finished. A very sumptuous move involving first Misha, then James M, which I finished, put at us 5-4, with about 40 seconds on the clock. We tried to nick the ball, but three quarters of a minutes goes quickly.

Afterwards we went to the Union to talk about class, squats and the practicalities of constructing toilets over showers.