Round 4 (May 15), 2011

Wembley Masters Vs Warnbro

Another Sunday dawned and thankfully it wasn't going to be sunny and hot to test the physical and mental fitness of the Wembley Vets!!

Instead it was gloomy, chance of rain, an early long drive to Mandurah and a Western Derby and so the commitment to the team/club was severely put to the test. Fortunately, a handful of committed diehards made it to Mandurah for the Supers game against Rockingham on the midget sized ground at Rushton Park. The hosts had painted a 50m line on the ground hoping to convince us we were kicking 50m instead of actually 35m at most! More on that in BP's report on next page

Special mention must go to Muriel who packed his new and extended family in to the "bus" and brought them all down for the game. The prodigal son made his first appearance at a Vets game and showed good form by causing some major dampness late in the game causing mother to miss most of the second half! Looks like he could get a good head of hair - obviously from his mother's side. Jokes aside it is great when families come to watch/support us and we should thank them profusely for submitting themselves to our football.

Another mention of an ex Wembley vet stalwart - Ken Reynolds who retired from playing about 4 years ago. He now lives in Mandurah and so came down to have a look/laugh and ended up providing great service as a waterboy! He also must have been keeping score as he surreptitiously whispered something to me after the game about a 4 goal win! Anyway,
great to have you down Ken and, your prodigious efforts at end of season Rotto trips is sorely missed.

So the game was due to start and the Masters were short a few players. Thankfully the Rockingham guys stepped up and we had around 8 of them rotate through our team each for a quarter. Much appreciated and only
confirms the great spirit of Masters footy. Mention of Victor from Rockingham though who after playing for Wembley in the second quarter was keen to kick our way again in the third quarter even though he was back in a Rockingham jumper!

The game was played in great spirit and competition. Our Supers were working well together with the backline very strong in repelling Rockingham attacks. The difference between the sides was probably in the midfield where Muriel and Sarge were running around picking up lots of stats. Devo was presenting well at Centre Half Forward but he has to remember that the ball needs to be lace out for me to mark his passes!!

Speaking of me these reports provide a great platform to talk ourselves up so I can't help but join in:

Wally - the one and only time I go up for the ruck and knock the ball down your throat and you miss it and the obvious open goal that would have followed!
Devo - you did mark the laces out pass I gave you in the last quarter. Bit of a bullet eh?!!
Muriel - the pinpoint pass from me to you in the middle of the ground in the last quarter when you covered by 4 opponents!

And what a run by me in the last quarter! Can't remember the last time I bounced the ball 4 times in a row at full speed and delivered a pinpoint pass. I happened to mention the run to the guys on the Breakfast show at 91.3SportFM and they now refer to me as Phil Manassa!!

Last mention to Sarge who took a mark on the "50m" line at about 45 degree angle in the last quarter. He looked very uncomfortable in the spotlight as we all waited although he suggested it was the fact his back seized up. Anyway in what I think was his attempt to centre the ball he nicely slotted it through for a goal!!

Thanks to Padsy who drove (with his kids) all the way to Mandurah to umpire. He arrived just as the game was due to start so had plenty of time to warm up that dodgy hamstring!! Anyway, thanks Shane and lets have a few more guys volunteer for this task. It can't fall to the same people all the time.

So the Supers game was done and dusted and so thankfully a few of the guys decided to stick around for the Masters game nearly 3 hours later. I am sure a few of the amber liquids were drunk while waiting for the next game as we all know an odd beer or two never hinders a Vet playing footy! Given I was to umpire the Masters game I thought I would take the lovely Hannah (yes, she made the long trip to support her man!!) in to Mandurah for a light lunch and a stroll during the break. Driving in to the main part of Mandurah the traffic was very busy and lots of people. Arriving at the foreshore we were "surprised" to find it was the Mandurah car Show. No classic/vintage/muscle cars - just cars. So I
think every hotted up Commodore and Falcon in WA were there along with the very attractive mulleted, black T-Shirted owners. Needless to say we hightailed it out of there and hit the Miami Bakehouse for some healthy pies, sausage rolls and cakes!! Made it very easy to have the quick nap on the grass at Falcon Beach.

Was then back to Rushton Park for the Masters classic against Warnbro. Wembley were ushered in to the spacious new change rooms in Bendigo Ban Stadium which made them feel like real footballers! Yes, that's all it takes! Clean showers, carpet and even lockers!

Thanks must go to those guys who stayed on to play their second game of the day. We managed to scrape up one or two stragglers from other teams to make the 18 and hit the field. Now Warnbro would have to be the most eclectic team of vets footballers in uniform, hair, playing style and capability but they love the game and always enjoy every game. But on
Sunday they not only enjoyed it but played a great game. It wasn't the best game Wembley Masters have ever played but take nothing away from Warnbro it was a real contest. The end result would have been close but regardless was good game.

Mark "Porno" Selfe was tested by a tall, lanky, old bloke much like himself who kicked 2 goals on him. To his credit though Selfe could have done the swap the backs with forwards thing to get away from him  but he stuck at it. BP was having his second good game for the day and isn't it amazing how pretty BP looks when he plays. Style oozing from every pore!
Big Vin was trying everything up forward and mainly succeeding - isn't it great those 59 year old legs can still do it. The old "1 -2" with Sarge for a goal was a sight to behold! The Supers midfield backed up for the second game and had their work cut out with some spritely quicker Warnbro players. "Wayne's Ball" was being heard a bit across the forward line as Magic provided a great target in attack.

All in all it was a good Vets game and well done to all those that made the trip. My contribution to the game for once was minimal as it was a very easy game to umpire and well done to the Warnbro bloke at the other end for umpiring for the very first time.

By the time we left Mandurah Hannah's support for her man had diminished a little so I didn't even consider asking to listen to the Derby on the radio on the long drive home!!

Bevo