By Greg Blake
Nostalgia is powerful. It’s warm and comfortable. Romanticizing the past is the trick and the trap, but the anticipation of seeing the Alexander yellow and black running out on Marconi Stadium for the first time in arounds three decades sucked me in utterly. And thankfully last Friday night’s fourth round Australian Championship clash did not disappoint.
Peter Tsekenis’ Marconi Stallions and John Anastasiadis’ Heidelberg United Alexander clash was a ripper. It might easily have ended scoreless and not disappointed. Shrugging off a lightening-struck delay and the wet conditions, these two powerhouses pulled out a grunting, sweaty, muscle-tensing, vein-popping arm-wrestle. It finished 1-1.
The two Group B power-hitters were scoreless at half time. The Warriors had to come from behind, the Stallions hitting the front 64 minutes in. Marconi kept the ball alive following year another at least once-per-game remarkable stop from Yaren Sozer. A Will Akio cross in from the left feel lovingly close enough for Harry Van Der Saag to angle a header home for 1-0.
The Warriors offered a prompt reply – inside six minutes – although via a most unexpected resource. The Warriors – searching for two goals to reach 100 for the 2025 season – loaded up with Bul Juach, Asahi Yokokawa and Max Bisetto, the trio having already combined for 49 between them. Marconi kept them quiet.
Next Game
Heidelberg United v Wollongong Wolves Tickets
Instead, the equalizer was lashed home with some venom by Marcus Humbert, who started again – and is proving more than equipped to handle the role – at left back. Humbert sped to the top of the area in a manner most timely, rewarding a wonderfully crisp and precise Fletcher Fulton/Angus Taylor. combination down the left. Taylor squared and Humbert gleefully hammered the ball past James Hilton.
Hilton had announced himself in the game just four minutes after kick-off by stopping a Juach bullet. The young Marconi goalkeeper was recently anointed NSW goalkeeper of the year and lived up to the billing, particularly after half time.
The Warriors book-ended Friday night with missed opportunities to put some distance on the Stallions. Fulton – who had another mighty game as part of a defensive set-up which, for the most part, kept Marconi at arm’s length – drove deep on 11 minutes and squared for Juach, who was foiled in the red zone.
I enjoy watching Jay McGowan. He deserved a richer payoff for an elusive, ambitious winding run at Marconi’s defenders than skewing his final effort wide after all the hard work had been done a quarter hour in.
Hilton foiled Ciaren Bramwell coming out of half time and Marconi veteran Marko Jesic sliced wide at the other end in a game in which the scoreboard minimalism wasn’t reflective of the artistic merit of a genuinely beguiling contest.
Hilton had one final task during Alexander’s feverish late-game flourish. Yes, Anthony Lesiotis was sensational once again, and he was ever-so-close to nailing another one of those spectacular missiles from downtown, only for Hilton to spot it and snatch it in flight.
Next Game
Heidelberg United v Wollongong Wolves Tickets
Nostalgia is powerful. Sometimes it can snap your heart wide open. I have the most wonderful memory of trips to games at Bossley Park in the late 70’s. Crack of dawn and take off up the Hume in the XG Ford Falcon V8. No speed cameras back in the day. Parking in mud in the massive areas of farmland surrounding the Marconi Club. Hit the road after the game and grab a snooze in carpark of the Goulburn Base Hospital and then home to Melbourne.
I’d hoped Alexander’s return to Marconi Stadium wouldn’t disappoint. It didn’t. Perhaps there is a place for this Australian Championship. To unlock memories for some and offer new ones to the next generation.
Wollongong back home at Catalina Street is next up for the Warriors in this championship series, next Sunday. One point in that one and Alexander is safe into the quarter finals. Only handful of games to go this season, so enjoy the trip on the Warrior Nation Special while it lasts. All aboard!
