by Greg Blake
Adjectifying days make them somehow better. Super Saturday is more exciting than plain, once-per-week Saturday. in Melbourne, last Sunday it was Saturating Sunday. And what about this Friday night, for the biggest, baddest game in the Australia Cup series thus far, as Marconi Stallions host Heidelberg United Alexander at Bossley Park.
Fabulous Friday? Maybe, if you’re swanning around at the opening of an art exhibition. But for a massive game between historic rivals in Sydney’s west, how about Fully Sick Friday. If that promotion doesn’t go some way toward filling Marconi’s home ground, nothing will. You’re welcome!
Interesting to read some quotes attributed to one Tony Labbozzetta, the former president of Club Marconi and Soccer Australia (now Football Australia). Now in his 80’s, Labbozzetta has lived through the tumult and triumphs of the game in this country since the days even before the old National Soccer League kicked off in 1977. And after seeing Marconi’s home crowd against Wollongong last week, even he is excited about the Australian Championship.
“At first I had doubts about how successful this competition would be, but after the first two matches I’m starting to believe we’re on the right track”, Labbozzetta is quoted as saying on the Marconi website.
“We haven’t seen 3000 spectators at the Marconi Stadium in ages. We’re still far from the attendance records of the NSL era, but enthusiasm is coming back, among Marconi fans and football lovers in general.
“I hope next Friday’s match against Heidelberg draws an even bigger crowd.”
In the three weeks since a rather listless first meeting at Olympic Village, Heidelberg United Alexander and Marconi Stallions have played an inadvertent game of one-upmanship for Group B bragging rights. And top spot.
Alexander stands top of the group, thanks to a 1-0 yawner over the Stallions in week one. Since then Marconi belted South Hobart 4-0 and Wollongong Wolves 3-0. Alexander beat the Wolves 3-0 on the road and were 6-0 up at half time against the Tasmanians last weekend.
“No doubt Marconi are shaping as the danger team in our group”, said Alexander’s Director of Football, Nick Deligiannis.
“They’ve looked pretty good and we expect that Friday night will be a really tough game. But we’re ready for it”.
Circumspect as always, Deligiannis was non-committal about the make-up of the team for Friday’s game. “We’ll wait until we’ve seen them train this week”, he explained.
Preparation for taking on Alexander for opposing coaching groups has taken on a nightmarish quality during this opening series of the new competition, with Heidelberg United having fielded three largely unfamiliar starting line-ups in its opening three games and given – at last count – nineteen different players some decent playing time.
Should Alexander manage two goals at Marconi on Friday night, that would bring up 100 team goals for the season and the first team century in a season since 1961.
For the record, the last time the Warriors played at Marconi was in February of 1995, in round 19 of the old NSL competition. Marconi led 2-0 before a second half Heidelberg comeback got the game back to 2-2. Unfortunately for Alexander Marconi struck twice more in injury time and ran out 4-2 winners.
