Two Days, Two Championships (Part 1)

What a great weekend for football! It was the first weekend of Spring and I was lucky enough to witness one Championship being won and participate in another.

On Saturday I travelled back to Esther Park to (hopefully) witness Mooroolbark get the three points required for them to break their 24 year drought without a title. From the start you could tell that both the team and crowd were a bit nervous, the usually boisterous barkers supporters were quiet on the sidelines aware that they were playing a team seen as a bit of a bogey side and they were not going to take anything for granted until everything was done and dusted.

The quiet atmosphere seemed to affect the players as well, with no clear cut chances being created by Mooroolbark, you always had the feeling Old Melbournians were likely to snatch a goal whenever they went forward. They did have the best chance of the half, but the Mooroolbark keeper was able to react quickly thrusting a big palm in the way of an almost a point blank shot and forcing it over the crossbar.

45 Minutes down and with the score at 0-0 I was expecting the Barkers to come out fired up and looking to get an early goal to settle everyone down. Still it didn't come, Mooroolbark were getting forward but were struggling to find that creative edge in the final third, meanwhile the quiet crowd were still on edge every time Old Melbs went forward.

Now this part was told to me by a person from Mooroolbark after the match, so if my account has inaccuracies, please don't lynch me for it, and anyway, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

It was told to me that around the 85th minute mark of the match, the Barker WAGS each decided to go one at a time into the ladies room in a vein attempt to invoke Murphys Law.

In theory it was a good plan, I am sure everyone of my four confirmed readers can testify to having missed a goal, a red card or some piece of vital action when answering the call of nature.

With the 94th minute ticking over and all the WAGS having had a turn, Stuart Milne stepped up to the plate. Ever the optimist, he gave a short but inspired speech and declared that he WOULD be the the one to miss history being made as he strutted off into the clubrooms. As they say, the rest is history.

Well done Mooroolbark on securing the Championship and Good Luck in whichever league the FFV places you in next year.