Derby delight (or six of the best)

As Tina Turner once sang “six of the best, six times better than the rest”. Derby day for Victory fans

has often been one of trepidation because our overall record against City is poor. Therefore,

although we were quietly confident going into the match we were still nervous because of the past.

In the first few minutes of the match it appeared we had good reason to be nervous as City

fashioned a chance in the box after good Morrison unfortunately slipped, but never fear Gabby

Garton was there to snuff out the danger. And that was pretty much the last time City would really

threaten as in the 16th minute the amazing Annalie Longo got on the end of a beautifully weighted

pass from LDV and made it 1-0. It was just reward for Annalie who’d been outstanding up until that

point and we looked a lot more dangerous with Annalie in the starting XI. Pleasingly we continued to

dominate after the opening goal and just before the half hour captain fantastic Angie Beard had a

shot blocked by Tegan Micah but our very own rocket queen (also known as Melina Ayres) was on

hand to tap in the rebound to make it 2-0. Now at this point football fans gets nervous because of

the (unfounded in the author’s opinion) fear of 2-0 being the most dangerous score line in football.

To round out the half KCC and the Rocket Queen both had chances to make it 3-0 and remove our

fears but alas, neither could convert, and 2-0 it was at the half.

Now it’s worth pointing out how bloody hot it was in Melbourne on Sunday (it was 35 degrees at

kick-off) and so at half time we decided a zooper doper was a sound idea. However, in a dastardly

move that only The Rand Corporation (in conjunction with the saucer people no doubt) could pull off

the cafeteria was all out so instead we pondered whether the away goals rule was in play given we

were playing City again next week. There was no time to dwell on that though as the City players

came back out on the field followed by well nothing. The minutes ticked by and there was no sign of

our girls in blue. Hmmm we wondered, was Rado doing this as some sort of punishment given how

stupendously bad City were in the first half? Or was it part of a cunning plan by master tactician Jeff

in his 100th dub match as a manager? Only time would tell.

Victory started the second half as they ended the first half, with plenty of chances being created but

not being taken, but that was OK because we had complete control and I am a firm believer in not

using up all your goals in one match. Then in the 72nd minute came the 2nd best moment of the

match, LDV nutmegging Victory alumni Jenna McCormick and running the length of the field to score

a magnificent solo goal to make it 3-0. As we were again behind the goals Victory were attacking in

the 2nd half we had a magnificent view of the ball going into the net to secure all 3 points. Just as

were still celebrating that goal came the moment of the match –A GOAL TO AMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amy

Jackson is without doubt the Vikings’ favourite player (and unofficial president) and so any time Amy

scores is always extra special for us. It was a truly delightful goal after a one two with the Rocket

Queen and was made even more special for us when Amy gestured to us in appreciation as she got

back to the centre circle. Queue even more raucous celebrations amongst the Vikings as a result.

And then moments later a first goal in Victory colours for Catherine Zimmerman to make it 5-0, and

this was so good to see as she had unselfishly made a lot of runs to pull the City defence out of

position to make space for others throughout the match.

At this stage, we could scarcely believe what we were seeing – Victory putting 5 past an opponent

that had handed out some big defeats to us previously, including 4-0 at the back end of last season.

Given how hot it still was this late, to see our players still running hard and looking so sharp as

though the match had only just started was remarkable. And then just when out thoughts were

turning to whether it was acceptable to have a post-match pint for every goal scored today, and

what that meant in terms of being able to make it into work Monday, KCC made it 6 in injury time.

Just rewards for KCC whose development continues apace and is really looking primed for a big

season. And that was that, 6-0 City’s biggest ever defeat and our 2nd biggest ever win following our

7-0 win over Newcastle last season. And so onto the return leg in Epping next Sunday.

Talking Points:

• Kayla Morrison (aka the good Morrison) continued to impress in defence

• Polly Doran has rewarded Jeff’s faith in her in Victory’s first two games of the season putting in two brilliant defensive performances so far. Following on from her impressive effort in largely nullifying the threat presented by Emily Gielnik in round 2, Polly was again outstanding and completely snuffed out attacks City tried to build from their left side.

• A lot of talk going into this season was who was going to score the goal’s in Tash’s absence. There were glimpses last week that our new multi-pronged attack was more than capable of filling the void and this week that became a reality. As much as we absolutely love Tash there’s no doubt we asked her to shoulder far too much of the attacking burden making it easier for opposition sides to defend against us. The way the forward line has been structured going into this season, with Catherine Zimmerman the only member of the group not to have previously scored for Victory, speaks volumes about what a brilliant manager Jeff is.

Stat attack:

• Sunday’s match marked the first time Victory has kept consecutive clean sheets to start the season

• Victory had 6 individual goal scorers, the most we’ve ever had in a match.

• Four points and a goal difference of +6 marks our best ever start to a season after 2 rounds