SL1 v Camberwell
Kew v Camberwell. The derby round that pits the men from Elgar against the tangerine clad club from the wrong side of the tracks. The venue, Elgar’s house of pain. The weather, fine, with cloud increasing and the potential for showers to develop in the afternoon. The much anticipated clash on the hockey calendar drew a fashionable crowd and certainly didn’t disappoint.
The first half was tight, with the well drilled Camberwell boys throwing the ball around with precision across the length of the field, but looked sluggish and uninventive in attack. Solid defence from the Kew lads down the back kept the tangerine clan honest and at bay. Patience was the order of the day and Camberwell turnovers proved crucial.
The Kew boys looked dangerous on the counter-attack and it wasn’t long before the dream team combined to net the first goal – Fresh to Sammy Walcher – Walcher to Phil – Phil with some inventive style tomahawk – Goal. 1-0.
Soon after Walcher and Phil combined again up front to net a second for Kew to head into the half time break 2-0 up. At this point, one could almost hear the excuses coming out of the Camberwell camp, but more on that later.
The second half was similar to the first, only this time, it was Camberwell making an impression on the scoreboard, with the aid of their friends in yellow and black. The tangerine clan got their first after a dubious penalty corner hit went high and deflected off Gus’ thigh on the post to hit the backboard. When Gus questioned the height of the ball he received a sharp rebuke from a tall frustrated tangerine lad that it was a goal because Gus was a ‘midget’, all the while standing next to the forgotten Allen. Creativity, originality and tact was obviously not his strong point.
It wasn’t long before Camberwell were given a penalty stroke, amid scenes reminiscent of the 2000 Western Derby (ahh memories), to take the game to 2-2. That’s where the score line stayed for the remainder of the game. As predicted, post game the excuses started to flow from the Tangerine camp, with one allegedly commenting that they had 5 players out that day. Cry me a river Camberwell.
Click here to view some photo’s from the game.
