REPORT: GRFC Men’s Masters’ (Over 35s) Division – Round 1
By: Ben SHEARS
THE inaugural GRFC Men’s Masters’ (Over 35s) league kicked off last Friday night under the bright lights at Barwon Heads, heralding in a new era for Men’s football in Geelong.
PHOTO: A group photo of the two teams taken before last Friday night's historical Master's game between Barwon Heads (orange strips) and Drysdale.
The very first Masters’ game kicked off with the home side (Barwon Heads SC) hosting Drysdale SC at the Barwon Heads Village Park complex. The experienced veterans of the round ball code played out an entertaining first up match which ended in a 0-3 result towards the visitors. The goalscorers for Drysdale included Dean Wearne and Kevin Smith with a double.
A special mention must be made of Paul McKenna from Drysdale, who turned 59 years ‘young’ the following day. McKenna was the oldest player on the pitch, thanks to the fact that his teammate, the legendary 77-year-old Everitt Nelson, was sick and unable to pull on the goalkeeping gloves for Drysdale on the night!
The remaining two games in the Masters’ comp, were played on Sunday afternoon.
Corio SC took on a strong Barwon SC side and came out second best in a close 2-3 game at Hume Reserve. Corio did extremely well, fielding just 10 players with both teams enjoying a relatively good start to the season. The Barwon scorers included Christopher Vine with a brace and Gary Burton with a single.
Over at the Lara Recreation Reserve, an undermanned Lara United hosted Bell Park , eventually going down 2-11 to the classy visitors.
Lara had two goalscorers in Walter Zrnic and State League senior team coach Lindsay Falzon , while Bell Park had a massive scoring streak that included Peter Bruno (4), Peter Van den Berg (4), Mark Gstalter (2) and Rocky Caruso with a single.
Looking forward to this week, Barwon SC will host Barwon Heads at Grovedale Reserve this Friday night at 7.30pm.
Meanwhile, Lara United hosts Drysdale at Lara Recreation Reserve on Sunday at 3pm. It is hoped that Everett Nelson, who is currently the oldest registered player in an FFV sanctioned competition, will be well enough to play his first game in the new league.
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