Hawks Fly High but Wildcats Claw Across the Line

Tonight's blog entry is rather different. Different because it has been a while since I have written an entry about basketball, but also it has been a while since I have written an entry about the Perth Wildcats and the National Basketball League (NBL) games in general. However, this entry is not from the usual venue of Perth Arena, or RAC Arena as it is called, but the WIN Entertainment Centre in central Wollongong. As the venues to watch the fireworks in Sydney city were already full and only available to see if you bought a ticket, so the next best thing would be to head down the south coast and watch some basketball. 

Illawarra Hawks are not travelling very well and are firmly on the bottom of the table whereas the Perth Wildcats are placed just inside the play-in round bracket and are struggling to find their feet again after the recent restructuring they have been facing. So, this game could go either way and possibly provide the home side a chance to snag a win and really place pressure upon Perth and give the shot in the arm the Hawks need to keep being competitive in the NBL season.

Getting to the stadium is very easy as you get off at Wollongong station and then walk along Crown Street and then you encounter the Steelers Leagues club, WIN Stadium and next door the entertainment centre. Entering the venue is also easy also as all the stage doors are at ground level and are easily accessible for people with disabilities, families with prams or people with limited mobility. It was just nice, quick and easy to get in and find our seat and get ready to watch the game.

The Wildcats were slow out of the gate and the Hawks were all over them ion the opening 5 minutes with the first 2 minutes of the game were Illawarra pressing, scoring and not providing the Wildcats any chance to reply or find any resemblance of rhythm or opportunities to settle into the game style they wanted to play. However, this would slowly shift as the longer the game progressed, the better the visitors became as they found their feet and started to dictate the play to the hosts and begin to overturn the deficit and start to post a lead.

At one stage in the second quarter the Wildcats were 17 points up and it looked like that they were going to blow open the game and really clip the Hawk's wings and really put on a drubbing for this New Year's Eve audience. The kind of show the hosts really would not want to watch. However, they would not give up and with their dogged determination pushed and pushed the Wildcats all the way and deep into the last quarter they were within three points and with some astute, solid defending and some calm heads, were able to restrict the visitors and almost made them panic and was very close to forcing Perth to blow the game and throw away the win. But the valiant effort ran out of steam in the last two minutes of the game and Perth were able to net a few baskets to push the lead back out to 10 points where the match concluded at 97 to 107 in favour of the Perth Wildcats.

Food was a bit of a mixed bag as I bought an ice cream for 7.50, coke for 6, sweet potato chips for 8.70 and a big boy hotdog for 8.90. I think that the drumsticks were overpriced, same with the coke and the sweet potato chips were not quite up to par as they were a bit oily and lacking oomph, also overpriced. The hotdog though was on point and delicious. It was an ample serving and hit the spot just right. The big boy has sauerkraut, mustard, cheese and tomato sauce. It was just the right combination with the soft bread and hot tasty sausage that just made it all click together and make it worth the money, even if it was perhaps a dollar too much.

After an interesting experience for New Years in New South Wales, it was time to say goodbye to Wollongong and the Illawarra region and head back to Sydney for the remaining time of 2022 and to usher in the beginning of the new year of 2023. I hope that I will be able to write more blog entries for you all in 2023 and it may not be as many as when I first started this hobby, I hope that I will continue to write for you all and to encourage you to get out there and watch these games that I have seen. Have a happy, productive and joyous 2023 everyone.

A Derby Behind 'Closed Doors'

Today was boxing day and playing host to the newest Melbourne Derby in the A-League competition with the newest Melbourne team, Western United hosting Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park. This game was controversial as the previous Melbourne Victory match was marred with poor crowd behaviour after the Melbourne City goalkeeper threw back a flare that was thrown onto the field triggering a calamitous series of events that has made the league organisers to only allow Melbourne Victory and Western United members and ticket holders of Western United supporters. Though the Punctual Football Fan is certainly no fan, nor member of either of these two teams playing this evening, I bought my ticket before the decision was made to suspend ticket sales to the general public. Now with that backdrop out of the way, let us talk about the match and what we are here for; food, drink and football.

Western United are the defending A-League champions after beating Melbourne City in the final who finished on top of the table and were expected to win the final. The defending champions have been struggling to string wins together in their title defence as they are sitting in 10th place and are starting to fall away from the top 6 pack. Melbourne Victory on the other hand, are also suffering from an inconsistent season and are just outside the top 6 with a win in this game putting them back into contention for the title challenge and into the top 6. 

It was a warm evening with plenty of sunlight still and was much cooler inside the stadium with a bit of a swirling breeze inside the ground. Perhaps this is because there were not many people in the stadium, about 2700 actually, though had Melbourne Victory not had a ban placed upon their fans it might have been twice that amount or even about 10 thousand people. That would have been a good turn out for a boxing day match and for the league. But the events from the Melbourne City-Victory Derby put an end to that. 

The game was a bit of a mess. By that meaning both teams could not get into their respective grooves and find their rhythms. The game was rather scrappy for both teams and when teams managed to settle down for a brief moment, they were unsettled by usually from a rash tackle and free kicks stalling any momentum they had built prior. This was especially the case when A-League journeyman Nikolai Topor-Stanley was given a straight red car in the 32nd minute for a rash challenge according to the referee as he went into the challenge with a raised right boot when going for the bouncy ball. Western United were down to 10 men and with such a disjointed game for both teams, it was going to be a challenge for the home side.

Western United managed to hold the storm from Melbourne Victory but the went a goal up from a set piece corner from Troisi connected with a Risdon header and Western United took the lead in the 45th minute. The game was 1-0 to Western United at the break. The second half was very much the same as the first, a scrappy affair where no team were able to find any flow or rhythm with scrappy fouls and free kicks conceded ruining any potential gains they were making.

Now onto the food and drink. The food was rather nice actually. I bought a hotdog and chicken tenders with chips and mustard sauce. The chips were nicely salted and were very crunchy and great taste, the chicken was very nice and the sauce complimented the chicken and went down a treat. As for the hotdog, it was a standard dog with the bun that is usually served at the AFL grounds. The dog was hot and didn't taste revolting and the bread tasted fresh and soft. Though the only down side was that I had ordered some mustard for it but I did not get it with the hotdog. However, the hotdog was very nice. The chicken tenders and chips cost 16 dollars with the hotdog costing 5.50 dollars. I also bought a Cascade light beer and a cider, going down a treat in the warm evening watching the football. The beer cost 8.30 and the cider cost 11.50. The going rate really at sporting venues around the country. I often wonder how people can drink copious amounts of alcohol during a sporting event in Australia with such ridiculous prices. Coke was 6 dollars and water was 5 dollars, that price for water is ridiculous and the coke 1 dollar too much.

My first time at AAMI park for an A-League football game would have been better given the circumstances of events occurring prior. However, the stadium is of a very high quality and it is a fantastic boutique stadium for the 30 thousand capacity that it can hold. It would be nice to see Perth's stadium develop into something like this as Perth Stadium (Optus) is just too huge and cannot cater for football as it is not designed for it. But for my first footballing experience in Melbourne's premier football stadium was something special and I do hope that Western United get their act together and build their stadium out in the western suburbs of Melbourne as promised as having multiple stadiums for Melbourne football is important for the game in the city, state and country to get better.

Boxing Day Cricket

The modern Australian summer of Australian cricket is not the same without the annual Boxing Day test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This edition of the Boxing Day test match is between Australia and South Africa for the second test match in this series between the two countries. This also doubles up as part of the 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC) where points are on the line over a two-year period and the top two nations play in the WTC final at Lord's to determine the championship winner. South Africa leading into this summer's series are sitting in second place and Australia are sitting on top of the WTC table. This series is hotly anticipated to be quite the battle between two historically strong test cricket nations and will have two strong sides showing their skills and talents in front of an international-starved cricket viewing public after the first taste of the return of international cricket the previous summer.

Warm day in Melbourne and an absolutely great day for cricket at an iconic cricket stadium, Australian captain Pat Cummins made the decision to field first and I felt that this was an unusual decision as the wicket is looking good and ideal to bat first. Though he knew what he was doing as the Australians were too good in the field and their bowling was too good for the visitors and they just could not get going and were all out on the first day for 185. The Australians in reply started off shakily making 45 runs and losing one wicket early. Cameron Green showed how promising he is and that this young cricketer is destined for more test cricket as well as a promising test cricket future by taking 5 wickets and restricting the South African middle and lower order. But it was just a comprehensive bowling and fielding performance from the Australians who put on a world class clinic for 65 thousand fans.

As it was a warm day at the cricket, I opted to have many refreshments, though I opted to not have any alcoholic beverages as I didn't want to become somewhat inebriated and suffer under the Melbournian summer sun as my seats were under constant sun all day. The cokes were 5.50 each with the Powerade's being rather expensive at 7.50 with water equally as expensive at 6 dollars. The food was rather nice with a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich at 14 dollars and a Guinness pie and chips at 17 dollars. The chips were nicely salted and no need to have them drowned in sauce. The pie was delicious and piping hot, so took a while to get through it but again, no need to have it with sauce it was that delicious. The pastry was nice, fluffy and flakey with the mince was full of flavour and the sauce just was hitting the spot with the pastry crumbling in the mouth upon each bite. Drumsticks were a bit pricey at 6 dollars but were a treat in the Melbournian warmth.

It was my second ever Boxing Day test match in Melbourne and my first visit to Melbourne in seven years so it was great to see the city and to watch test cricket again. Australia put on a show on day one of this match and I hope that there is a contest between these two teams, though we will have to wait and see how that will pan out. Hopefully I shall be back much sooner to watch another Boxing Day match, though we will have to see what the future holds for the Punctual Football Fan. Thank you, Melbourne, for a great day of cricket.

Hearts of Oak lacking the Heart against Real Tamale

Had a unique experience so far in my sport and football viewing adventures today watching Real Tamale play the oldest clubs in Ghanaian football at the national stadium in Accra, the capital. This is my first time visiting west Africa, as I have been to Africa before, Egypt, though I am constantly reminded that this is not Africa proper and I can of course totally understand why Africans would say that. This continent is a huge chunk of land with many countries, cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious differences where visiting one part of the continent is unique to another. This is definitely the case and the match was exactly that, a unique experience.

The trip to the stadium was not far as such, but the nature of the roads, the traffic and processing to get into the stadium eats away at time and was just slightly late to the game; only 15 minutes. I bought a VVIP ticket and it was only 100 cedis, which as of June 2022 is twenty dollars Australian. So I thought why not and that would mean that I would have a good view to watch the game and relax. The reason why I said I would buy the VVIP ticket was based from my experiences when I watched a test match in Kanpur, India in November 2009. While I think looking back, a culturally enriching experience for me, having throngs of people stare at me and ask rather inappropriate questions when I simply wanted to watch the cricket with my then girlfriend at the time was very irritating and I said that next time I would spend a little bit more to have a good view and not be harassed. I laugh as the ticket for that cricket match was 120 rupees, 4 dollars in 2009 money. But when you are a student on a shoe-string budget, you think about these things at the time and not think about the consequences. 

I was in the main grandstand in the centre of the stand looking straight down the centre line of the football pitch. While this view was a great spot, the VVIP section had this cage set up around it which was rather obtrusive and restricted viewing of play when it would to either direction around the edge of the penalty boxes. This was highly irritating as I wanted to watch the game and not have to tilt, lean and move in order to see the match. The seats were very comfortable, like the padded seats you see on the substitute benches of the big clubs of Europe or the benches during the world cup matches. When it was the end of the first half though I had had enough and sat outside of the VVIP section and sat about 15 rows back which would be the VIP section surrounding the VVIP 'cage' I'm dubbing it. This is where I had a much better view of the game and could see everything besides when the ball was close to us near the touchline as the VVIP 'cage' would block the view. There was just no escaping this darn 'cage'!

As for the game, it was a very physical affair with both sides throwing themselves at the football and trying to score. The old hands of Ghanaian football were trying desperately to score, to find anything really, it just wasn't coming for the Hearts of Oak. Real Tamale's defence were all over them applying constant pressure, faster defensive movement, positioning to run the ball out of defence to mount counter attacks, and were physically more dominant through staying more on their feet. Through this, Real Tamale score two of their three goals in the first half from counter attacks, though they were not from the run of play. The visitors controlled the game but simply could not put any past the Hearts of Oak's goals more than three time sin the first half. Hearts just did not have any answers and were constantly struggling physically and mentally. They had looked like a spent force before the halfway mark of the first half!

It was not a big crowd, but I would say that there was about 4-5,000 people there and when Hearts came off for the break there was some jeering and booing as the home side put in a dreadful display. The second half was a slight improvement with Hearts starting to find avenues into Tamale's defensive half, causing some trouble and firing off some attempts on goal. Though some of them were hardly any issue for the keeper, though there were a few that put them on high alert and were close. Despite the improvement, it was not enough to turn the three goal gulf as Tamale score a fourth goal and were constantly pressing, putting Heart's defensive line under enormous pressure where it was close to breaking point and I wondered if the floodgates would open and the visitors would start posting a cricket score. 

This did not eventuate with Hearts holding on with dear life and finding a consolation goal late into the second half with the match ending 1-4 in favour of the visitors. When I spoke about this performance, they would scoff and suggest that Hearts had thrown the game, to ensure that certain teams would be relegated or kept up. While this would not surprise me if this came out as the truth at a later stage as Ashanti Gold were found to be caught match fixing and sent two divisions down. I think that they were simply outclassed and it was the final week of Ghanaian Premier League football with Hearts of Oak, the defending champions, outclassed by a team that were fighting to stay in the premier league.

Now the food, well this will be interesting and an experience that I will never forget. Especially now that this will be documented in this blog, it will now be immortalised! Because I was in the VVIP section, we went down the stairs and into a lounge with a kitchen and had drinks on offer with food that we could request and place onto our plates and sit and eat around lounge chairs and tables. As I was by myself I felt that I did stick out as I quietly sat and tried to eat what I had selected and take pictures. People were noticing this and thought that I was very strange, I think that too ha-ha!

I selected what I thought would be beef on skewers, spring rolls and two cola drinks. Well I was told by locals that what I had selected was ox tongue. Now I had a bite of one piece and it was rather chewy, rubbery and tough. I did not like this one bit and was a bit slimy and generally not something that I liked. I tried to swallow that one piece I had and was discretely trying to not make visible convulsion sounds or anything. Though after I fought that piece down I had the spring rolls and then washed them all down with the Puma Cola and the Pukka, which is akin to Cockta in the former Yugoslavian countries, especially when I had some in Belgrade in 2018. I enjoyed that, so Pukka went down a treat. 

This was all free as I was a VVIP and I would rather have headed down stairs and had some Ghanaian pies, which are like pasties but thicker pastry and with minced beef inside. They are delicious, I wish I was able to have those with my drinks! But I had to be with the very, VERY, important people and have ox tongue with my colas. There was also Guinness malt drink available and other malt drinks that are very popular in Ghana that I have had in Australia. 

While I have had a lot of west African food in Australia, I was not prepared for ANY of this and was a real eye-opener. I found it rather amusing that I was out of my comfort zone, but it was a really great atmosphere and experience. Now that I have had a 'taste' of what a football match is like at the national stadium in Accra, Ghana, I would love to return some stage and watch another game here. Or watch another match or more elsewhere in the country and see what those stadiums are like. I can only assume that I would be placed further out of my comfort zone! This was an unforgettable first experience in Ghana, certainly will not be the last.