North Perth Put Queens Park to the Sword

North Perth United were once again impressive showing that they are a team to watch this season with a convincing victory over Queens Park at Coker Park on a cool Sunday afternoon that became extremely dark, grey then the heavens opened up to put a dampener on the good afternoon.

North Perth had all the answers from start to finish by just controlling the game with Queens Park only venturing forward on a few occasions. Had a few close calls however they weren't enough to register on the score sheet unfortunately for the home side. When the rain fell Queens Park fell away as the wet treacherous conditions played into the visitor's hands by adding two more goals onto the score sheet. The match ended 4-0 in favour of North Perth United. Although they are mid-table after 4 matches into the season with the games I have seen so far, they are a team to watch.

I must say it has been a while since I have graced the Coker Park clubrooms and the home of Queens Park, memories of former glories are felt as you walk in and while I have to say it's a shame that they aren't up there with the rest it is great that they are still around and playing. A credit to all the players, club-men, fans, friends and family who continue to support Queens Park.

The selection of food was ideal for the afternoon being colder and needing a pick me up but I opted for a hot dog which was for 3 dollars. Now for a place like this it is worth every dollar and you don't expect anything more or less unlike Domain stadium; it is what it is. Was rather nice but bread was a tad dry though. They had hamburgers for 5 with the lot and pies for 3 dollars. So if you want a cheap feed and watch some football in the Cannington area I suggest you might make a stop here on a Sunday afternoon.
Cool drinks were all 2 dollars and I think beers were 5 dollars however I was on the 7 dollar ciders which for 500mL was brilliant value!

Queens Park shouldn't feel bad about the result against North Perth. Despite obviously wanting to win at home, losing to a side that have started the season very strongly and beaten teams convincingly should be some consolation for the result. The quality of this season has been excellent so far and what an exciting season we could have on our hands.

Force Try to Weather the Storm

Western Force took on the Stormers on a cool Saturday night and simply were not strong enough to get across the line falling 6-13. The Force were showing good signs for the ;last 60 minutes of the game however the sheer strength of the Stormer defence proved too great. Perhaps the Force should have gone for penalties but credit to them for trying to go for maximum points via a try.
You wouldn't mind to see the Force play and even lose like that as there were not glaring unforced errors or lines of poor communication. They fought hard but with a far heavier and more compact opposition it was always going to prove a challenge. That is what the game is about and you can walk away from that not angered by the valiant efforts made by the home side.

As I arrived to the game after work I had to unfortunately purchase something from the venue. crisps and a coke were 10.50! Although the bag was of the larger size that is no reason to have it at such a price! Once again i saw expensive food and beverage options but as I was eating myself from the inside after work I had to fall victim of the stupid high prices of nib stadium. That would make a Force supporter walk away from the game with an angry demeanour!

So next time I must try and not buy anything from nib as I will use their 'anti-slogan'; "It's not worth it!".

North Perth Nab Late Equaliser

Ventured to Woodville Reserve to watch North Perth United take on Wembley Downs in a warm April Sunday afternoon expecting a similar scene to the 7 goal thriller against Fremantle Croatia the week before.
Wembley Downs were controlling most of the match with some very well constructed through passes but unfortunately they did not find their intended targets in the back of the net. Wembley were playing a rather good passing game but with the poor finishing North Perth were able to push up on the counter on a few occasions. During the end of the first half North Perth had some golden opportunities with a brilliant pass down the right wing with another pass forward to the striker only for the pass to be struck a little too hard and the striker failed to latch onto the pass.

Wembley opened the scoring and to be honest it looked like it was going to be the only goal of the game as it began to break down halfway through the second half with some rather agricultural challenges and some rather unusual referee decisions that bemused, angered and occasionally brought a smile to both team benches, supporters and spectators alike.

Handball was awarded to North Perth as the Wembley player allegedly on the ground handled the ball. However from my angle all I could see was a Wembley player making a horizontal lunge and blocking a shot. However to the cheer of the away fans the shot was saved and North Perth didnt get the equaliser they were searching for.

Despite the game petering out to a comfortable Wembley win North Perth began to turn the screws in the last 10 minutes of the game with wave after wave of attacks which resulted in a few corners. With Wembley starting to suffer from fatigue which began to turn to anger and reckless free kicks North Perth finally managed to scramble the jets off the tarmac and fire in an incredibly late goal deep into injury time to square the match at one goal a piece.

While to be fair to North Perth I did not check if they had food or drink available I ventured across the road to Di Chiera Brothers deli that is renowned for its continental rolls, chicken schnitzel rolls and other treats on the menu board of your choosing. I had the schnitzel roll for 10.50 and was incredibly delicious. I would highly recommend anyone in the area on a Sunday afternoon to watch a game at Woodville with a nice ice cold beer or soft drink and a delicious roll passing the time away. Drinks were 3.50 and Baci chocolate was 3 dollars for a block.

North Perth once again delivered the goods on the park remaining undefeated and off to a good start. Based on the two games that I have seen they should most certainly should be a serious title challenger.

Guest Piece - Cards and Goals at Coolbellup a View From the East

So this is my second attempt of writing for the Punctual Football Fan. The first non-punctual piece was a pearler. Unfortunately it met a grisly demise thanks to Microsoft Word not saving properly. From memory I talked about all manner of things ranging from the quality of Transperth’s Sunday bus timetable to lettuce in a cevapi and whether that contravenes the rules of cevapi. I also discussed the pool shark trickery of skimpy waitresses on unsuspecting middle aged bogans, the unusually high Tinder match rate I got in Perth compared to everywhere else and if mentioning Eastern Stater in my profile blurb was the deciding factor and gave an honest appraisal of whether Chicken Treat is trying to copy KFC by introducing bits of fried chicken that are tremendously underfed. Instead you get this humdrum response so my apologies.

The match in question was Round 1 of the Consolidated Energy Amateur League Premier Division featuring Fremantle Croatia versus North Perth United at Len Packham Reserve in Coolbellup. Two things of note, Fremantle Croatia have the same -U- crest as the famous/infamous Sydney United logo of the early 90s. The other, they haven’t fallen for a slave name proudly baring Croatia in their official moniker. I’m not sure if things are more lenient over in the West but that certainly wouldn't wash in FFV leagues. My guess, which is probably wrong, is that because it’s not the NPL or State League, these names are still kosher.

I love visiting new venues and clubs because it’s like a birthday present except you get it every weekend there’s a match. Any time there’s a team which is Croatian-backed you expect the players and fans involved to be passionate. However being a total novice to the Perth scene, and also unaware of the level of each club’s standing, I didn't know if this match would be serious or social soccer. Looking at the Football West pyramid this match would be the equivalent of the WA 4^th Division if such a thing existed. Perhaps someone can fill me in but is there promotion and relegation from the Amateur League to the State League or is it a closed shop like the A-League? Semantics aside, I knew my football taste buds would be in for something decent. In fact, the food was the hook for making a trip to the southern suburbs of Perth. Once upon a time it would have been the bus trip as well but I'm so over public transport it’s not funny.

Pretty much the first person I saw at the ground confirmed I was at a Cro team as the guy looked like he would be front and square of the mosh pit at a Thompson concert. However, as it panned out that chap would be the only one who fitted the regular Croatian football stereotype. The next thing I saw was a BBQ full of cevaps. It was beautiful. I even took a photo of that majestic site. And the smell…fantastic! When it was my turn to eat I was quite surprised to see it served in a bun with lettuce and tomato. Now I'm not Master Chef when it comes to cevapi but I still know what the go is. It tasted nice, but lettuce and tomato? Cabbage, yes. Kupus salata (coleslaw for those playing at home), yes. Onions, yes. Chilli flakes, yes! yes! Ajvar, fuck yeah! It still tasted great but it was a controversy that would never die. The Twitter folk who saw the picture and commented gave it a thumbs down. One day I’d like to see a cevapcici league ladder established in Australia where all Balkan football clubs can have their cevapi/kebapi/qebap taste tested and ranked by myself. Anyone willing to fund that please send the Punctual Football Fan an email.

Would like to thank Les for taking the time to write up about his experiences in Perth and to see Fremantle Croatia play. Hopefully we can get him down again soon when his travel and work commitments allow him to grace this fine city of ours.

You can send Les a tweet or follow him on.

https://twitter.com/official_lesdog

Views and opinions expressed in this article represent the guest writer and not of the Punctual Football Fan.

Cards and Goals at Coolbellup

Was an interesting game on the Easter Monday FFA Cup encounter between Fremantle Croatia and BB United at Len Packham reserve which saw 3 players sent off and a 5 goal affair to see the visitors advance to the next round of the cup competition.
BB United were in control for vast swathes of the match continually pressing into Fremantle territory and placing them under enormous pressure. BB were dominating in such a manner the goal keeper was standing there doing virtually nothing for about half an hour and ended up conversing with some supporters from the clubrooms only to then break up the conversation to collect a back pass or watch a wayward shot sail through for a goal kick.
Fremantle were just never in the game and with the sending off it definitely didn't help their cause either. They pegged a goal back from a penalty after the BB United defender punched the ball clear on the line to be given a red card making it 3-2 and were beginning to push BB to try for an equaliser but they just simply were not up for it as the disjointed passes, passing into wrong areas, holding onto the ball too long and unusual attempt at trick shots/manoeuvres just gave the ball way to BB rather easily.
Interesting note to point out that when the Fremantle player was sent off he had an argument with a spectator waiting in line for his chevap burger. Never seen that before but that is the beauty of amateur football, always something to surprise you.

With BB in complete control the match ended 3-2 to the visitors where that ended Fremantle Croatia's FFA Cup run.

Food at the ground was once again on the money and I wish to thank the staff at Fremantle Croatia for working like demons to provide as many chevap burgers as possible to the hungry crowd. For 5 dollars where you get fresh bread, delicious chevups and salad is worth the money and hits the sport on a cold April Monday afternoon. Definitely had to have a few more and the people of Coolbellup should get down there more often to try one of Fremantle Croatia's world famous burgers! I am drooling now as I'm writing this thinking about it! Beers were on hand in the assortment of Corona and Carlton Dry being both at 4 dollars each with cool drinks at $2.50.

Another great day down at Len Packham that was never short of an eventful moment will definitely have to make another stop to this neck of the footballing woods very soon.

                                     

Dogs Maul Tigers in Fremantle

Decided to take a break from the religious duties that entail Good Friday and head down to Fremantle Oval to watch South Fremantle take on Claremont Tigers in round 3 of the Western Australian Football League regular season.

Will say it right now from the start it wasn't a night to remember as Claremont fans probably saw a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ but this time at the hands of 18 red and white shirted players. It was all one way traffic with South Fremantle winning 12 goals 19 behinds 91 to Claremont 8 goals 5 behinds 53.

Food was stock standard for the venue. Chips, pies, hot dogs and chicken strips; The usual Australian delicacies. The ice cream was not too bad; chocolate coasted with nuts and a flake was 5 dollars and was a decent size but melted too quickly even in the cold Fremantle night. The hot dogs were not great but not terrible with a choice of an Austrian style of German smoked style was the best part. However the 8 dollar price tag and the stale bread and vile onions were something to be desired. No wonder people still continue to buy food at nib stadium and Domain stadium. People of Perth who supposedly travel a lot are willing to fork out money week in week out to sub-par food. I only had it to do my part to sample, something I will be hesitant to do in the future.

The saving grace is the city of Fremantle itself. With pubs, bars and places to eat to choose from you cannot go wrong post match. I did go to the Monk and although the place was great atmosphere wise and nice comfortable setting, the prices are something of extortionist's prices. Garlic bread was burnt, bland and tasteless with the sweet potato wedges saving the night with such deliciousness. The crunch of the chip with the sweet taste of the potato and the aroma it makes when you bite down then the smooth velvet soft texture as you eat it was money well spent. Sadly the rest of the menu wouldn't warrant it sadly.

Was great to get out of the house on Good Friday but I wouldn't want to waste money at establishments like that. Why justify their existence of stupidly high prices with an inferior product? They have a point when it comes to "Shopping around".

Stirling Roar as Shamrock Luck Ran Out

Night Series at Macedonia Park capped off the long weekend for the Punctual Football Fan as Stirling took on Subiaco and Balcatta up against Shamrock Rovers. Stirling were in control of vast passages of play during the 90 minutes but really failed to capitalise on golden opportunities to claw back the goal difference mauled by Floreat in the previous match.

Stirling were in control for vast passages of play against Subiaco, however the National Premier League new comers wouldn't go down without a fight. Subiaco had some opportunities let slip but Stirling's golden opportunities were blazed either high or wide and the score remained 3-1.

The later game between Shamrock Rovers and Balcatta was a tight affair which kept the neutrals thoroughly entertained. Shamrock kept nipping at the heels of Balcatta and after conceding would peg one back to keep them in the hunt to finally be beaten towards the end of the second half. Shamrock had some chances slip away with some brilliant last ditch defending from Balcatta where it looked certain a goal would be scored. Full credit to the invitees for providing Balcatta with a pre-season work out. Balcatta ran out 3-2 winners at full time to keep them in the top two of group B.

As usual the food here was wonderful. Burger was delicious and very fresh, presentation not ideal as i thought half my burger was missing but was all there and did it hit the spot. Chips compared to Dorrien were delicious and admittedly I added more chicken salt than I should have but when the sun goes down and the summer nights get cold nice piping hot chips are a treat. Throw in Emu Export at 5 dollars and soft drink for $2.50 and you have yourself a great evening out that would really put some over-priced pretentious pubs to shame for a no-nonsense feed and affordable drink and to enjoy the great Perth summer evenings.