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.

Jaguars and Queens Park Close but No Cigar

Ventured to watching some amateur premier league football for the first time in a rather long time and I must personally apologise that I have not been going to games more often, but I am sure that I have state many times on the Facebook page and perhaps here, it is due to my work load with university, family life and work having eating up time that I could be plodding around the grounds across Perth and be writing terrible blog entries for you to peruse through. So with that out of the way let us start our post about this match. This match is between Jaguars and Queens Park at Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Mirrabooka.

Now this place is a multi sport venue with the building complex hosting basketball and other indoor sports such as wrestling, then on the western side is softball that have virtually world class facilities and then on the east, you have a rather average series of football pitches where the most northern one played host for this match that I was to witness with my own eyes and my colleague's. 

Why I say it like this is because I have never watched a match at any level where either side squandered not just the odd chance here and there, but both teams butchering golden opportunities with extreme prejudice in my honest opinion. Now I have never seen Jaguars, nor do I fully understand how they play, how they've gone historically, nor their history and background. I can only assume, please feel free to correct me, that they are an amateur side that has been formed by African immigrants who share a love for football and have entered the competition. Of course, very much like the diverse range of Croatian, Italian and other immigrant clubs in Western Australia, Jaguars could be from a certain area of African immigration etc, I am just not sure on their history. Though I do know of one side that is African, but of Zimbabwean, Zambian and Mozabiquean players, so I think Jaguars are either more west African or eastern.

Queens Park have been historically a state league main-stay and former powerhouse that have obviously seen better day but are now playing in the amateur premier leagues and hopefully a return to better days of their past. But for a side that showed talent over the match, just failed to take their chances and it looked as if there was a conspiracy to out-do each other with who could miss and fluff their chances better. They failed to win in that category also!

What can I say about the first half? It was a hard slog for both teams and for the neutral fan like myself and my friend. You had the match ebb and flow with either side probing for an attack with times it with dissipate and not eventuate into anything due to astute defending, or a poor pass or executed play. But there were many chances within the first half where either side should have put at least 3 goals away, yet blasted them well clear of the goals, making Aussie rules players start to go green with envy.

It was also a bit of a rough affair with both sides going in hard with their challenges and at times perhaps a bit too hard where it was a bit too close for comfort when these tackles were made on the edge or in the penalty areas for both sides. Surprisingly enough the referee allowed these to simply go ahead, with no card being issued and the whistle being blown to issue a free kick was few and far between. Usually this is a good thing but these challenges were rather crude, akin to the games I have seen back in Brazil and free kicks should have been issued perhaps more often. Even a few clumsy challenges should have resulted in a penalty being awarded for either side.

It was also due to the tackles coming thick and fast, a war of attrition. Two players, one from each side had taken a fall from a crude challenge and had to have the stretcher take them off. It was a tough game that was hard fought by both who were determined to not give their opposition an inch, it was much like trench warfare. But in saying that you had chances by both teams to capture or go beyond the enemy's trench lines, only to squander the chance and then go back to the stalemate that had preceded them. The match at half time was 0-0.

There's no food or drink on offer at this ground, so I went into the recreation centre's café and bought beef noodles and a cool drink. all up was just under 10 dollars. But before I bought the food and drink, I decided to watch some wrestling and that was certainly interesting. this could warrant its own blog entry, but I was not watching for too long and then we returned to the match to watch the second half.

I didn't miss much and it was just the same as the first half. It was just a painful match to watch with howler after howler with goal scoring opportunities gone astray. There was even a penalty awarded to Jaguars, but they blasted that wide like all the other chances and even if Moses had parted the sea, both these sides would still miss, it was just one of those games unfolding. The game concluded with a very painful 0-0 and I was just glad that was over and done with. I cannot say if recommending going to watch a Jaguars home game is worth it if they have no food or drink, but if you don't mind the café, or food from the shopping centre, then it isn't such a bad afternoon out. Just don't expect anything too out of the ordinary.

Birkenhead Outmuscle Eastern Suburbs

This is my second and the last of the football adventures in my New Zealand trip. This time around I had made the journey north of the city centre and watched Birkenhead United host Eastern Suburbs in another match in the Northern Premier League which will determine the four participants for the national league. Birkenhead's ground is in an open park much like Auckland City, but with more playing fields as there were reserves and masters matches being played while the premier league side played at the main ground. Shepherds Park is in the quaint, quiet and idyllic Northshore neighbourhood of Auckland that has a beach to the north, making it another unique football venue. To get there is much easier by car, however, I did not have one so I caught the ferry from the Downtown ferry terminal adjacent to the Britomart station in central Auckland. The journey is very picturesque, especially as you go under the Auckland Harbour Bridge and you motor away towards Birkenhead and you see the city skyline trail off into the distance in the ferry's wake.

 

Initially I did not know which football pitch was hosting the premier league match, but the flags around the ground was a dead giveaway and the main pavilion and clubrooms were there also. The venue is very much similar to Auckland City, though slightly better I would think, but somewhat on par with lower tiered state league or NPLWA sides that I have been to over the years, especially during the lifetime of the Punctual Football Fan.

Birkenhead playing in red and white vertical stripes hosted Eastern Suburbs, which it must be me though every time I see a team called "Eastern Suburbs" they are almost certainly kitted out in black and white. Just a strange observation with no hard numerical evidence, just my personal observation obviously. Anyway, back to the article! Eastern Suburbs were in all black with white but yellow trim and unlike last week, these two teams were in the top 6 and were vying to push further up the table and hopefully to qualify for the national league. It was a very competitive match with both teams pushing and jostling for supremacy with many chances from both sides over the match.

With that said, it was however, Birkenhead that had maintained the stronger hand and would be too strong in the 20th minute with a lapse in concentration from Easts, which had cost them a turnover and resulted in the goal being scored by the hosts. The small crowd went 'birko' and the pun was very much intended here! Towards the end of the first half Easts had rebounded from the shock and did pose serious threats to the Birkenhead defence, but was all fruitless. It was 1-0 and half time to the hosts.

There was a small grandstand along the wing that was cut into the sloped embankment of the ground and the match was played under rather warm and sunny Auckland wintery conditions that did make it a challenge to watch the game from as the angle of the winter sun was making it hard to watch and take photos of the game. But it was a really lovely day and glad that it was not a day that was dark, gloomy, windy, freezing, wet and with rain.

The second half was very much like the first with both sides pushing each other and probing for a goal. Easts were really trying to find the equaliser and there were many moments where I thought that they had found the breakthrough, only to be denied by some great Birkenhead keeping and defending. To alleviate the pressure, they would usually just hoof it out to clear it upfield. A simple yet effective strategy over this match. While it was a tighter and more hard fought match in the second half, it was the hosts who had drew second blood and scored in the 77th minute to double their lead and to hold off the numerous counters and probes into their defence. Eastern Suburbs had been applying the pressure on the hosts all game and although on the two occasions they had allowed Birkenhead to score and hold a hefty 2-0 advantage, they did manage to draw one back and it did look like that the visitors could pose a serious threat and press on for an equaliser. This was not to happen and the match ended in favour of Birkenhead 2-1 to keep them in the hunt for qualification for the national league spot for later this season.

As for the food, what a contrast from Auckland City. Birkenhead had a kitchen at the ready and there was a nice variety of food to choose from. I chose loaded fries with sweet chili sauce, bacon and cheese. It was for 9 dollars and I had it with a Birkenhead Ale and that was 5 dollars. Afterwards I had a can of L&P and a can of coke for 2 dollars each. But the drink and food were all reasonably priced and plenty on offer too. Though one thing I have noticed and it must be an Auckland football thing is that the interior of the clubrooms are festooned with flags, scarves and knick-knacks from all around the world and just look cluttered, kitsch and tacky.

The experience at Shepherds Park was a refreshing one compared to last week and what they had on offer was very much akin to amateur football back in Perth as well as the lower tiered NPLWA sides. But despite that lower quality of football it was an enjoyable day that was hard fought between both sides and amongst a side that put on something for the fans and ones who have curiously ventured to watch them. If you are ever in Beach Haven and a game is on here, I suggest you take some time out of your Saturday and enjoy.

 

 

Auckland City Too Good For West Coast

Ventured across the ditch as they say in New Zealand as travelling around the state, country and beyond is severely restricted due to the Wuhan Virus causing havoc upon state and federal government law and decision makers making it difficult for the average Joe who just wants to get back to normal. So I must confess that I was very lucky and fortunate to be able to travel to Auckland and beat any drama and issues that had arisen in Melbourne just prior to my arrival into New Zealand.

So with that part out of the way I missed out on the previous week of football due to the difficulties of travel around this fine city of New Zealand without a car and being at the mercy to public transportation. The venues are spread out and getting there via train and bus or just bus does take some getting used to. So this time round I was not going to miss out and I definitely wanted to see the best club in New Zealand and the entire Oceanian Football Federation, having won the O-League a record 9 times and finishing third in the 2014 FIFA Club World Championship.

Auckland City share a club arrangement with Central United and replaced them for the this season's northern league. The top 4 of this competition go through to participate in the national league which replaces the football championship. I am not sure what Central United will be doing, nor am I fully aware of the true history of Auckland City and their link with Central United, but from what I saw in the clubrooms and the management, it looks to be that Central United are the parent club and Auckland is effectively the franchise that took part in the football championship that started in 2004 and subsequently folded in 2020.

Now with that lengthy blurb out of the way let us talk about the game and what I encountered as part and point of this blog shall we? So I made my way down to Kiwitea Street, or Fryburg Field as it is called via a bit of a lengthy walk after my train took me to Kingsland which is the stop for Eden Park. The vibe and atmosphere around Auckland is very much like Sydney and the Sydney suburbs and I did feel like I was walking towards a NSW NPL match, only with public transportation not matching that of Sydney's.

I timed it so I got there about 15 minutes early as I thought it might be tricky to get a spot at the ground to watch the game and that there might be a big crowd to see the most powerful and successful club in Auckland, New Zealand and Oceanian history. I was very far from that estimation and there were two extremely tiny stands that would make even lower tiered WA NPL sides smirk and chuckle as they would hold more than these two 'stands'. Now to Auckland's defence, the park is a public and open park like Western Knights. So much like Nash Field, you are allowed to freely walk into the ground.

I thought I would head to the clubrooms, which are very small and are much like a small suburban turf cricket club's ground clubrooms, or like the Sunday amateur teams back in Perth. However, with that said, even subbie turf and Sunday amateur football teams have better clubrooms than this with far more people in attendance. There was only drink available at the bar and there was no food on offer, besides potato chips in their packets. They had the usual cool drinks on offer for only 2 dollars and beer were 6 dollars. They had Stella, Steinlager and some craft beers from the area, all of these were 6 dollars. So the price of drinks were very good, shame that there was no food available.

Now I had a drink of coke, steinlager and L&P and walked to the western stand which is perched upon a hill like a World War One trench with the wooden planks for you to sit and to watch from an elevated position. The view was not bad and was a good spot. Auckland City were never out of control of the match and they were very comfortable throughout the first half pushing, pressing and huffing and puffing at the West Coast defence with no reward. They honestly should have been three goals up at this point in the match. They did score in the first half after West Coast were just run ragged and off their feet and I amusingly missed the goal as I turned away to have a sip of my drink! It finished at the break 1-0 for Auckland.

So at half time I started to notice that there were children, not many mind you as I think there was only about 500 people at this game, with buckets of hot chips. So I went back to the clubrooms to investigate and noticed that there was now a kitchen that had opened up and they were serving small buckets of chips with a very liberal serving of tomato sauce for only 3 dollars. I had a serve and they weren't bad, just I don't have sauce with my chips, let alone tomato sauce and I did not care for that too much. But the only other offering the kitchen had were sausages in bread with sauce for also 3 dollars. So I had two of those as I deliberately not had any food before the game as I was anticipating a Croatian influenced delight based on the history of Central United's rich Croatian immigrant heritage.

Not to be sadly but at least they had something on offer, but it really was not what I was expecting, nor was it on par with what I have been used to with WA NPL and even NPL matches over east in Australia. So I thought that this would have to be a write off and I will just have to take another can of L&P and a beer with me to watch the second half. Hopefully the efforts on the park would improve?

No, it was the same, very scrappy match where Auckland really had the skills, talent and tactics to take chances and extend their already established lead. It was a very laborious match and it was certainly not pretty to watch either as the afternoon light was dropping fast and the winter's evening chilly winds were starting to sweep in from the city's natural harbours from the west and north. There were a few moments where West Coast had the hosts panicking, but they were never a serious threat and they blasted a few shots away but nothing that was anything to be alarmed over.

Auckland towards the end of the second half did open their account for the second half and the game would end 2-0 for the 9 time Oceanian continental champions. This win had cemented their spot to be crowned as 2021 Northern League winners and the first team to qualify for the national championship to start in late August. 

This adventure to my first taste of local New Zealand and Auckland football was interesting, but I was expecting something along the lines of what I've seen in the NPL, but with more of a crowd and with more on offer with food. Just goes to show that the gulf in football in the country is still massive and there is still a lot of work that is to be done. Though it was nice to spend a few ours of my time to just sit and watch the game run its course and admire the game amongst the beautiful backdrop of Mount Eden and One Tree Hill in the background. Now that is a unique experience that is hard to find in football. 

Phoenix Shine During a Dark Stormy Day

 No, there was nothing dark or tragic that happened on this day. It was a very dark and gloomy Perth winter's day which was a wet, windy and chilly conditions that are certainly not fun or enjoyable to play football in, or any sport for that matter. However, here we are lucky enough to watch some Sunday Premier Football during these uncertain times. The visitors made the journey up from Bunbury in hopes of the spoils of three points and for most of the match it would look like that it would be nothing more but a frustrating stalemate and share of the spoils at Butlers Reserve.

However, as we or may not know, football can be a rather fickle and frustrating game and the chances were building for both sides as they toiled away on a very wet pitch with a football that was heavy on the foot and the water-soaked pitch was hard on the manoeuvrability of both sides as it was a bit of a muddy affair also. The first half ended goalless and both sides trudged off feeling rather frustrated that they couldn't take their chances during the first 45.

But like the small slither of blue skies that only showed for less than 5 minutes was when the second half proved to be a different affair. It started initially with Wembley pressing and probing for options and their hard work paid off when they opened the scoring in the 60th minute from some tight passing work inside the 6 yard box. It looked like the hosts were going to flex their muscle and gain the upper hand. Despite the dominance in the first half of the second half it wouldn't be capitalised as SW Phoenix snatched an equaliser and this threw the cat amongst the pigeons and rattled Wembley. Wembley did manage to build steam and push forward and mount some serious threats to the Phoenix's goal but it came to nothing as the visitors had managed to crack open the defence of the hosts to score their second to hit the lead in the 80th minute when it looked like it would conclude as a battled draw with squandered opportunities.

It wasn't until six minutes later in the 86th minute that the visitors from Bunbury had mounted a successful counter and broke through the Wembley defence and slotted home their third goal of the match and to ensure that the points would make the two hour journey with them back to Bunbury. The match finished 3-1 to SW Phoenix.   

Now onto the food. It was a very chilly, soaking wet day as it was a rather stormy Perth winter's day so was great to be warm from the food but also refreshed by the drinks on offer. The hotdogs went down a treat at 4 dollars and the beers on hand were fantastic. I do enjoy a Boddington's draught and this was the perfect time to have a refreshing draught, watching football during a stormy day. The beers were 8 dollars and there was Peroni and also Guinness available as well as Corona. Cool drinks were obviously available and were at the usual 2.50.

It was a great afternoon, despite the weather to head down to Scarborough to watch some local football. Especially during these difficult times it is important to get down and support your local clubs and help them out if you can. Hopefully things improve for those who are unable to do so. 

The Return of Football

Well the title may be rather misleading as football in some shape or form hasn't 'gone away' due to the Wuhan Flu or CCP virus (no i wont call it what people are saying), football in Perth was put on hold until restrictions were eased. Now that this has happened we have football returning, this edition is Perth hosting Floreat Athena. A good game to go to where two historical heavy hitters of Western Australian football take to the field yet again for the spoils. So I watched a decent game bathed in beautiful Perth warm, bright and sunny sunshiny winter's day.

Perth were the stronger side during over the first half but were just unable to convert the dominance of possession into the tangible dominance of scoring goals. Floreat to their credit, held firm and were able to scramble their lines from the Perth danger and were probing during many counter attacks. Only to be denied by the Azzurri regularly. The arm-wrestle between the two league heavyweights didnt really swing greatly to either side until Perth had a player sent off for a second yellow card offence which gave Floreat the numerical advantage to muscle their way into the contest and take control. Which they did by breaking the dead lock in the second half. Late in the second half Floreat were able to double their lead as Perth just didn't have the depth to keep out the visitors, nor mount a threatening counter or offence to try and pip one back. The game finished 2-0 in favour of Floreat.

It was also as usual, a pleasure to be at Dorrien Gardens to watch football as Perth SC have great food and beverage facilities and if you wish to drink inside you can enjoy the sweeping views of the ground and the quaint tight community feel of this corner of West Perth in the inner city. Peroni were 10 dollars and went down a treat. I know many people seem to be savouring these even more so now that wuhan flu restrictions have been eased. While the beer to me tastes no different than before, I can totally understand as it just feels great to be able to watch sport, talk away with your friends and just enjoy a refreshing beverage at a fantastic venue.

Now I have to also add that the pasta was very good, yes on the over-cooked side of things, but this isn't you cooking at home, this is to cater for 1000 or so people at the venue. But the sauce and sprinkling of Parmesan was delightful and yes I did buy two generously filled servings at 5 dollars a serve. I didn't know but Perth have chips with cheese and gravy available and for the same price looked and smelled great. Hot dogs were 3 dollars a pop, with the bread either being your standard white bread affair or even ones with sesame seeds. Which used to for burgers but not for hot dogs, which tasted really good. Then to finally round off the food I did have some soft drinks at the standard $2.50 fare to cap off a great afternoon at Dorrien. Yet again was a treat to head down and will always keep coming back.