Braves dominate, but walk away dissapionted..

...(above)Crouchy telling Barney how well he played on Sunday..

..(above)Maz realised the hand of god did not live on the end of his arm...



All was set for the traditional rivalry between the Braves and the Bushrangers fro Wolumla to reignite Sunday. The weather was chilly, the pitch a peach, marked and mowed beautifully by Miko and Sharna, the nets were pulled tight to perfection by Crotch, James and his sister/ relative/girlfriend. We even had a referee after part retired Jimmy Campbell came to the Braves Aid in a kind gesture.

The Braves spent the best part of an hour warming up, probably longer than all the warmups so far this year combined.. It didn't help Barney unfortunately, as he took the worlds biggest airswing after a nice move down the right saw a low ball into his feet at the edge of the 6 yard box. Nice move, and a candidate for miss of the season(there's hope for Simo yet).
The Braves continued to move the ball around, keeping on the ground where possible, with the tall timber of Crouchy Green operating at leisure in the stacked midfield. Fox was busy and keen as ever, Donnie took some nice balls into his feet and launched some excellent attacks with his long throws.

Miko managed to perfect overhitting his first touch when taking on big Royce- the two week layoff not doing his one on one skills any good. He was as lively and dangerous as ever though.
Adam and Joshy Mac looked pretty solid at the back- they dealt with most of the awkward situations right throughout the match pretty easily. Buzz complained of not being able to see right- which might explain why he decided to score for Wolumla. Or was there some conspiracy last week. Buzz does after all live in the land of the Bushrangers... Watch this space!
Al Mitchell and Dan the Man came on after half time and clocked so many passes between them that you would have thought they were getting paid to keep possession.
Lenno and James were very handy out on the flank, James copping some nasty attention from a couple of the Wolumla defenders, and the rest of the Braves copping some nasty words from Lenno in a fit of frustration.

It was self proclaimed man of the match Couchy who bought the Braves level with a deft header from a well worked set peice. unfortunately the next free kick in the same place was buggered up completely by Dunko:( Crouchy is set for a swap this weekend with Miko and a stint up front could see the confident young chap stay among the goals. A mighty game for the big man whose power and skills get sharper every week. J Mac has claimed it is his skills coaching that provides the young fellas with such a scope for improvement!

It was nice to see Barney out and about in the outfield- he's been struggling with his frail body this season in one way or another- but we all know how handy he is fully fit.
Jimmy C blew a little early for the Braves to finish the Bushrangers off, so this weekend will see a little unfinished business for the Braves and they hop to put themselves up the ladder by 3 points, not just one again.

Lets try to meet up around 1 again this weekend and have a settled start as per last weekend. I'm sure everyone agrees we started stronger for getting sorted on time:)

Go you Braves!

Miko saves the day!

...(left)Miko had his next goal celebration sorted...

..(below)Baby Rosie's reaction to Miko's goal celebrations...

Miko O'Reilly became the new Braves messiah on the weekend with 2 late goals to deny the Grasshoppers a certain win at Brave Park.
The Braves began as wobbly as their pre game routine, not stringing more than a couple of passes together for the first 20 minutes of the game. It can't be denied that a more sensible build up before the Braves play might bring a more settled start to their matches.
Merimbula started predictably, like the great sides of old, with plenty of slick passing in to space creating lots of work for the Braves 3 man defense. The Braves had shuffled their combination a number of times pregame due to their lack of organisation. Again, it took time for players to sort themselves and work into the match, which gave the Grasshoppers plenty of attacking opportunities.
It was only solid covering at the back as well as a pair of desperate clearing headers from Miko (one that knocked a filling out) that kept the Braves afloat. The Merimbula boys did slip in for one goal past the busy Barney in the first half, but the Braves did finish the half stronger and could have been level after a super run from the tall timber that is Crouchy that finished with a pinpoint cross for goalscoring hopeful Simo. The air from his swipe at the ball was all that ended up in the goal though, so no cigar from the big man. Crouchy politely shrugged his shoulders and got on with it..
Halftime saw the usual Braves suggestions for improvements- pass more, relax on the ball and be more confident. Might try the same talk pregame before facing Wolumla. If we're all ready on time..
Out they came- the Blue army cheering on their favourite payers- Lenno in his comeback game was a bit rusty to begin, but settled as the game went on, big Al made some magic with the ball at his feet with his best game for ressies, Fox was predictably unpredictable, Maz spent a lot of time watching the ball get passed around him and Adam Hill was solid at the back.
Speaking of back's- poor old Paddy, the Braves' favourite Irishman, did his in as he put on his socks in his car. Miko thought if he was a horse he would have put him down, but thankfully there was not a vet in sight. Speedy return mate, we'll miss you.
Early in the second half, the Braves gave away a freekick on the edge of their area. They quickly formed a wall-with Crouchy ready to duck-and the freekick was struck well- straight into Maz or J Mac's arm- play on normally, buta penalty which saw the Braves 2 down. Some polite mumbling followed by several of the Braves about the decision.
The dodgy decision really didn't slow the Braves down much- Al mitchell continued to inject himself, Donnie had some nice touches and some quick penetrating long throws, Lenno was keen, Maz got more ball at his feet, Dunko swapped positions with Miko(stroke of genius really) and Fox got his passing radar sorted all of which meant the Braves had more quality possession. The Braves began more attacking raids- Dunko swung a free kick over to the far post looking for Maz which unfortunately ended up on Miko's head (last place you want it), but a good indicator of things to come.
Not long after with maybe only 5 minutes to go, Miko was relaesed and scampered after the ball rounded and gracefully slotted past the Merimbula keeper o an acute angle to make it 2-1.Some of the Braves were thinking 'side net', but Miko's ambidexterious nature shone through once again. Game on baby! With the wind in their sails, the Braves pushed forward leaving Ad and the dependable Buzz at the back aloneand everyone else keen to join the party up front.
Again, it was Miko who sailed clear, kicking his feet and ball unpredictably, creating clever interpassing with Lenno to produce a second thrilling goal for the old fella. Off he went- the shirt came off (we saw it last year too), it was wheeled above his head and even lofted in the air, just to ensure the Merimbula players were really annoyed when he escaped being booked (again). There were cries of disbelief and more than one 'get a hamburger intoya' from the hill before he put it back on. Dunko did his best to keep the referee busy and obscure his veiw of the deleriously happy striker which made him forget to actually congratulate him for his efforts. in the few minutes left, the Braves pushed again and could have won if all the Merimbula players had sat down in protest and given up, but the draw aws a result the Braves were happy with in the end.
Miko was beside himself later when he took the card from the ref and saw that he'd missed man of the match and Dunko with 2 points (for doing jack shit obviously).
Apart from a talking to about punctuality for the next game, the Braves should enjoy a wet training run come Thursday night(bring towel and snorkel)- as J Mac always says' play in the rain, train in the rain'..

Some were happy to wash the small amount of sweat they built up from their brows and breathe a sigh of relief, but Miko was ready to party and keen to watch the Socceroos beat Iraq later that afternoon.

Two weeks off and the home and away fixture against the league leaders Wolumla should really test the Braves. The one man backline that is Naro may return to see the Braves convert to 1-5-4!

Go you (dodgy but plucky) Braves!