Australian Open III - Season 26 (25/08/2007 18:01)

Background: Due to the regular competitors from previous seasons who promoted from Div 5 to Div 4, the third iteration of the Australian Open was expanded to include Div 4 teams and was also expanded to 32 teams. Controversy was rife when the early favourite, Wellington Phoenix FC, were withdrawn by their manager, Jake The Muss, four days before the competition kickoff. Speculation suggested that the withdrawal was due to the rumoured crackdown on performance enhancing drugs during the tournament but official press releases from the Sydney-based organisation stated that the lack of serious competition was the main reason for the withdrawal.

Whatever the reason, the event brought a smile to the faces of the other managers in the tournament with quotes such as "Jake will KILL us " (bozo_69) and "Jake won't kill us, his team will do the Haka in front of our teams and our players will run scared back to their dressing room locking the door behind them " (Bozo) being made irrelevant by Jake's decision.

A quick ring around by the tournament organiser resulted in Wellington Phoenix FC being replaced by n00bi, a NZ-based team who were dragged into it by their manager, pglee, on their one day off.

The list of of competing teams  for the Australian Open III were:

Team	Manager	Div	Dep't	Pos
Arrows	Nexus	4	31	1
Wongwabinda	Mennie	4	52	1
Galacticos	GrannyRobo	4	7	3
Barce	alv	4	9	4
Queensland Roar FC	merlin	4	8	5
South cardiff Gunners	bozo_69	4	14	5
n00bi	pglee	4	44	12
Funky Chickens	heath77	5	252	1
Hobart Hackers	Nookleboy	5	237	1
Northern Spirit FC	Robbie Slater	5	16	1
Raiders FC	theorbb	5	85	1
ROFLPWND	pretty_jimmy	5	181	1
Srennug Lanesra	bozo	5	140	1
Afanal	Arthur Kick	5	80	2
Shellharbour	King Arthur	5	59	2
Tasmanian Devils	Tazdevil	5	214	2
Buttered Pigs	trev	5	206	3
Illawarra Dragons	Helljumper	5	173	4
Nerds fc	Braydo_manager	5	91	4
Singleton Strikers	Harvz	5	84	4
Socceroos	Makura	5	136	4
Sydney FC	lebo	5	224	4
West Coast Slammers	Slammin_Sam	5	241	6
rebel knights	newwy_knights	5	176	8
Aussie XI	jm234	5	80	9
bazas squad	baza	5	128	9
Xero FC	DJWazly	5	70	12
Bailee FC	Bailee_FC	5	141	14
Expendible FC	hobley	6	501	1
Newcastle United Jets	Simple Simon Insane!	6	904	1
UNITED FC	FC_UNITED	6	874	1
Canterbury Bulldogs	dogs_rule	6	123	2

The results of each round were:

Round One
Hobart Hackers	2	v.	1	Shellharbour
Singleton Strikers	0	v.	1	Tasmanian Devils
Arrows	2	v.	0	Aussie X1
Newcastle United Jets	5	v.	3	n00bi
Srennug Lanesra	4	v.	0	Northern Spirit FC
rebel knights	0	v.	2	Raiders FC
Xero FC	0	v.	1	Sydney FC
Wongwabinda	1	v.	0	Socceroos
Buttered Pigs	6	v.	7	Barce
bazas squad	0	v.	4	Funky Chickens
Expendible FC	1	v.	0	Bailee FC
Galacticos	2	v.	0	UNITED FC
Nerds fc	1	v.	2	Queensland Roar FC
Canterbury Bulldogs	3	v.	2	West Coast Slammers
South cardiff Gunners	2	v.	0	Illawarra Dragons
Afanal	3	v.	1	ROFLPWND

The Match of the Round was Wongwabinda against Socceroos. 29,050 spectators saw the manager of Wongwabinda, Mennie, send his players out on a mission to kick the tournament off in style against the Div 6 team, Socceroos. The Wongwabinda players made surprisingly hard work of the match as the Socceroos had an attitude of nothing to lose against more highly fancied opposition. The game was an even affair with both sides not capitalising on their opportunities and it was up to Marius Silevicius to break the deadlock in the 71st minute. It was a well executed set play from a throw in that took the score to 1-0. The goal and two well timed substitutions by Mennie brought about a spell of sustained pressure by Wongwabindi but they were unable to extend their lead. The last action of the game nearly saw the Socceroos equalise but the play broke down before a shot was taken so Wongwabindi struggled to a 1-0 win. Man of the match honours went to the Socceroos' Peter Pinter who continually showed up his highly rated opponents through a mix of determination, desperation and skill. Mennie was left scratching his head after the game and, as he was at a loss for words to describe his teams ordinary showing, he declined the offer of an interview.

Round Two
Arrows	0	v.	2	Srennug Lanesra
Raiders FC	5	v.	4	Hobart Hackers
Newcastle United Jets	1	v.	0	Canterbury Bulldogs
Barce	2	v.	1	Galacticos
Sydney FC	1	v.	0	Tasmanian Devils
Funky Chickens	2	v.	0	Afanal
Expendible FC	0	v.	2	Queensland Roar FC
South cardiff Gunners	3	v.	2	Wongwabinda

The Match of the Round was Arrows vs. Srennug Lanesra. 28,875 spectators witnessed the upset of the tournament. The pre-tournament favourites, Arrows, went into the match with a confident air after beating Aussie XI with relative ease in the first round. The same result was expected for them in this round against Srennug Lanesra but the Lanesrians played with a steely resolve against a technically better side. They brought the match down to their level with close marking and closer attention to the Arrows flair players. Srennug Lanesra burst out of the gates with Colin Cheddar expertly finishing a set play by the Lanesrians in the 6th minute. In the 10th minute Khaldun al-Umawi showed his skill and pace by dribbling past three Arrows defenders before cooly slotting past the stranded Arrows' goalkeeper, Nelio Domingos. The small but vocal section of the crowd supporting Srennug Lanesra was in full voice as the game was not going to the predicted leetcode. Arrows were finally stung into action as only some excellent work by the Lanesrian goalkeeper, Joseph Lambert, denied Arrows a goal in reply. The referee felt his need to stamp his authority on the game by handing out 3 yellow cards to the frustrated Arrows' players and then in the 42nd minute the ref produced the second yellow card to Daniel Foxall, one of the twin towers of the Lanesra defence. Despite being reduced to ten men, Srennug Lanesra continued to hold their own in the game as they gave Domingos a real workout in the Arrows goal. Domingos held firm with his defence and as the game wore on Arrows started to dominate as they were expected to from the first whistle. However it was too little too late has Srennug Lanesra held onto the 0-2 scoreline and a famous victory for the young club. Man of the match honours went to the veteran of the Srennug Lanesra squad, Maurits Klungel, who showed his experience in central defence by covering the void left by Foxall's red card as well as remaining an attacking threat. The only player from the Arrows team that could hold their head high after this embarrassing loss was Arild Rodseth whose reasonable game looked like an outstanding game compared to his teammates' performances. In his post match press conference Bozo recalled his pregame feelings: "Well it was fun while it lasted I've drawn Nexus I know we have to play him some time but... I want to change my formation to 433 longball but my players are going alright in their current formation so I may as well leave it and see if the players can pull one out of the hat " and his feelings were supported by other managers such as alv: "we're going to be needing a big hat! unlucky to draw Nexus, but someone has to do it ". Bozo was jubilant after his team's performance: "I don't know what I was worried about Nexus was easy pickings Now to take on the inaugural Aussie Open winner. Watch out merlin, here I come A surprise win is making me co cky "

Quarter Finals
Sydney FC	3	v.	0	Newcastle United Jets
Srennug Lanesra	4	v.	1	Queensland Roar FC
Funky Chickens	8	v.	7	Raiders FC
South cardiff Gunners	0	v.	2	Barce

The Match of the Round was South cardiff Gunners against Barce. The two close rivals in Div 4 put on a show for the 29,050 spectators. The opening stages were dominated by Barce and their dominance was capped off in the 19th minute when David Spencer took advantage of a cross by Sanchez when he headed in at the far post. This spurred South cardiff Gunners into action as they worked their way into the game and into the ascendency of the chances. Ciceron Osorno was largely to thank for Barce retaining their 0-1 lead at half time as he made two wonderful saves to deny the Gunners an equaliser. In the 57th minute, David Spencer again capitalised on some sterling service from his midfielders when he scored his second after an excellent pass by Pablo Pavarotti. With the 2-0 buffer, alv set out to confuse his opponent by giving his team multiple formation settings at every opportunity he had. He was lucky that his own players' confusion was not punished as some poor shooting by the Gunner's saw them bow out of the tournament with a disappointing whimper. Pregame banter such as "hope ur ready ALV" was unfortunately not backed up by bozo_69's gameplan and the 0-2 result vindicated alv's resolve not to get involved in a battle of words and to concentrate on his own team with indepth analysis of his previous game against GrannyRobo's Galacticos. Yossi Benayoun was the only performer for the South cardiff Gunners on the day and he was deservedly rewarded with the man of the match honours from the game.

Semi Final
Funky Chickens	4	v.	1	Barce
Srennug Lanesra	4	v.	1	Sydney FC

The Match of the Round was Funky Chickens vs. Barce. 26,600 spectators saw the last favourite remaining in the tournament, Barce, be put to the sword by their under-rated Div 5 opponents, Funky Chickens. The early exchanges were willing with both keepers pulling off top drawer saves to keep parity. The turning point of the game happened in the 34rd minute after Jose Martinho received his second yellow (for an ugly tackle which the victim was lucky to escape any serious injury) to compliment his 8th minute yellow card and for his efforts he earnt an early shower. His team were shellshocked in being reduced to ten men and the lack of defensive system after having their central defender sent off was responsible for the opening goal. Hamish Lee opened the scoring in the 43rd minute and the same hole in defence was exploited when Cooper Sloman stole in from midfield to finish a flowing move on the stroke of halftime. alv, the Barce manager, was forced to ring the changes at halftime with two subs and a change of formation to bunch up the defence. With their ears ringing and egos deflated, Barce looked a regrouped team as they took the field for the second half. The half time pep-talk by alv had immediate results as Baco Mendez made a move from midfield to receive the throw in and shoot on the turn and squeeze the ball under the despairing Christian Wien in the Funky Chickens' goal. With the scoreline at 2-1 the crowd reached fever pitch as they thought the game was going to light up again. heath77, manager of Funky Chickens, showed experience beyond his years as a manager as he used two subs to refresh his attack and defence. With the benefit of hindsight, alv made a huge blunder at this same stage when he was exhorting his players to attack at all costs. The Barce defence was too frail for such an approach and the new Funky Chickens'  attacker, Owen Halliday, took advantage of the extra space in front of him when he added to his tournament goal tally in the 71st minute. Barce continued to attack to no avail and in the 90th minute Hamish Williams pounced on an expertly taken freekick by Murtadi al-Dabili to bring up the scoreline of 4-1 and bring huge celebrations to the streets of the small country town of Funky Chickens. In his after match press conference alv was heard to sob that 22yo defenders, like Martinho, would sometimes succumb to the nerves of the big occassion and do stupid things which affect the whole gameplan. The official quote given to the press by alv was "great. i lost to the one team that i thought i wouldn't lose to. probably because i made some lineup changes. oh well, next season good luck to the finalists" Hamish Williams was awarded the man of the match after his impressive game on the wing for the Funky Chickens which included the highlights of an assist and a goal.

Grand Final
Srennug Lanesra	5	v.	0	Funky Chickens

The Grand Final was billed as the Battle of the Div 5 Titans. Pregame festivities included an interview with the defending champion, GrannyRobo, where he was prepared to go out on a limb and made a prediction: "I am quite confident that Bozo will finally win his OWN AUSSIE OPEN ". What the 25,725 spectators saw in the final (after the stage and dancers were removed) was more like a masterclass by one player than a battle. Ben Sloman followed up his MoM and hattrick semi final performance with an even better performance in the final. Four goals in a faultless game by the magician saw off any threat that Funky Chickens presented to Srennug Lanesra before the kick off. It appeared that the Funky Chicken players exerted all their energy in the semi-final in order to get to the final. Upon reaching the final they realised the tank was dry and it showed in their performance. The Lanesrians, on the other hand, had played the tournament to perfection - slowly building momentum up to the final when the crescendo was timed perfectly in the form of Ben Sloman. Much will be written in tomorrow's newspapers about the performance of Ben Sloman (6, 8, 12, 68(p)), but credit for the 5-0 win must also be apportioned to his strike partner, Cooper Klein (who scored a wondergoal in the 43rd minute) and the architect in midfield, Samuel Cipriano, who created three of the five goals. Abdul-Hakam al-Zafarani was also a good performer for the winners with an assist for the second goal. The only Funky Chickens players to exert any pressure on their opponents were the midfield duo of Murtadi al-Dabili and Cooper Sloman - but any impact they had on the game was significantly outweighed by the service from the two Lanesrian wingers and the potent attack which had 12 shots out of 16 on target. Bozo, the manager of Srennug Lanesra, stated in the post game press conference that it was the dedication of the whole squad which created the Australian Open III victory. "Every player was up for selection for every game. If I felt a player was looking a bit fatigued, such as Cheddar after the third game, then the depth of my squad allowed sufficient rotations. The evidence of this was in the final when three of what I thought were our best players did not play in the first three rounds and they replaced our better players from our early games. All in all I'm proud of the boys and, if you'll excuse me, I have some celebrations to join".

The top Goalscorers were:

		Rounds
Club	Player	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Srennug Lanesra	Ben Sloman	1			3	4	8
Barce	David Spencer	1	1	2			4
Srennug Lanesra	Cooper Klein			2		1	3
Funky Chickens	Cooper Sloman	1		1	1		3
Barce	Hugo Sanchez	2	1				3
Srennug Lanesra	Khaldun al-Umawi		1	1	1		3
Raiders FC	Suyash Ranadive	2		1			3
Sydney FC	Abdul-Jalil al-Ta'j	1	1				2
Afanal	Ace Morgan	2					2
Newcastle United Jets	Aiden Powell	1	1				2
South cardiff Gunners	Galeno Millstein	2					2
Funky Chickens	Hamish Williams	1			1		2
Srennug Lanesra	Hayden Thompson	2					2
Canterbury Bulldogs	Hazem El Masri	2					2
Wongwabinda	Marius Silevicius	1	1				2
South cardiff Gunners	Obafemi Martins		2				2
Funky Chickens	Owen Haliday		1		1		2
Funky Chickens	Tyler Spencer	1	1				2
Sydney FC	Vishwas Progyan			1	1		2

The Wrap up: The first 32 team Aussie Open went off without too many hitches and hopefully the managers involved enjoyed the opportunity to compete against other Aussie teams. The total spectator count for the tournament was 798,700 with approximate takings of nearly $28.5 million. The organisers wish to see you all come back to compete in the Aussie Open again next season.

Congratulations to the 2nd best of the Australian Div 4/5/6 Managers for Season 26 (in deference to Jake):