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Attending the Melbourne derby, my first A-League game, I had no option but to barrack for the relative newcomer, Melbourne Heart.
An article describing their extremely modest training facility – a graffitied tin shed sitting next to a generic sports field in far-flung Bundoora – also drew me to them.
If I was a betting man it made sense too. From seven games Heart had achieved three wins while Victory had managed only one. Also, the omens were good for a team dressed as candy canes at Christmas time.
When I arrive at AAMI Park it’s usually shrouded in mist or there’s a freezing southerly blowing. This was a gorgeous summer evening: a perfect night for sitting in the nearby botanical gardens, or watching an alternative brand of football.
I’d come from a bar in Federation Square where the only sign of the upcoming derby were some lonesome Heart fans sipping strong Belgian ale. According to Roar guru ‘Fussball ist unser leben’, the Cricketers Arms was the place to be, for hundreds of Victory fans at least.
And I have to say that the support for Victory at the northern end – swaying banners, boisterous singing and chanting, and choreographed movements which continued unabated throughout the match – easily outdid the efforts of the more sedate Hearts fans at the opposite end.
In fact, on one occasion, a ballboy (if that’s what they’re called) was so mesmerised by the Victory supporters he didn’t notice the goalkeeper screaming for the ball.
For a while the smaller Heart contingent looked like a meek collection of little Santas until it redeemed itself with an enormous Batman and Joker banner and another emblazoned with a skull and top hat.
In the 11th minute, a bright orange luminescence appeared. No, it wasn’t the sun setting on a perfect summer day but the incandescence of a lighted flare at the northern end. The southern end also produced one after the Heart’s equaliser in the eighty-first minute.
Fussball commented after the game: “Yeah a couple of flares were lit. No harm done; no one got killed, no one got blinded, no one had an asthma attack.” That’s true, but the danger still remains.
It must also be said that the intense glow produced by these devices is a great spectacle. Unfortunately, they can’t be produced without heat and smoke. Also, how are they smuggled in through such tight security – strapped to the inner thigh like Sir Les Patterson’s wooden appendage?
It’s strange that the most intense rivalries are often between teams from the same city. However, if you take some divisive issues, like class, and add a long history of tight memorable contests, you’ll see a real contempt develop.
Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart have only been at it for two and a half seasons and as far as I could tell their was little to distinguish their fans in socio- economic terms. There was no contempt but clearly there is a strong rivalry.
Naturally, Victory – the older sibling – felt slighted by the new arrival in 2010, hence the banners present at the first derby proclaiming “We Are Melbourne”.
The precocious Heart won that first encounter and seem to leave their best for Victory.
A most obvious point to make is that this is a game of legs. At this venue I’m used to watching powerfully built men work their shoulders in anticipation of the inevitable impacts.
It soon became apparent that in football the legs, ankles and groins of attackers and defenders take a significant beating hence the complex leg stretching exercises performed by players on the sidelines.
Before the game, Mark Bosnich, referring to Archie Thompson and Marco Rojas, made the telling remark: “One good ball to one of these two and they’re in.”
Now despite being a novice I did annoy my companion throughout the game with the repeated observation that if Heart didn’t score with their superior possession, then Rojas or Thompson ( in his new low carbon emission boots) would make them pay.
For the poor Heart supporters the bill came with only a minute to go when Thompson scored in front of them.
So what did I think of my first game of professional football? Everything aligned to make it an enjoyable evening: the weather, the crowd, and the contest.
I enjoyed it, and I get it.
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