Drop ten, turn and face. Quilty’s Football Yarns 44 2008 a year of Semi-Finals.

Drop ten, turn and face.

Quilty’s Football Yarns 44

2008 a year of Semi-Finals.

Following our ISA win in 2007 was always going to be tough, especially seeing that only three of that squad returned to play in 2008. Captain Mitch Cook, Emanuel Diakoulos and Michael Casarotto. That said, what it was a fun year it was. We were in everything but in the end fell short of winning anything!

As ever we played our myriad of pre-season matches at Oxford Falls. One game v Waverley College, provided a good memory for our boys, because Australian Socceroo and EPL player Massimo Luongo was playing that day and we beat them! 

One of our all time great SPX players made his first appearance for the college in this year, Sean Abernethy. Funny thing was he nearly never played for me. Apparently, in Year 9 I had bawled out Sean and his mates, for mucking up in someone else's class. Several people had told me about this tall player Sean. One day I spotted a tall fella at the canteen and bailed him up saying, "Who are you?"

'Abernethy, sir" He replied.

'Abernethy, I'm told you are a good player. How come I don't know you?""I've been avoiding you for the past year Sir, since you shouted at me and my mates!"

'Ah, that's all forgotten Sean, I shout at everybody, come and play for the 1st XI!"

So began his great SPX career. 

The usual ‘six early Sunday mornings’ starting in late January enabled us to select a squad.  On one such Sunday morning, it was drizzling and there I was with no cover getting progressively more wet. As I stood, a woman’s voice came from behind me, on the touchline. 

‘Do you think you’d like a cup of tea?” Without turning around, I recognised these Southern English tones. “I’d love one”. I replied almost as a reflex action.

“Well do you think you’d also want a bacon sandwich with your tea?” The voice behind me, offered.

Almost as if time stood still, I span around to see where this promise of Sunday morning ‘heaven’ was coming from. And there she was, Annie Moore.

‘Ok stay there, I will bring it over, I’m Joe Moore’s mum by the way, he’s number nine!”. And she did. Joe made the side as an outfield player in 2008, before going in goal, the following season. Steve and Annie Moore are great family friends twelve years later. Joe has gone on to have a fine musical career and comes most years to play in the Old Boys fixture. Terrie and I went to his wedding earlier this year. Funny how things go. 

Unfortunately, the April St Andrew’s Cup was washed out. This is usually a big part of our 1st XI preparation. In what was a wet year our ISA was scrappy. We snuck into the semi-finals by virtue of a fourth-place finish, only to come up against eventual winners Oakhill, going down 2-0. Our ISA highpoint was a classic 4-2 victory over rivals St Pat’s in the mud. What was really significant about season 2008 was the fact that neither our-selves, nor our Strathfield opponents, made the ISA final. The first occasion for 12 years! 

Going away to Queensland for the Southern Skies competition in Brisbane really brought this squad together. We took a group of eighteen players but it was made up slightly different to what we originally planned. Young star Houtan Delfi was unwell unable to go on the morning we flew out of Sydney. There I was at 6.00am a player short. What could be done? As I have suggested previously, around football I can be quite persuasive. Who to ring? A back story to season 2008 revolved around Chris Semaan, flying out to start his professional football career in Belgium. Well on this morning he had still not left for Europe. Guess what? I phoned Sied Semaan, his dad, and asked if Chris could come with us to Queensland. I kid you not, he not only said yes but Chris actually got to Brisbane before we did, and was waiting there for us at the gate as we disembarked from the plane! Paul Hamam and Simon Yue were on the tour with our eighteen players. The addition of Chris Semaan certainly gave us more firepower but in truth he added as much to the team spirit as anything else. Of course the temptation of ‘Kebab O’Clock’ at St Lucia, had also played it’s part for Chris! One of the traditions at the Southern Skies Tournament revolved around a big 'social get together' where each college put on a music / dance performance. With the numerous New Zealand schools there were always loads of 'hakka's'.The South Africans and Brits always did something but we Aussies had a fine record of doing nothing. That was until this year, 2008, because Joe Moore got to sing songs in front of nearly two thousand people! This was probably one of his first public performances and it went down a storm.

On the field we ran into a hot Riverview side who beat us 3-0 in the Semi-Final after having had a great 1-0 win that morning against Queensland academy school Harristown of Toowoomba. Our young squad ended up winning three of six matches played but had a great time in the process.

After failing to progress in our own ISA competition, we had a wonder run in the NSWCIS Cup, making the semi-final which played out at Valentine Park. On the way we had downed Covenant 7-5, SCECG’s 5-1 and William Clarke College 8-7 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw. Our opponents in the semi were St Philips of Newcastle. Try as we might we couldn’t penetrate their defence and they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. This particular school, St Philips of Newcastle, were to come across our path several times in future years and were again our semi-final opponents in the NSWCIS Cup in 2019, where we got our revenge before lifting the trophy for the third time. 

As related here, season 2008 was indeed an exciting one for SPX 1st XI. We came very close in three competitions, bowing out in all three at the semi-final stage. Looking on to the following year, 2009 many of our youngsters in the squad had gained valuable experience. One particular player, Andre Carle, had recently come to SPX from St Pat’s. The only player ever to do that in my time at the college. Looking back he was adamant that he would not being playing school football for SPX. Fortunately, we got him interested gradually and he soon became great friends with Danny Deblaere. They both came to play significant roles in our college history the following season, 2009.