Match Report - Week 7 - from the slightly weird Women's team co-Manager Matt Hanrahan:

Must say that i was very disappointed with our Bayside Girls last night. In an era where professional sportspeople everyone are showing unprecedented levels of arrogance when winning, (think Andrew Ilie, Lleyton Hewitt, the Essendon Football Team) there was not one incident of fist pumping, flag waving or gruff chanting from any of our many victorious winners last night. Is it all becoming very boring?

Now myself, on the other hand, after winning my Section Three 100 metre race at Glenhuntly last Monday, have since told everyone I've ever met how I gave those 40 year olds a good whoppin' and how I am still wearing what I consider my lucky socks to celebrate my victory.

Anyway, our winners last night were in no particular order were:
The Bayside Team;
Sandie Richards in both the 200 and the 800 (after questioning her sanity on the start line before the 800);
Special mentions to Katrina Steward in the 200, first up from an injury and to rookie Helena Montgomery in the 800 who just missed qualifying after a very fast first lap;
Kate Harris took the glory in the 5k after the three Eureka runners were disqualified for not providing a lap counter. Kate ran another solid sub 18 minute race after going out at a fast pace;
Sarah Dosen in a super quick time in the hurdles, running 14.46 sec with a marginally illegal 2.2 metre tailwind;
Shirley Hay in the 3k walk in a time of 15 minutes 9 seconds, taking out what i think may be her fourth victory for the season;
Tessa Densley in the high jump who gets the courage award for walking around town with a piece of glass in her foot after being attacked by one of our friendly crazies on a train coming into town. (I'm still convinced it was a plant by one of our Bayside opposition who are running scared at our good form);
Vivian Potiris who made her season debut and took victory in her Pole Vault competition after coming in to compete by invite and finding that Rebecca injured herself;
Natasha DeNeise in the jav who consistently throws over 38 metres. (Special mention to Siobhan Taylor who also threw by invite and also threw just over 38m. Going to be a fun time for the selectors as we approach the finals);
Emma Cochrane in the Long Jump, jumping a season's best 6.15 metres in one of her three extra jumps;
And our oarsome twosome of Rebecca Neilsen and Gabrielle Neighbour in the Shot and Hammer, who took out victories just for fun.

Finally, thanks to Cara Mackey, who competed for the first time in the Blue and White in the discus and to our other regulars including Tara Gleeson, Tamsyn Lewis and Karin Laidlaw who consistently put in great performances for us.

So a win is a win is a win. Still second on the ladder and a few athletes to still come back. Keep the 8th and 15th of March free as we are pretty much guaranteed to make the finals at this stage. And remember, you never know whether you'll like the steeplechase until you try.

Thank goodness we have a week off so we can all concentrating on eating more pizza and doing the good things in life. Good luck to all those in the junior Vics and the relays on the weekend.

Match Report - Week 7 - from the weirder Men's team Manager Justin Hanrahan:

Well, who would have thought that a single relay leg could have been as exciting as the second leg of the Men's 4x400 on Thursday?

With a lead of around 100pts coming to the last event, nothing could be left to chance. Rob Garland had made the trip in for his relay leg and barring the second coming and the cancellation of the night's events, we couldn't lose, but that wasn't comforting enough. We had to score some points!

With the relay champs on this week there were plenty of people who felt that they had better things to do. No way. Not good enough for the manager...Fresh from one of the most humiliating efforts seen for years at Interclub on Monday night, it was left to this one man, belly full of pizza and all, to trundle around the 400m of the Olympic Park track to secure anywhere between 4 and 10 pts for the team. (a win was out of the question)

Memories were cast back to the night Kris McCarthy gave him a 50m lead, only to fail by a metre or so. What a teaser! From that point on Kris McCarthy became an Olympian. The manager...he started to like chilli on all his pizzas. A true turning point in the history of sport in Australia!

So Rob got the team off to a killer start. It looked for sure like we had a winning chance. The manager knew otherwise. Whether it was the ride down to the pizza shop, the pizza itself or the thought of more pizza, the manager knew he didn't have much in his legs. This was the day, after all, that he rolled up to work only to find he had no socks or underwear to adorn his body with. It had been a long and irritating day...

Receiving the baton in front of a few guys, the leg was going to be truly testing, as he knew the Neighbour clan would be at the top bend laughing and cheering. Which would be louder, he could not be quite sure. What he could be sure of was that this wouldn't be the last time people laughed while he was running a 400m.

The back straight brought some relief as the first athlete passed him. "Ah-Ha", he thought, or possibly said, the mind wanders sometimes..."now there are even fewer people who can pass me. My work is nearly done here!"

Pride kept him going through the 200m mark and onto the steeple...ahh, the steeple. So many memories! How fondly one recalls a long lost friend...

Into the front straight and Aaron Peterson awaited. Aaron, or should we say, "Brendan", never runs a 400m and the manager wasn't going to let him down by tossing in the towel at this stage. Nosireebob. There was going to be one last drive to the line. The crowd may not have sensed it, but there was a drive, a slow feeble one, yes, but it was a drive.

The baton thrust in front of his face, praying for the line to draw closer, the manager was relieved of his duty. The leg over, he could think more fondly of pizza.

In the meantime, Aaron and Brenno saw the team home second in our competition. Ten points and one story. A story of highs and lows. A roller coaster ride of emotion that brought Australian Athletics closer together.

That is what State League is all about. Old, slow guys, proving that not only have they lost it but also that they probably never had it.

And the juggernought rolls on.

Results are here.

Read last Round's report