The Swannies' Dan Hopkins, lines up the after match boat race wearing the Red Championship Jacket
The Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match held yesterday in Saigon has been hailed as a great success. And a sincere congratulations again to the Southern Dragons for their convincing victory.
John McAnulty who has just replaced Graeme Swift as the new Australian Consul General in Saigon welcomed us all to the match.
The match which comprised of four 15-minute quarters commenced at 2pm under clear and hot skies. The first half was very keenly contested footy with neither side prepared to give ground. In the second half, the Dragons were able to break free and claim a good win n a match that was played in excellent spirits.
Trophies were then awarded to both the Champions (the Dragons) and the runners Up (the Swannies). The thinking behind the two trophies was to ensure that both Clubs had a trophy to commemorate such a significant event. The trophies, in each Club’s trophy cabinet, will act as a talking point and increase the chances of the second and third matches being played.
The Sydney Swans’ Mickey Martin expressed on several occasions how impressed he was with the overall experience of Asian football and specifically, the Inaugural Vietnam-Australia Friendship Match.
The Runners Up trophy.
Everyone was commenting on the Ross McRae designed match day banner. A number of people claimed that it was Ross’ best banner to date. That’s a tough call. Perhaps a creative Swannies’ Blog could run a poll to find out which banner the people think is the best. Watch this space.
As always, we had the traditional boat race at the after match function. The Swannies were looking completely out of our depth until our anchor men, Mickey Martin and Micky J snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by a short half sip. The race was overseen by Hanoi President, Dan Hopkins, looking resplendent in the Swannies’ Annual Ryan Jeffery Golf Classic Red Championship Jacket.
Notable absentees from yesterday’s match included the Vung Tau Massive. They were attending the official opening of the Worldwide Arms Museum in Vung Tau. The Swannies received a sneak preview in November 2011 and this venue is expected to increase the richness of the ANZAC Friendship Match Weekend (see Worldwide Arms Museum to propel ANZAC Friendship Match in Vung Tau.)
Special thanks to our new Signature Sponsor, Pest Free and our new No. 2 Sponsors, the Commonwealth Bank. International SOS, as always, was superb in providing an ambulance and trained staff during the match (fortunately they were only required to attend to one person’s cut lip).
Special mention to the new Saigon President, Sam Conroy, who attended the match and then went straight back to work where he stayed until 9.20am this morning!
Match reports and photos to follow.
World Footy News reports on the match:
World Footy News has just run an article on Melbourne’s Southern Dragons slay the Vietnam Swans in Saigon.
