Dave O’Shea delivers, “possibly”, his best match preview yet. Photo, Mark Stennett Photography.
Dave O’Shea previews tomorrow’s 4th Saigon blockbuster between the Reds and the Whites at a special new venue, Sports University in Saigon. Dave believes this preview is “possibly my best one yet”.
Where and When: Sports’ University, Thu Duc District, 2:00pm
Last time: Reds: 46 defeated Whites: 40
Series: Whites 2 – Reds 1
Last time they met, the Reds welcomed back some of their star players and were finally able to muster a win against the mighty Whites. It was a hot, close and tight battle all game, however the Reds were able to flex their muscles in the last quarter and just get over the line by a goal.
Well, the big news of the week is that VTV 4 will be at the ground filming and conducting some pre match interviews with some of the star players. Swannies president “Phil Johns” has already been interviewed during the week and, with only a month to go before the Asian Champs, there is a lot of excitement about the Swannies in Vietnam. There will no doubt be a number of Vietnamese University Students in the grand stand watching the game and cheering on the Swannies with great excitement. An interesting stat that I was reading the other day is that 65 per cent of Swannies’ supporters are females. You don’t have to be Einstein to realize the reason for that is because the Swannies are all so dep trai (handsome).
Key Questions
How will the teams line up this week? How will the school holidays affect the lineups from both teams? Which team will benefit more from the change in venue? Will the weather be a factor in the overall result? Will the Whites recover from some very inaccurate kicking in front of goal? Can the Whites bounce back after a heartbreaking defeat or will the Reds continue their roll and even up the series 2-2?
The four points
Reds
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B&Fand Skipper Dukesy at the last Reds/Whites match; All Asian Natty Payne at the Gaelic match in March. Two great mates teaching at the same school who also look great on the paddock… until it all goes to butterrrr!!!! (as it did in the above photos…)
Last game, the Reds welcomed back Saigon Skipper, Luke “Dukesy” Creamer. After beginning the match a bit rusty, Dukesy was able to find form late in the match and was a key factor in getting the Reds over the line. After a couple of weeks back on the training field, is Dukesy now ready to explode?
- Big Bad Bustlin’ Controversial Billy Crang was also welcomed back into the Reds line up last week after suffering a bout of depression due to Josh leaving Vietnam. He warmed up with the opposition team just to cause some controversy. Was this a set play from the Reds? How will Billy cause controversy on Saturday at the new venue?
- Phil Fabbo Johns has found fame in Vietnam lately, being interviewed on VTV 4. Will the fame go to his head and affect his sharp shooting sms’ing in front of the goals?
- How will Mr Powell hold up in the ruck this week. Last time the teams met Mr Powell was surprisingly happy and had hit out after hit out. It was later found out that his supercoach team was on fire and his beloved Lions had a massive win against the Doggies. I’m sure the Reds will be sledging Mr Powell with some Air Asia comments this week to put him off his game.
Whites
- Last time the teams met, the Reds were playing with an extra defender in their back line; this being a snake. This certainly put the Whites’ forwards off their game, in fact Shannon “Shagga” Leahy was forced to change his underwear at ¾ time. This was very embarrassing for poor Shagga as he bought his Em Dep Lam, “Miss Vi” to watch him play.
- The white team missed some key players last match in the form of Nick Shiells and Heater Shaw. Will they make a return this week? If they do, they will no doubt be a handful for the defense of the Reds.
- The Whites unveiled a new star to their team last week. Irish John seems to becoming more and more comfortable in the midfield and is now the Swannies version of Collinwood’s Marty Clarke. He has now established himself as a way better player and also a way better bloke than Irish Brian. He showed great poise in front of goal last week and kicked a ripper in the fourth quarter to get the Whites back in the game.
- With our superstar umpire “Rocket” being unavailable to umpire the previous match, gun player and legend bloke, “Kev Hornblower” was forced to umpire the first half. This left the Whites with one player short in the first half. The Whites will certainly be hoping that Kevin “the” Horn Blower will play on Saturday and not umpire.
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