It was an important weekend for the Vietnam Swannies. Apart from the unveiling of the new jumpers, it was also the weekend that the Club farewelled another 4 – JD Jarrod Dale, Symmo, AB Ashley Brooks and Matty Greenwood. They are an elite group with each of them having given a knee to the Club in battle.
Probably, it was also the last time we will see the Australian Ambassador, Bill Tweddell presenting the trophy. His posting in Vietnam finishes in September.
The trophy was named after Mick Francis and Lou Milicivec. Mick Francis was of course the man who got Friday night football up and running on the rooftop of Pepperonis in Hanoi back in 2003. That’s where it was decided that the club should reintroduce the art of playing again. On Saturday, Mick put in a performance that left supporters wondering if he might keep playing for another 15 years. For the record, Lou is a former coach of the Wombats.
At half time, the Swans were looking very good even though we trailed by 2 goals – 23 to 35. Singapore jumped out of the blocks in the 3rd Quarter booting 6 unanswered goals. The Final Score was 35 to 76 points.
The three best players for the Swans were Matt, Aidyn and Griz. For the Wombats, the three best were Stacey, Rants and Wazza.
The show then moved onto Jafa Restaurant where the Jim Beam Party Crew presented the two best players a 4.5 litre bottle of Jim Beam which was then consumed by everyone. This followed on nicely from the previous night’s festivities at Jaspas. These two nights were a great success with the teams mixing supremely well.
Granty, the Singapore Wombats President was a late withdrawal from the tour with possible dengue fever. Acting President on the tour was Mark “Hinks” Hinkley. He has since written to the Swans to say, “Thanks again for a ripping time in Hanoi. The level of professionalism and support you guys give to traveling teams is a massive credit to your club”.
Meanwhile, Potsy is firing up the boys in Hanoi to resurrect Friday night football at the Green Mango. Captain Gus has written to the Lao Elephants proposing a mid July tour – expect more from Gus on this shortly.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
- Linfox (for sponsoring those magnificent jumpers)
- Loscam (for sponsoring those magnificent jumpers)
- Blue Ink Asia (for designing those magnificent jumpers)
- Big Rooster Footy (for making those magnificent jumpers)
- Bobby Brewers Coffee (who will sponsor our new black shorts)
- Jim Beam (for having the magnificent Jim Beam Party Crew)
- Jaspas (for Friday night’s awwwwwwwwwesome venue)
- Jafa (for Saturday night’s awesome venue)
- Alaska Water (for keeping us hydrated during the match)
Thanks to the Singapore Wombats for making the trip. Great fun hosting the tour. Thanks to the Saigon crew for making the tour to Hanoi. Thanks to all the people who kicked in to make the weekend such a success. (Does anyone have any photos of the match they can email me so that I can put them on the blog?).
Special recognition to Scotty Stacey, Danny Armstrong and Adam Baird who were not able to make the match after the date was switched from 24 May to 31 May.
For more photos of the Jim Beam functions, click on jaspas-30-may and jafa-31-may.
In conclusion, you know what they say at the beginning, middle and end of the day? Honk yer horn if you love footy.
