The Parade College Writing Workshop – Christian Velevski: The Melbourne Derby, 2014.

 

by Christian Velevski

 

 

It was a great night. I was very excited to go to the Melbourne Derby in the 2014 A-League Season. Besart Berisha, my favourite player, would be playing there, and I would also be going with one of my best mates, Jordan. My dad and I drove over to his house, which was only about three minutes away. Because his dad worked at a bank, we got special parking that was extremely close to Etihad Stadium, where the game would be played. We got there quite early, about an hour before the game started. We went out and enjoyed the festivities, and played some of the games there, which included float-up goals.

 

About 30 minutes later we decided to go to our seats and watch the warm up. Soon after on the big screen, the players’ names were showing up, and the cheering started. Both sides walked out, and I remember being extremely nervous for this game. I had never seen Melbourne Victory lose a Melbourne Derby in the time that I had supported them, and I was hoping that it would stay that way. As the game went on, tensions grew higher. Then, Robbie Wielaert of Melbourne City scored a header. Victory were down 1-0. I remember getting up in my chair at this point, shaking vigorously, but I still knew there was the rest of the game ahead of us. Thankfully, with some help from Gui Finkler, Archie Thompson scored, and we were back in the game, 1-1.

 

The celebrations were short-lived, however, as Jason Hoffman of Melbourne City scored a header. I was up in my seat again, extremely sweaty, until Victory scored again. The whistle sounded for half-time. During the half time break I decided to get something to eat, so I got chicken. This proved to be a bad mistake, as I found out at about 3AM that morning; we’ll get to that later though.

 

The players came back out of the tunnels for the second half. The score was 2-2. I remember seeing a man in a Melbourne City T-shirt bashing someone below, and being ‘escorted’ out by security. With a nice goal from Besart, we were back to kick-off. 20 seconds later, Berisha scored again. At this point the score was 4-2 in Victory’s favour. With half of the second stanza gone, Victory scored again. The final score was 5-2, with Berisha scoring a hat-trick and getting past 50 A – League goals, and a fan favourite, Archie Thompson, scored one as well.

 

It was an epic match, and I was extremely happy. Until 3AM that morning, that is. Long story short, I didn’t go to school or get out of bed for a week. I think it was worth it though.

 

 

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