GFC celebrated the coming of Dashain with a bang on the 25^th of September. With a date booked at one of the best clubs in Brisbane, more than 150 party goers arrived at the Electric Playground to welcome the Dashain festival. The crowd was treated to DJ Ash-Ish, all the way from Melbourne, spinning the latest English, Nepali and Hindi songs to shake their hips to and the party goers definitely did not disappoint. Two $25 David Jones vouchers were also given away on the night to the two best dancers, a girl and guy each. Congrats you two!! Also, GFC would like to request anyone who know’s this guy (click here) to tag him on Facebook. GFC would like to reward him with a ticket for the next dance party he attends. He rocked!!

With a tin can in hand, a couple of GFC’s fans, Shailoo and Kumar, went around to raise funds for the victims of the recent Earthquake in Nepal, raising more than $200 in the process. This amount will be sent to Nepal’s Red Cross Society in aiding their earthquake relief program. GFC would like to thank everyone for their enormous generosity!!

We’d also like to thank Suchin and GFC’s very own Kalpana for taking all those wonderful photos on the night. They can be viewed on Facebook at the following locations - Gallery 1 and Gallery 2 . Do view them and tag all those whom you know!!! Also, if you want to get all the details for future upcoming parties in Brizzieee, we recommend you ‘like’ Suchin’s Facebook page, Nepalese Party in Australia.

We at GFC are very pleased that the party passed by with only a couple of minor incidents. As the staff of the venue commented, “You are the most well-behaved party goers that we’ve dealt with” and that “They’d be more than happy to let us book the venue in the future again”. I’m sure most of, if not all, those who attended the evening had a wonderful time and we would welcome any suggestions and feedbacks to make our next event better than this one!! To all those who attended the event, as well as those who helped out on the night, a massive THANK YOU!!

Gurkhali Ayo!

Day 1 (Qualification Round)

Gurkha FC 0 – 2 Saudi Tigers
Gurkha FC suffered their first defeat in a long time after losing 2 – 0 down to the Saudi Tigers in the Asian Uni Games’ first round group match. GFC never really settled down throughout the match as the Saudis with their fluid movements and good team play dominated in the first half.

A quick break down our right flank was finished off superbly by their striker leaving our goalie with no chance. The second goal was controversial as a penalty was conceded from seemingly out of nothing.
Andrew had challenged for a loose 50-50 ball, against one of their players, in our penalty box and had cleared the ball, albeit with a high boot. The referee awarded a penalty for this action. Our protests fell on deaf ears and their striker swiftly dispatched the penalty to the despairing dive of our keeper.

2 – 0 down in half time didn’t help with the players’ confidence and although we played better in the 2^nd half, a lack of finishing as well as the Saudis possession play resulted in GFC losing for the first time in 9 games. Things could only get better as this was definitely not the Gurkhay way of playing footy!!

Gurkha FC 1 – 0 Thailand
(Pata)

In the second match of the group stages, GFC was pitted against the Thai team, whom we have had a couple of friendlies; losing both times. This was a game in which both sides were evenly matched as GFC kept pressing for a goal and the Thai team responding just as well. It was Pata who broke the deadlock with a sweet strike from outside the penalty box which curled into the goalie’s right hand corner. 1 – 0 up to GFC!!! The Thai team replied with a series of attacks which were broken down well by our defence, one of them in particular a thunderous shot which our goalie managed to divert over the bar.

After the second half, the Thai team continued pressing for their equalizer but GFC was equal to the task as well, responding with a number of attacks which just did not seem to end up in the net. GFC had a couple of scares as one of the Thais long range shots was tipped over the bar and another through ball was saved with the outstretched leg of our goalie. The final whistle for the game blew and GFC breathed a sigh of relief as we knew that we had just managed to scrape by for the win.

Gurkha FC 3 – 1 Indonesia
Manish (3)

GFC won the last of their group matches with a 3 – 1 victory over Indonesia. Manish, who’s becoming something of a goal machine, scored a hat-trick ensuring that GFC progressed into the next round of the competition. The assists for the first two goals were provided by Gakul, from a free kick, and Bikram, from a corner, with Manish scoring with his head on both occasions. Manish’s third goal was created by himself as he latched onto a pass and dozed his way to goal. 3 – 0 to GFC within the first half!!

The 2^nd half was played out in a slow mannered fashion as the Indonesians were continually frustrated by GFC’s keep ball tactics. On their one rare occasion which they did threaten, Thulo made a few decent stop but injured his shoulder. He signaled to the referee about his injury, but the referee instead blew for a free kick to the Indonesians in the penalty box; his reasoning was that the keeper held onto the ball for too long. Their player drove the ball past the Gurkhay wall and into the net to make the final score 3 – 1. Not a good way to concede a goal, but a good lesson learnt for the keeper. Throw the ball out in an event of an injury to oneself.

In any case GFC qualified for the next round of competition to be held on the following day. This achievement was blighted by the fact that there were a few injuries suffered on the day, Amar (thigh), Bikram (knee), Shin (nose), Sunil (ankle) and Thulo (shoulder). GFC struggles on.

Day 2 (Round 2 to Finals)

Day 2 of the competition was another group stage competition, with only the top team progressing into the semis. As runners up in our group from the previous day, we had to play against one third placed and another first placed team from another group, these being Hong Kong and Somalia.

Gurkha FC 1 – 0 Hong Kong
(Manish)

Our first game on the 2^nd round was against Hong Kong, who was basically a revamped SkyWind team from the South Side League. They had a number of new players including a trio of gorays. In any case, we still dominated them, but never got close to scoring the number of goals which we did in the league. With Thulo out injured with a shoulder injury, and only available as a limited outfield player, it was left to Saurav to play as a keeper although he had next to naught experience in the position. In any case, Manish finished off the tie with a well taken goal with GFC dominating both halves. Saurav did well enough as keeps with a couple of good catches.

Gurkha FC 1 – 1 Somalia
(Manish)

The second game was a trickier tie with the larger and more physical Somalian side. Manish was the scorer again with the Somalians scoring from a controversial penalty. Everyone agreed that the referee for this game was totally inexperienced and probably biased as he let the Somalians get away with most fouls whilst stopping play whenever any of GFC players committed minor ones. The conceded penalty, although it was a foul, was committed outside the box but since the player landed in the area, the referee deemed it to be a penalty. The Somalian striker duly obliged in putting the ball in the back of the net.

Gurkha FC 1 – 0 Somalia (Replay)
(Manish)

With GFC and Somalia tied for top place, it was decided that a replay would be played to decide who should progress to the semis. The GFC players were really geared up for this, what with a sense of injustice that they felt from the prior game. The game was much more pleasing to watch as well as the players played with more purpose keeping possession of the ball although not creating the chances required. The scorer for this game was once again Manish. With the goal in our pocket, it was left to GFC to play out the game with a sensible play of keep ball and making the opposition run, something which the Somalians did plenty of. In any case, this was a great win for the team and a definite morale booster. GFC progresses to the Semis!

Semi Finals

Gurkha FC 0 – 0 China
(lost 3 – 4 on penalties)

GFC was pitted against China in the semis with the final score being a goalless draw. In between, there was a heated argument with some of the Chinese players which definitely spoilt our players’ tempo and rhythm. That being the case, not many chances were created by either side as both seemed to be evenly matched although the Chinese were the bigger and more physical side. The match eventually ended goalless and thus resulted in the dreaded penalty shootout.

As Saurav had practically no experience, up stepped Shin to take the keepers spot for the shootout. We kicked off the penalty shootout with Gakul, Manish and Pata scoring the first of our three kicks and the Chinese players responding in kind. Our fourth kicker was Shin who had his shot saved by the Chinese stopper; they scored their next. We were 3 – 4 down and we had to score the next one to be in the tie. Amar stepped up and his shot was also save splendidly by the Chinese keeper. With that being that, GFC lost the shootout and were denied a berth in the Finals.

Gurkha FC 0 – 1 Hong Kong United

There was still 3^rd place up for grabs, but with most of the players injured, excessively tired or with other commitments, GFC withered to a 1 – 0 defeat. Nothing to be ashamed of, as even without a full compliment of players, GFC players held their own for sustained periods of time, eventually losing to a fluke goal concede by Ashok, who had stepped in to play as keeper; about time Saurav took a break from the gloves and let his legs do the talking.

Conclusion

Ahhhhh… finally at last, the conclusion for this piece of article.

Firstly apologies for the delay in posting this article and also for not making it as informative as it should have been; the reason being with so many games played on the day, it was difficult to keep track of who did what and what was happening exactly on the pitch.

Secondly, well done GFC players for a tournament well played!!! Although we did not achieve our target of a Finals placing, our eventual placing as the 4^th best team in the tournament was in itself an achievement. And this was done without our full complement of players, mainly out due to injuries.

Lastly, thanks to all the supporters who turned up and stayed for the whole duration of the tournament. Your support is well and truly appreciated. Apologies to some of you who may have returned a bit darker than usual!! You know it was worth it!!

And finally finally… with all the injuries from the tournament, it’s a good thing that we do not have any games this week. So all you fellow players, do have a good rest and get well soon!!

And finally finally… this time for real finally… do come down to GFC’s Pre-Dashain party this Sunday, 25^th of September at the Electric Playground. You know you wouldn’t want to miss it!!

Gurkhali Ayo!!

Gurkha FC 5 – 1 BlackStar Roasters
Manish (5)

GFC was at it’s best yet again, as they demolished BlackStar Roasters 5 – 1 in the final game of the Southside League, consolidating 3^rd place in the league’s standings as a result. Due to time constraints, referee availability and ground availability, the last match of the season was played as a winner takes all match; i.e. points and goals counted double!! With this in mind and the potential of beating a ‘khuiray’ team for the first time in the league, our boys were very much up for the challenge.

Things however did not start out as expected as our boys failed to settle down initially, being pressured from the whistle. BlackStar’s long balls was causing problems for GFC, with one in particular, beating the defence and only a last minute intervention on the line from Shin prevented a definite goal. However, a quick break from GFC had Sunil scuttling down the right and his cross was not cleared properly by the opposition, prompting Manish to ram home the first goal of the game! The keeper had no chance to react such was the power of the shot. 1 – 0 to GFC!

The goal, however, only boosted the opposition’s tempo as their long balls were causing a mess of a problem with our backline. One such ball put them on a one on one situation with our keeper, Thulo, who did well to save with his legs. This was followed by another similar situation, but Ashok was on hand to clear the ball off the line. The boys were really showing their determination in not conceding a goal and putting their hearts for the win!

Using the saying of, “Well if you can’t beat them, join them”, Gakul threaded a long ball into the path of Manish, whose neat touch caused some confusion between the defence and their keeper resulting in an easy finish for our striker. 2 – 0 up and GFC was on a roll!

The goal still did not dampen the opposition’s mood however as they continued to ply on the pressure. They were however, limited to shots from outside the box as they failed to break our defence down. One such strike from their striker had Thulo scampering at full stretch, but it barely missed bulging the net by just the post. Another long shot from their midfielder was plucked safely just on the line. Thulo had evidently learned to hold the ball properly probably still remembering the soft goal conceded a couple of weeks back.

At the other end of the field, GFC were not to be outdone as Bikram tried one of his long range shots, which sadly flew over and out of the ground. A great tackle from Shin resulted in him getting the ball and driving forward, before releasing Sunil on the right wing with a through ball. Using his speed, he beat the opposition for pace before putting a sweet ball into the penalty box, only to be missed by players. All it needed was a touch to be put into the back of the net! Great play from GFC nevertheless!

By this time, GFC was on the top of their game and had settled down well enough. A ball down the left was dealt by their defence well enough, but Dipen was showing his ever present determination and chased the lost cause, pressuring them to win a corner. From the resulting corner, Shin headed just wide of the goal. Great play and pressure from GFC!

Half time blew and as seems to be happening regularly, the players were in good spirits, with the usual banter about next to nothing. Good to see such great team spirit, which can only be good for our future games.

The second half started much brightly for GFC as the players settled fully on the Mt Gravatt pitch. Within a couple of minutes of the restart, Upesh had threaded a nice through ball to Manish who chipped the ball over the keeper and into the net. 3 – 0 to GFC!! His second hat trick in as many games!! What a game he was having!

Within a few minutes of scoring his third goal, Manish had the ball in the net again as he powered and dribbled his way into the penalty area before beating the keeper and stroking the ball into an empty net. Following this incident, some of the GFC players got into an argument with the opposition, but luckily no hands were raised and the scene died down after a while. No complaints over this as GFC was on a roll being 4 – 0 up now!!

With GFC settling down nicely after this minor incident, another through ball to Manish beat the opposition’s defence, who all waved for offside; the referee didn’t blow his whistle though. Manish playing on a striker’s stroked the ball past the keeper and made the score 5 – 0!! Still probably frustrated from the earlier argument, Manish celebrated his goal DX style (look it up in on YouTube for those who don’t know what it is about) and got a yellow card for his efforts.

That was the last of GFC goals, although this did not mean that the team did not create any more chances. Sunil was released on the right wing and using his pace, cut into the box, however, he could only blast the ball over the bar. Moments later, Pramod created a chance for himself but he also blasted the ball over the bar.

The common sports adage these days seem to be, “If you are good enough, you are old enough”, and hence a long awaited debut was given for our 14 year old striker Sameer who came on for Manish. He got straight into the thick of things, with his speed, touch and pure determination troubling the opponents much bigger defenders. He even got into a few goal scoring chances but scuffed his shots, although with experience, those will surely end up at the back of the net! In any case, it was a nice debut for Sameer who showed no fear, truly keeping with the Gukhali spirit!

In another sweet move on the left flank, couple of neat one twos on the left released Dipen, who crossed, but resulted in a corner. From the resulting corner, there was a toe stepping incident on Pramod’s foot right in front of the referee. Although the referee warned the offender, the incident was repeated and the referee promptly sent the player off. A tad bit harsh we all thought as it probably only deserved a yellow. In any case we had the advantage, or so we thought.

The players probably went a bit lax after the sending off as long ball into our right defence, beat Amar, and the opposition took one touch and shot which Thulo did well to save. He then released the ball to the left, where the ball was lost to one of their many ‘kalay’ imports. He drove forward and shot from range which flew past our keeper and into the net; Thulo hardly moved, although he could have done much better than NOT MOVING!!

With time running out, BlackStar got more into the game even with a man down. However, GFC held firm and drowned their attacks easily enough. There was even a late chance for Sushil, who had come on as a striker, who did well enough to shoot from range, but did little to trouble their keeper.

Final whistle blew and all the players breathed a sigh of satisfaction having beaten their first ‘khuiray’ team of the season. Good going guys! There are sure to be more such moments in the coming games!!

With this result, GFC consolidated their third place ranking in the league standings, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals of the knockout stages. And this is where the REAL competition starts as the top 4/5 (depending on the final format laid out by the organizers) teams fight it out to be named the best team in the league! The format and fixtures have as of yet to be confirmed by the oragnisers. Stay tuned GFC fans for further news and opponents for the next round of our journey.

Having gone on a now 8 match unbeaten streak, GFC players confidence are on a high as they know this is one of the best chances of gaining their first piece of silverware in their short history. Dates of fixtures and opponents will be displayed as soon as they are released. This is the first time that GFC has secured a place in the knockout phases as well as securing their best ever league finish in the league. So what are you waiting for GFC fans? Get down to the field and support and cheer on YOUR ONLY Nepalese football team in Brisbane as they try and claim their first piece of silverware!

Gurkhali Ayo!

Next Match

There are no next league fixtures this coming week. The team will however be taking part in the Asian Uni Games to be held in Annerley. See previous post for more details on this coming tournament.

Side Post

As was written in the previous match report, GFC now has a new page on Facebook, which is being regularly updated. Do join us and ‘likes’ us. Don’t worry GFC fans, this site will still be kicking alive and regularly updated as well!

On a more important side note, tickets for the “Dashain Ayo 2011” are now on sale. GFC cordially invites everyone for this Pre-Dashain Dance Party of the year right here in Brisbane! For more information on this great event, go to our Facebook page. Please approach any of the GFC players to purchase your tickets. This event will surely be a blast!! So do join us!

Gurkha FC vs Blackstar Roasters FC

Date: 11th August (Sunday)
Time: 11.30 am
Venue: Mt Gravatt

Please be at the field by 10.30 am!

Gurkha FC vs Warriors

A quick wrap with our last fixture against Warriors. We were leading  2 – 1 through half time (Goal scorer: Andrew and 1 own goal I believe) and then was down to 10 players in the second half which led to an unfortunate defeat 2 – 5.

Red Cards

Just so we’re all on the same page, the tournament committee is very serious about any violent behaviour of players this season. They’ll have the final say regarding all red cards which can result in getting banned from the tournament. These things obviously happens from time to time, but when this does happen you need to think of the team first now on. Whenever an incident happens we always end up losing the game. So lets pack up all this negativity football aside for good and continue with ‘our’ football journey.

Room For Improvement (from what I saw against Warriors).

If you want to play better then:

• Communicate more on the field.
• Always create and give options to team mates.
• Work on your agility and short passes.

Next Fixture

Opponents: FC MTS (Korean Team)
Date: 15th May 2011 (Sunday)
Time: 10:00pm (Please be at the field by 9am)
Venue: Yeronga

See you Sunday morning @ 9 am!

Kick Off

Our first fixture is against Warriors:

Date: 1st may 2011 (Sunday)
Time: 2:00pm
Venue: Yeronga

With the league commencing soon, we had a friendly match last Saturday at Greenslopes against a Thai team. This was organised by Dipendra Thapa and the final score was  5 – 5.  Though we were missing a few players, it was great to play with the team again after a long break.

Once again it’s sad to see players backing out in the last minute just before kick off. To make it easier on organising our squad, please inform in advance (2 days earlier) your participation of a match. We need the team showing up at least an hour before kick off to warm up and manage positions of players. We need to do this if we want to win this season, it’s up to you!

Enough with the negativity, I hope everyone is pumped up for the new season, we’ve got a few new players joining us this season and I’m sure the team will make them feel very welcomed. For our returning players, please send confirmation to Gakul Dai if you’d like to participate this year. Registration fee are as follows: Students ($50), non-students ($150) – please pass this onto Gakul Dai within two weeks from now.

Re our uniform, we’ll wear our last season jersey (red). Please make sure you have shin pads, football socks and shorts (black). Most importantly please start running around or do some outdoor activity. With the weather starting to get chilly your body probably needs the physical work to avoid any injuries during matches. And for those of you injured get some rest will you, which means minimum physical activity. If injuries are not healed properly then other parts of your body can get affected later on, due to our body’s nature. I’m sure our ‘nurses’ can elaborate on this.

Sponsorship opportunities are still open. Please let Gakul Dai or myself know if anybody is keen. ‘Any funds’ helps with our football club development/activities.

This Sunday (24th April, 2011), there’s a football match at New Farm Soccer Ground among the local Brisbane Nepalese community. If you want to participate please contact Kamal Dai (k.gurung@bris.cqu.edu.au) on 0438157015, Sunil Thapa on 0402132209, or Sagar Dai on 0438157015.

Peace and keep smiling (share it if you can’t)…

Time For Some Football Now!

Looks like our football league is just around the corner now. It should commence towards the end of April.

If you have any suggestions or ideas regarding pre season matches and training sessions, please share your ideas. Seems most of the boys have been playing regularly on Saturday at Wilston. It’ll be good to discuss it with everyone there.

This Saturday, one of our eldest and veteran Gurkha FC player (Dipen Dai) is passing by Brisbane and will come down for a kick at Wilston. Please try and make yourself available this Saturday for football. It usually starts at 4:00pm, but with daylight starting to get shorter it’s best to be there by 3:30pm.

See you Saturday!

Here’s a quick update about our result from the  last match and the upcoming fixture.

The final result from last weekends Gurkha F.C. vs. Malaysian team match was  a 1-4 loss. Hopefully we can improve on that in our next fixture which will be on this Friday the 13th ( Uh Oh!) 7:00pm at Annerley, on the corner of  Ridge St and Barnsdale Place. Please try and get to the field by 6:30pm so we can get organized and take some team photos, other than that I hope to see you guys there, bye.