A-League given the British nod of approval

Ollie Ezard, Danny Dyer, Josh Hocken, Ben Tivey

Being the lover of both sports I took the opportunity to tag along with a few of the English imports from the Royal Park / Brunswick Cricket club as they embarked on their first A-League experience on Friday night.

Ollie Ezard the extroverted opening bowler and Hull City fanatic, Danny Dyer (not this guy) the Liverpool fan who has been struggling for runs during his stint in Oz. Josh Hocken, a junior coach back home who follows Chelsea and is also sporting a large bruise on his leg from a misplayed Condon wrong 'un. And finally Ben Tivey, the workhorse opening bowler and suffering Derby County fan.

As we settled into our seats it was clear that any praise would need to be earned tonight and that the Aussie standard of soccer wasn't anywhere near what they were used to. It got worse before it got better. Melbourne Heart decided to go with the old football classic 'Happy Together' by the Turtles, complete with extreme large font words on the scoreboard. It was scoffs and sniggers all round.

The questions were coming thick and fast. Who were the gaffers? Ears pricked up when Aloisi was mentioned; "Coventry City and Pompey". Who's the goose in the full kit? Hayden Foxe; "West Ham and Pompey' Bang, these boys knew their stuff.

Tadic scores the opening goal

Two minutes in and the boys have identified David Williams as someone that 'can play' and they were right, to an extent, but it had been four minutes now and Richard Garcia hadn't touched the ball and Ezard was getting restless. Being a Hull fan, Ezard had exclusive rights to claim Garcia as 'my man'.

Tadic scores five minutes in and the boys are out of their seats. Heart mascot Ticker runs by and red head, fair skinned Josh cops some stick. He will be called Ticker for the rest of his stay.

Playing out from the back seemed foreign to the boys. The bloke in front of them quips "they're trying to play football, not that shit long ball stuff you have over there" and with that the lads are quiet for a few minutes.

Matt Thompson has been identified by Danny Dyer (seriously, not this guy) as an identical player to Liverpool's Jordan Henderson; controls the midfield but rarely passes forward.

Fred is having a stinker, they want him subbed. When I explain that Fred was one of the greatest players this country has seen only four years ago, they think I'm having them on.

Ollie meets his hero Richard Garcia

Ollie's man Garcia scores in the second half. Mayhem. Heart are up 2-0. Adelaide are out to $15 to win (odds that I thought were very juicy against a team who can't hold a lead) but the Reds continue to pass sideways and backwards.

Simon Colosimo earns the praise that is so hard to come by from English fans, "He's quality, organised and doesn't give the ball away. A decent centre half".

The final few minutes are filled with shouts of "put it in the mixer" and "send it" to no avail. Melbourne Heart win the game 2-0 to move into the top six. Adelaide miss a chance to gain ground on the Mariners.

The Royal Park Brunswick boys are satisfied with their night at the football and Ollie gets his picture with Richard Garcia.