Chamot's Lob Spot

Chamot's 'lob spot' to be preserved

A square of turf, the green canvas for a white-painted dot, is set to join Wazzadona's colon and Iainomoto's Ten Commandments as the newest South Coogee sporting artifact.

The grassy piece of history is the spot from which Jose Chamot launched the kick that earlier this year propelled the Wanderers to the 2005 Wanderers Feast Day Cup Final over Barnestoneworth. Chamot scored the decisive goal in SCW's 3-2 win over BFC in Matraville after lobbing the ball nearly 150 metres into the air. The win earned the team its second successive trophy in the annual cup final, arguably the biggest tournament in the South Coogee area, and saw a previously indifferent group of Donna's see Chamot in a whole new light, as his post-match report testifies.

The historic spot will be cut from the Matraville pitch on Wednesday morning in a special ceremony. The square will be dry-frozen over a period of weeks to dry it out totally to preserve both soil and turf.

Before the famous 'lob spot' is treated and encased in glass to protect it from the ravages of time, a member of the first Wanderers team to attempt to reach the World Cup in 1965, Three Knees Passey, will take a final ceremonial penalty-kick then remove the turf.

In the 1965 campaign SCW were beaten by surprise package North Korea 9-2 on aggregate, who went onto beat Italy before losing 5-3 in an epic struggle with genius playmaker Eusebio's Portugal. In stark comparison to Cardinal Storrienko's intensive training camps for the 2005 game, the only preparation for the 1965 games was some snorkelling in tropical Queensland and a friendly drinking session with Robert Menzies.

Wednesday's ceremony is a joint venture between Matraville Stadium PLC and local governing body Football Federation South Coogee, but it was the brainchild of Wanderers Club Secretary General Abel Balbo. Balbo was inspired by the preservation of part of the pitch that played host to Van Hankelroy's scuffed corner in the memorable 2004 Feast Day Cup Final - also against Barnestoneworth. VHR's 'corner spot' was recently sold on E-Bay to a bidder in Eastern China for over 40 million kip.

"Of course, the 2005 match went beyond the earlier game because it had a much bigger impact internationally and across Australia, even into Maroubra, and because you had a spot, a definite spot, where you know Chamot's actual kick occurred," Balbo said. "Iainomoto, in the aftermath of the game, said 'this is such a monumental occasion, we really need to, for posterity, do something that will allow us to have a permanent reminder'."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Aloisis-penalty-spot-to-be-preserved/2005/1
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© 2005 AAP