Paul Trimboli was almost hyperventilating with excitement while his companion punctuated every comment with his customary outbursts of hysterical mirth.
What with Trimmers' breathlessness and Bozza's notorious laugh it was like spending Sunday afternoon with a couple of teenagers who've just nicked a six pack of Bacardi Cruisers from dad's bar fridge.
And what neutral spectator could fail to join their party ? It was a controversial, entertaining and totally riveting match between The Furries and Victory, so much fun in fact that I almost forgot the lacklustre performance of my own team just hours before.
It's a sad thing to watch a whole round of A-League matches (which I feel driven to do every week) and realise your own team didn't provide much in the way of entertainment. Who wants to go to a party and end up being the boring guy who stands in a corner next to a bowl of stale Twisties ?
Sure, it's a tough trip to Wellington and 20 other times before us, teams have failed to beat Phoenix at home, but we had few chances and let them take control of the game in a way that was cause for concern.
Leo Bertos's goal after ten minutes was soft and Macca could have scored another just before half time. Ifill's second half goal was a cracker and while Matty took a nice header in the first half, it wasn't until Bozanic had a great shot ten minutes from the end that we seemed to spark into life.
With five players across the midfield it seemed Arnie was not out to play attacking football and it made us look decidedly sluggish at times. Last week he made well-timed subs that gained results but this week McBreen was left bench-warming at a time when we needed a goal.
It the immortal words of Eric Cantona : pourquoi ?
It was a baffling decision and one that I can only hope is not repeated in the weeks ahead. While we're all anxiously awaiting the debut of Perez, our other strongest attacking options need to be given the chance to unleash themselves whenever possible.
Losing is not so painful when you've given everything but losing after chasing the game for half the match is frustrating. Okay, let's be brutally honest, at times it was like watching "end of last season Mariners". And no-one, least of all the team I suspect, ever wants to go there again.
To be fair, it's been a tough week for Arnie and he could be forgiven for being somewhat distracted from the job at hand. Unwittingly caught up in the Slater-Kewell soap opera, he once again became the target of mindless vitriol and accusations.
Hopefully he can step back and realise that very few football fans really give a monkey's about the whole sordid saga. CCM fans want him to succeed and he has the ideal opportunity on Saturday to show just what he can do against Sydney.
Just like Straka he needs to encourage his players to believe in themselves and take chances, to reassert the enormous team spirit we all know the Mariners have at their best. With or without Perez, we want to see gutsy, attacking football at the SFS. We want to make The Cove scream in pain and witness cool Lavicka break out in a sweat.
So ditch the stale Twisties routine : that's not the team I know and love. Next weekend, let's see if we can make Trimmers have heart failure and Bozza die laughing.
