FourFourTwo: What was your favourite Derby memory?

Archie Thompson: It was definitely the last minute goal in the 2012 Christmas Derby. I was reading FourFourTwo’s interview with Mate Dugandzic and Simon Colosimo that it was five years ago!?

That year I was like the black Santa! I scored the winner and all the Victory fans went home and had a great Christmas. The turkey tasted so much better that year! Just the way the game ended and the way we won.

It’s clichéd, but games can go either way, if Adama Traore didn’t stick his leg out to win the ball, David Williams could’ve picked out someone and Maybe Heart could’ve won 2-1. But Adama played it to Rojas and I pointed to where I wanted the ball and he gave it to me, that was the combination we had and bang! Goal! The black Santa delivered!

There are times when I flick back and reminisce about my times at Victory and there are some goals that I scored with the Socceroos, but that 2012 goal always pops up in the highlights. It’s not about how I see the goal go in, it’s the reaction I see from the crowd. And then post-match, the way we all celebrated together, the whole North Terrace was singing with the South End side-by-side, that was insane!

Also the game we won 5-2 in 2014, I scored two. Bes (Berisha) scored a hat-trick, but I scored two… don’t forget, I scored two!

FFT: Talk us through that celebration and that Heart fan….

AT: There’s always a lot of banter about me being offside. It’s a fine line you walk, I knew 100 per cent it was in. I remember Andy Harper was a bit sceptical. I hit it, I was running along the line, so I knew it crossed the line by about two metres, so I was like ‘sweet, goal!’.

I’m then running along and the Heart supporter stuck his middle fingers at me and he tried to tell me it was offside. We had a bit of a laugh about it on Twitter, it’s good banter and that’s what it’s about.

Hopefully he’s there on Saturday, but that’s what makes the game memorable. I put the photo of it on my Instagram, it’s awesome!

FFT: What if you scored that 90th minute goal in 2017?

AT: I think the VAR would’ve intervened! Don’t get me wrong, I think the VAR is great, it just has teething issues. It would’ve made it a lot more certain though. I think it just needs more consistency and people running it properly. But if that happened back in 2012, it could’ve been a long delayed process and it could’ve taken away what that goal meant. I know if it’s reviewed and given, it gives the chance for the fans to go nuts again, but it still takes away that moment. You still have to know if it’s a goal or not, so it’s a bit of a grey area.

 


 

FFT: Worst memory of a Derby?

AT: All the Derbies we’ve lost. The 2014 Erik Paartalu winner hurt. They’ve always been exciting games, there isn’t a specific game I thought hurt the most, it was always painful to just lose.

FTT: Was Clint Bolton lucky not to be sent off when he fouled you in the box in the 2011 Christmas Derby?

AT: I was one-on-one with Bootsa (Bolton), I got a pretty soft penalty and he got a yellow card for it. I remember there was a bit of debate between Harry Kewell and Carlos Hernandez about who was going to take the penalty, then Carlos took it and Bootsa saved it. I ended up scoring minutes later, I tried to take my jersey off, but it was too tight! We ended up losing 3-2.

FFT: Who wins on Saturday?

AT: I’m backing my boys to get the job done.