Not happy: Players at the Narre South Lions Junior Football Club have been disappointed after their canteen was robbed last weekend. From left: Jarrod Smith, Lachlan Brehaut, Jacob Canning and Matthew Brehaut.
By Rebecca Fraser
A JUNIOR football club has been hit by thieves with its canteen almost stripped bare on the eve of match day.
Last Sunday the groundskeeper at Narre Warren South’s Strathaird Reserve arrived about 7am to discover the canteen had been broken into.
Stolen was more than $2000 worth of items belonging to the Narre South Lions Junior Football Club (NSLJFC), including a microwave, a hot dog maker, crock pot and even a soup ladle.
Lollies including chocolate frogs and other snack food was also taken, as well as other cooking equipment needed to feed the match day crowd.
NSLJFC president John Rich said the club was disappointed by the theft.
The stolen equipment had just been purchased and the club was still in the process of organising insurance coverage.
Club members were forced to quickly clean up the canteen and use whatever was left to open for trade.
“We still had a pie warmer so we just made do and boiled the water for the hotdogs because the urn had been taken too,” Mr Rich said.
“It is a bit of a disappointment. Everything is going well but this was just a bit of a setback.”
The club, which now boasts 187 junior players, will now fundraise to replace the stolen items.
Police believe the incident occurred between 5pm on Saturday, 6 May and 7am the following morning,
Anyone with any information in relation to this incident is asked to call Narre Warren CIU on 9705 3111 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
