MORWELL Pegasus may be working with a small State League Division Two south-east squad this year, but the undermanned side has shown no shortage of heart in its first four fixtures.
Pegasus mustered a come from behind 3-1 victory over Noble Park United at home on Saturday night to remain unbeaten with two wins and two draws.
Morwell coach Dale White welcomed the win, but was far from pleased with his team’s showing compared to its polished display against Clifton Hill the previous week.
“Overall I was quite disappointed with our performance,” he said.
“We found a way to win, which was very encouraging, but (compared) to the week before we didn’t play half as well.
“At the weekend I really struggled to find a five-star performance.”
Noble Park opened the scoring through Kruno Stanisic and was poised to take a 1-0 lead into half-time until Jack Dover found the back of the net moments before the break.
A deflated Noble Park posed less of a threat in the second half, as Morwell ran over the top of the visitor with two late goals to newcomer Nick Agetsis and Hayden Ross-Shultz on the stroke of full-time.
While the win looked convincing on paper, the result could have been very different.
Noble Park squandered a golden opportunity to make it 2-2 with 10 minutes to play when they blazed the ball over the bar unmarked.
The lacklustre performance did offer a silver lining for White, who discovered something about his team’s character in the scrappy win.
“I guess it’s the sign of a decent team when we play reasonably bad and still get the three points,” he said.
“We were resolute, we kept going and got our rewards.”
In a big blow for Pegasus, defender Matt Turnbull returned to the United Kingdom with a season ending injury, putting further strain on the already shallow squad.
“At the moment I’m getting the best out of people (but) if we have a couple of injuries we’ll be in trouble,” White said.
Pegasus will enjoy the bye this weekend, but has a practice game tonight against State League Division Three south-east side Berick City tonight.
The club’s next assignment is against lowly Springvale White Eagles on 11 May at Ronald Reserve, and could be a season defining fixture, according to White.
“It’s another game we have to win… the next two weeks are critical (and) it’s going to shape our season,” he said.
“We’ll either be top or second, or we’ll be fifth, sixth or seventh and back in the pack.”
