Soccer
STATE league
By samuel darroch
MORWELL Pegasus stumbled to its first State League Division Two loss of the season against Springvale White Eagles at Ronald Reserve on Saturday after decisions went against it inside the penalty box.
Springvale converted from the spot about 30 minutes into the contest and clung to its advantage for the remainder of the match.
Pegasus coach Dale White said the penalty was “dubious” and believed the home team should have been awarded a penalty of their own in the second half.
“We had a blatant penalty turned down in the second half, so based on that I thought we deserved something out of the game,” he said.
“We didn’t play very well at all and I guess we got what we deserved.”
While disappointed not to salvage a point from the match, White admitted his team had been technically inferior on the night and lacked the killer instinct.
“In the second half we responded reasonably well and I was quite confident we would get a point out of the game… we just lacked quality… finishing and the final ball in the final third,” he said.
“If we’re not 100 per cent on our game we’re going to struggle… every team we’ve played, personally, I think they’ve been technically better than us.”
White said Morwell’s defensive effort was valiant, and praised the performances of captain Robbie Wynne and Pierce Morrison between the sticks.
Pegasus will travel to the winless Diamond Valley this weekend with a wafer thin squad of about 13 fit players available.
The shallow talent pool will be further drained with the impending departure of star midfielder Maquinn Smith, who will play another six to eight games for Pegasus before permanently moving to Sydney.
Steve Maselli’s untimely foot injury leaves White with selection headaches, but the imminent return of Chris Duncan from injury could add to Pegasus’ fire power in the coming month.
Clayton Bell also returned to the reserve ranks at the weekend and could come into selection calculations, and White said he was still scouting for quality up front.
“At the end of the day it’s my job to try and bring in a couple of bodies better than what I’ve got,” White said.
