MONASH took an early lead against Traralgon City through a penalty in round 11 of the Gippsland Soccer League.
League leading goal scorer Ash Birrell converted the spotkick after Wally Noppert was brought down in the box by Moy Aliyu.
With less than 15 minutes on the clock Monash doubled the lead after Ty Christy climbed above the keeper to head down to Eric Sostak, who powered the ball home.
Christy was on the receiving end for Monash’s third when he headed home Steve Birrell’s cross as the home side dominated. With five minutes remaining in the half Monash put the result to bed when Ash Birrell slammed home his 14th goal of the season.
Aliyu made amends for his earlier indiscretion in the box clearing off the line twice in a minute as Monash continued to press in the second half.
An improved City side grabbed an early goal as John Kuol raced clear and placed the ball into the far corner of the net. Despite City’s best efforts it was nothing more than a consolation as Monash secured fourth position on the ladder.
Churchill Utd v Falcons 2000
Churchill United remained at the top of the GSL ladder after defeating Falcons 3-1 in a twilight match on Saturday.
The Rams dominated possession and despite some dynamic runs from Taylor Jackson, they failed to make inroads in the resolute Falcons defence headed up Joe Auciello and Conor Clarke.
Prior to the break it was Jackson who gave Churchill a 1-0 lead after he finished in front of goal.
Falcons came out firing in the second half and nearly pushed for an equaliser when Kevin Carcellar’s shot belted against the upright. Churchill’s leading goalscorer Paul Riess made it 2-0 when he made the most of an edge of the box free kick to give the Rams some breathing room.
With time ticking down Falcons were thrown a life line when Carcellar saluted with a crisp finish to make it 2-1 and ensure a grandstand finish.
In their efforts to press for an equaliser in attack Falcons were put under immense defensive pressure and coughed up an own goal to restore Churchill’s two-goal buffer.
Fortuna v Tyers
Fortuna steadied after a slow start to beat Tyers 6-1 at Crinigan Road, Morwell on Sunday.
Tyers started well with most of the play and looked to goal, but was denied by a great save from Fortuna keeper Justin Kosakiewicz. The Lightning broke through in the seventh minute when Joshua Membrey was able to score the first of the day.
Fortuna’s first goal did not come until the 30th minute when John Mcevoy goalled from a Joshua Tanti corner.
Joel Pirotta followed this up with another goal for Fortuna in the 41st minute. After half time, Fortuna was able to break the game open.
Not long after a great save by Tyers goalkeeper Daniel Clark, Tanti was able to goal in the 54th minute, and struck again in the 57th minute.
Tanti secured his hat-trick in the 89th minute. Zac Mangion was lively in his first senior game for Fortuna and was able to header a goal just before the full-time whistle.
NYU v Traralgon Olympians
Newborough-Yallourn United posted its second consecutive win when it claimed a surprise 2-1 away win against Olympians.
Both teams started well but lacked polish in front of goals and spurned solid chances to break the deadlock.
NYU was first to hit the scoreboard as Jeremy Dunn outworked his opponent down the right flank to cross a ball in to Chad Shelley.
Shelley collected the ball outside the penalty area, bobbed and weaved his way through the Olympians’ defence and slotted home from 12 yards.
Olympians got back on level terms minutes before half-time as some poor NYU marking gave Tony Pardo a golden opportunity at the far post. This drew a point blank save from NYU’s goalkeeper Damian Gilbert.
Andreas Nilo was on hand to tap home the rebound and draw the teams level. The visitors started to get the upper hand in the second half with NYU’s defence holding firm.
NYU restored its lead midway through the period as Heydan Cook took possession 25 yards from goal and, with his defenders backing off, fired in a low drive that beat Chris Alimpic at the far post. NYU earned a perfect chance to ice the game in the dying minutes as a swift counter attack saw Cook brought down in the box giving the referee little choice but to point to the penalty spot.
Justin Mathison stepped up to take the kick but could not find the target, however NYU held on to take the three points and collected the Jim Evans Memorial for the first time.
Moe Utd v Sale Utd
Moe hosted Sale at Olympic Park in a battle for second place and the inaugural McHallam-Patterson Shield.
Sale came out firing in the first half and had Moe on the back foot.
Sale eventually caught out Moe on the counter and went into the break 1-0 up through Ash Ross.
Moe came out a different side in the second half and dominated play.
Sam Lietzau equalised with a strike from outside the box. A Lee Dastey-shot was knocked over the bar with seconds to play giving Moe one last chance through a corner. Dastey was found at the near post and headed home to seal second place and to take home the shield.
Preview
With the Victorian Junior Country Championships being hosted in Traralgon there will be no GSL club soccer this weekend.
