SOCCER
STATE LEAGUE
by SAMUEL DARROCH
MORWELL Pegasus is two points shy of escaping relegation calculations after defeating Mornington SC 2-1 away from home at the weekend.
Eighth-placed Pegasus (23 points) sits eight points ahead of bottom side Doveton SC with two rounds remaining and a catch up game in hand, but could still be passed by 11th placed Malvern City FC (16 points) which also has three to play.
Malvern City’s chances of escaping the drop zone, however, have been hindered by an injury to premier striker Jaun Nilo who has scored 17 goals this season.
“It’s going to take something extraordinary for us to get relegated, especially on form,” Pegasus coach Dale White said.
“We weren’t absolutely outstanding at the weekend but there was only one team winning that game.”
Max Etheridge scored a first half brace on the back of clever deliveries from Chris Wynne as Pegasus owned the opening exchanges.
Marquin Smith returned from suspension and was pivotal in midfield, setting up play from the centre of the park.
“Every time we went forward we looked like we were going to score, they didn’t really have a kick for half an hour… it could have been six,” White said.
A defensive lapse saw Mornington hit back from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 at half-time.
“I really thought the game should have been finished at half-time. If we’d gone in 7-1 at half-time it wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary,” White said.
Keeper Pierce Morrison was forced into action a few times by Mornington, but Pegasus defended well throughout the second half to maintain their lead to the final whistle.
Pegasus now faces Kingston City and South Springvale in the next fortnight, fixtures they lost 7-1 and 6-1 respectively earlier in the season.
“We’ve got some pride on the line,” White said.
“It was a real disappointing time of the season for us and if we’ve got any pride about us we’re really looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”
Should Morwell retain its place in division two south-east, it may be joined by Warragul next season which is two points off the promotion bracket in division three.
