SEVEN points out of a possible nine in the past three rounds has pushed Morwell Pegasus back into contention in State League South-East division one soccer.
A 3-1 win over Noble Park in round eight, followed by a 1-1 draw with Casey at home and a thrilling 4-3 victory away to Langwarrin at the weekend saw the Horsemen gallop to sixth on the ladder, two wins off second spot.
Coach Luke Cheney said he had finally found the right formula for the squad, which was beginning to make its mark on the competition.
“It’s a good feeling, we’re starting to get it together now… we’ve got a formation that seems to be working and everyone’s understanding what they have to do,” Cheney said.
A coveted three points on the tough trip to Langwarrin was “rewarding” for Cheney’s men, who took a 1-0 lead into half-time after Hayden Ross-Schultz hammered home a screamer of a volley from outside the 18-yard box.
Pegasus doubled the lead after the break through a Malesh Hova header before Langwarrin hit back to make it 2-1.
A chest and volley finish from John Kuol gave the visitor some breathing space at 3-1, but the game took on a new dimension when Saj Sugrim received his marching orders for a second yellow card with 25 minutes to play.
The extra man advantage saw Langwarrin score twice to draw things level at 3-3, however Hova nipped the fightback in the bud with a 40-yard lob over an out-of-position Langwarrin custodian.
About seven minutes of stoppage time were added, leaving Pegasus to survive an anxious end to proceedings, but they held on to take the points.
With four draws this season, Cheney said it was positive the side managed to break the deadlock on Saturday.
“We’ve been scoring goals but not finding the winner… we were able to find that winner so we’re going to take a lot from this week’s game,” he said.
This weekend marks the final game after the first half of the fixture, with Cheney hopeful Pegasus will continue to engineer wins rather than draws throughout the second half.
“It’s now a matter of the games we did draw or didn’t get maximum points out (of) and making a real crack of it in the second half,” he said.
The Pegasus reserves enjoyed a 4-2 win and now occupy fifth on the table, six points off top side Malvern City.
Pegasus hosts Manningham United Blues at Ronald Reserve from 3pm on Saturday.
