SOCCER
LVSL
MOE United will be out to consolidate its five-point lead at the top of the Latrobe Valley Soccer League ladder this weekend against East Gippsland before a bye brings a chance for the chasing pack to close in.
The Red Devils crushed Monash 4-0 on Sunday to stay out in front, five points clear of Churchill and Falcons, which has no chance at points this weekend with the bye.
Three first half goals put the game to bed by the break in a match highlighted by a hat-trick to Ty Georgiou supplemented by a Joel Baldwin strike.
A loss and a draw are the only blights on Moe’s record this season and coach Kev O’Farrell hopes to keep it that way through the second half of the fixture.
“We need to make sure we win this week, have a rest and reset for the second half of the year,” O’Farrell said.
“We had a pretty good first half of the year (and we’re) starting to get a full squad back together.
“We took a little while to get going at the start of the year, we did have some personnel changes and I thought it might take a little while to get, but over the last few weeks we’ve really started to play pretty well.”
Moe has conceded just seven goals this campaign, four of which came at once in a horror day out against Churchill.
After knocking off reigning league champion Falcons the week prior, Moe was stunned 4-0 by the Rams in round nine.
“We just had a really off day, we’d beaten Falcons the week before and I think we thought it may just happen but Churchill jumped us out of the blocks and we were playing catchup after that,” O’Farrell said.
“When you’re playing catchup you always leave yourself a bit open at the back, pushing forward trying to score goals, and they got us on the break a couple of times. It was just a really bad day for us.”
East Gippsland has been competitive in recent rounds and may prove a challenge fresh off the bye.
On a blistery and chilly Sunday afternoon, Falcons headed to Trafalgar in search of a vital three points to keep themselves firmly entrenched in the title race.
A dour affair ensued with neither team looking overly threatening early on.
Eventually the Morwell side exerted some forward line pressure, yet its first clear cut chance was a Joe Auciello header cleared off the line from a corner.
Eventually Falcons’ class prevailed with the Kennedy brothers joining forces to give the away side the lead.
A deft cross from Jordan was expertly finished by league leading striker Jesse, ensuring any jitters were put to bed.
The second half was much of the same with the lead doubled as DJ Matar came off the bench to end the contest.
Falcons continued to press however the Victory were resolute in defence and kept the score line respectable.
Falcons has the bye before commencing the run home with an important game away to Churchill.
In other round 13 matches Traralgon City kept its third clean sheet of the season to destroy Fortuna 4-0, Newborough Yallourn-United ravaged Sale United 6-2, Churchill obliterated Tyers 9-1 and Olympians scored a 3-0 win over Pegasus.
1 Moe United 31
2 Falcons 2000 26
3 Churchill United 26
4 NYUSC 25
5 Monash Wolves 24
6 Traralgon City 21
7 Olympians 19
8 Fortuna ’60 18
9 Sale United 12
10 Morwell Pegasus 7
11 Tyers Lightning 6
12 Trafalgar Victory 4
13 EGUFC 3
Seniors round 14 matches, Sunday 3 July: 1st Moe United v 13th EGUFC, 12th Trafalgar Victory v 3rd Churchill United , 6th Traralgon City v 5th Monash Wolves, 11th Tyers Lightning v 10th Morwell Pegasus, 4th NYUSC v 8th Fortuna ’60, 9th Sale United v 7th Traralgon Olympians, 2nd Falcons 2000 – Bye.
Senior: Falcons 2000 Jesse Kennedy 17, Monash Wolves Ty Christy 13, NYUSC Mark Fairbrother 13, Fortuna ’60 Luke Cheney 11, NYUSC Brandon Scott 11.
Reserves: Falcons 2000 Dj Matar 11.
Women: Tyers Lightning Stephanie Pridgeon 23.
2nd Division: Traralgon Olympians Bill Antonopolous 10.
U16: Fortuna ’60 Kai Beamer 14.
U14: Sale United Green Sakhom Khamchom 27.
U13 Girls: Traralgon Olympians Tahlia Tappe 21.
U12 Zone “A”: Traralgon City White Tanatswa Betera 25.
U12 Zone “B”: Falcons 2000 Moni Eliaser 23.
Seniors Sunday 26 June: Moe United (4) Def Monash Wolves (0), NYUSC (6) Def Sale United (2), Trafalgar Victory (0) Def By Falcons 2000 (2), Traralgon City (4) Def Fortuna ’60 (0), Traralgon Olympians (3) Def Morwell Pegasus (0), Tyers Lightning (1) Def By Churchill United (9), EGUFC – Bye.
Reserves: Moe United (4) Def Monash Wolves (0), Nyusc (1) Def By Sale United (2), Trafalgar Victory (0) Def By Falcons 2000 (9), Traralgon City (6) Def Fortuna ’60 (0), Traralgon Olympians (4) Def Morwell Pegasus (0), Tyers Lightning (0) Def By Churchill United (3), EGUFC – Bye.
Women: Moe United (0) Def Monash Wolves (3), Nyusc (1) Drw. Sale United (1), Trafalgar Victory (1) Def By Falcons 2000 (3), Traralgon City (3) Drw. Fortuna ’60 (3), Traralgon Olympians (0) Def Morwell Pegasus (14), Tyers Lightning (27) Def By Churchill United (0), EGUFC – Bye.
2nd Division: Moe United (0) Def By Monash Wolves (3), Traralgon City (1) Drw. Sale United (1), Churchill United and Traralgon Olympians – Bye.
Junior U12 Zone “A”: Fortuna Black (0) Def By Moe United (7), Monash Wolves (0) Def By Egufc Gold (2), Traralgon City White (6) Def Sale United Green (1), Morwell Pegasus (0) Forfeit To. Sale United Black (3), Churchill United – Bye.
Junior U13 Girls: Churchill United (1) Def By Morwell Pegasus (10), NYUSC (0) Def By Falcons 2000 (7), Traralgon City – Bye.
Junior U14: EGUFC Gold (1) Def By Nyusc (2), Moe United (2) Def By Sale United Green (9), Traralgon City Black (2) Def Fortuna ’60 (1), Traralgon City Gems (0) Def By Traralgon Olympians (11), Traralgon City White (1) Def By Monash Wolves (8), EGUFC Blue – Bye.
Junior U16: Falcons 2000 (8) Def Moe United (2), Fortuna ’60 (8) Def Trafalgar Victory (0), Traralgon City Black (1) Def By EGUFC (2), Traralgon City White (4) Def Sale United (1), Traralgon Olympians – Bye.
Junior U12 Zone “B”: Traralgon City Black (1) Drw. NYUSC (1), Fortuna Orange (0) Def By Falcons 2000 (7), EGUFC Gold – Bye.
