SOCCER
LVSL
Round 10 review
Moe turned the tables on league leader Falcons in a tight contest with the Red Devils winning the match 1-0 after a Lachlan McKenzie goal at 18 minutes.
Falcons tried hard to get past the strong Moe defence but efficient work from Guach Guach, Kevin Somerville and Noah Kane kept the league leaders out of range.
Moe’s top scorer for the season Riley Winkelman-Atkinson was busy and twice within minutes his shots at goal were parried away by Falcons keeper Charles Simon.
Falcons were also busy in defence as Moe continually attacked but got no further than Joe Auciello, Anthony Carbone and Gianni Salvatore who were strong defenders.
Moe were getting good drive from Sam Gatpan who used his height to advantage with strong headers.
Near half-time Moe’s Lachlan McKenzie went down after an alleged tackle which forced him off on a stretcher.
Falcons coach Nick D’Allesandro was booked for the offence with a straight red card bringing Falcons down to 10 men going into the last half.
After the break Moe came out with renewed effort knowing they had an extra player and leading 1-0.
Falcons mounted many attacks but Moe were able to hold up their end with veteran keeper Peter Albanese making great moves to deny Falcons.
Pressure was on both sides and the best Falcons could achieve would have been a draw but Moe hung on for their first win over Falcons since 2016.
Falcons and Moe will play tonight (Thursday) at Falcons in the semi-final of the Battle of Britain Cup
Traralgon City v Trafalgar
Traralgon City proved too good for Trafalgar in the replay of last year’s semi-final.
The Irish influence was present with both coaches Tommy Leckie and Aemon O’Hare from Ireland.
Trafalgar scored the first goal of the match at 33 minutes from Alec Edmondson which upset the City camp claiming the offside rule.
It was a difficult day for Trafalgar as they conceded two own goals, the first just on half time and another at 67 minutes.
At half-time the pair were locked in at 1-1. Traralgon had to pull something out of the bag and Dak Kong came to the rescue with a great goal at 66 minutes to put City one up.
A goal square tangle saw Trafalgar score an own goal only a minute later which spelt doom to the Victory.
Trailing now 3-1 Trafalgar pushed forward but Traralgon were strong along the back.
The Roosters got a rebound shot after holding possession and Josh Patterson finished off to give Traralgon City a 4-1 victory.
Newborough/Yallourn v Churchill
Newborough/Yallourn got their act together after some internal troubles through the week for a 5-2 victory over Churchill which was only their fourth ever win over the Rams in 21 years.
Newborough/Yallourn were quickly into the scorebooks after only two minutes when Adam Batt beat the keeper which caught Churchill by surprise and within 10 minutes Alex Van Vliet added another for Newborough/Yallourn which put him on top of the goal scoring list equal with four other players all on eight goals.
It was all Newborough/Yallourn as they continually went forward and not giving Churchill any room to get into the match.
Further goals to Ash Birrell and Clayton Bell saw them 4-0 up and when Dylan Fairbrother goaled near half-time it was a massive 5-0 lead.
After the break Churchill were down but not broken and they fought back keeping Newborough/Yallourn goalless while scoring at 53 minutes through Samuel Di Ciero and at 83 minutes from Ray Myers to finish with a 5-3 deficit.
Sale v Monash
It was only the third time Sale had scored five goals against Monash since 1976 and they achieved it after trailing early in the match.
Monash started brilliantly and had the first goal netted at two minutes through Ethan Lawrence.
Sale were stung but came back to equalise only nine minutes later from John Piefke.
Both tried to score again before half time but defences and constant turn-overs prevented any more scores.
Monash started better in the second half and five minutes in were rewarded with a second goal from Ethan Lawrence.
On the hour Sale made some smart moves which paid off as Josh Ryan, with a familiar run-and-shoot netted Sale’s third to equalise.
In a 10-minute purple patch Sale scored three times at 71 minutes from Nick Buckhoreelal, 77 minutes with John Piefke’s second and Nathi Khamchom at 79 minutes to give Sale a valuable 5-2 victory.
East Gippsland v Fortuna
Fortuna on the road trip devised a plan to beat East Gippsland with fast attacking soccer, a plan which paid off as the Lions devoured the Eagles 5-1.
Fortuna lost at this venue last season and knew what an important match this would be to their season’s fortunes.
Sitting in sixth position Fortuna needed to win to stay near the top.
It was not an easy match for Fortuna as East Gippsland played hard, making it difficult for Fortuna to score.
Shots were saved and the pressure forced Fortuna to shoot wide.
Eventually the East Gippsland defence cracked at 22 minutes when Kuku Mahmoud posted his first of three goals.
Just before half time he was again in the action and claimed his second as Fortuna doubled their effort.
Fortuna had their third on the board after excellent play from coach David O’Dowd who crossed to Brandon Scott to put it away.
East Gippsland were down but fought hard and a consolation goal from Jarrad Feather gave some reward for hard work.
Fortuna were hungry for goals and two more at 59 minutes from Mahmoud for his third and at 79 minutes from O’Dowd put the icing on the cake for Fortuna which gave them a good workout to run out winners 5-1
Pegasus
Pegasus went down to St Kilda on the last kick of the day when St Kilda goaled to take the match.
Scores were level in a rugged match and the visitors looked to hold out as Pegasus tried to break the deadlock but St Kilda finally broke the shackles in extra time to give them victory 3-2.
There will be no games this weekend due to the Queen Birthday holiday.
