LAURIE WILLIAMS
SOCCER
LVSL
By LAURIE WILLIAMS
LATROBE Valley Soccer League recommences this weekend following the Easter break.
Round 4 has a number of exciting matches on the cards, as teams look to gain some early season ascendency.
Newborough/Yallourn v Falcons
TWO experienced teams will do battle in match of the round.
Falcons are sitting pretty with potent strikers able to destroy any defence. In the three outings so far, Falcons has scored 13 goals, but are set to face a sternest test in the form of the Combine.
Newborough/Yallourn will be looking for a response after going down to Pegasus 5-1 last round.
Moe v Pegasus
DUE to the vagaries of the draw, Moe has already missed three weeks of soccer, with two byes and Easter.
An opening match 1-0 win over Olympians has been the only game played by the Red Devils so far, and they’ll be itching to get back on the park.
Pegasus has shown their start to the season has been good, with some promising new players in their line-up. They have scored an impressive 13 goals to four against, with new keeper Joel Thompson replacing Santo Simon as custodian.
Strikers Kuku Mahmoud and Germaine Otiero have been busy, and will give Moe’s defence a torrid time.
The Red Devils will be looking to Connor O’Hanlon and Oscar Sceney to fire them up around the midfield.
Fortuna v Monash
FORTUNA will be at home for the first time, which has allowed the ground to recover from drainage and other works.
They are up against Monash, who are the hard luck story at the moment, with three losses in three matches but have been close to collecting points on occasions.
Their position this weekend is not going to be any easier, coming up against second-placed Fortuna, who have hammered 14 goals to one so far.
Jordan Campbell has been electric for the Lions, and he’ll be a dangerous player if allowed to score.
Fortuna are sitting in a comfortable position and should be too strong for Monash.
Strikers Jake Budija and Hayden Tanti will be looking to add their names to the scoresheet for Fortuna.
Sale v Churchill (Saturday 7pm)
CHURCHILL travel down the highway to do battle with Sale under lights on Saturday night.
Sale is enjoying the season with two out of three wins so far.
Swans coach Anouk Meereboer is pleased with the way the team is playing, but they need to raise the standard once again to be competitive against top four teams.
Wins over Tyers and Monash have given the Swans a stepping stone, but their loss to Fortuna in Round 1 perhaps indicates they have some work to do.
Churchill, with two losses, are out to be competitive against Sale, and they showed against Falcons they can put the brakes on opposition scoring.
Sale are in the top four at the moment, but have leaked eight goals while posting only two more.
They’ll need to tighten up across the back and not give the Rams strikers any room to score.
Churchill needs to be watching Sale’s man of the match against Monash, Marrien van den Heuvel, who can create opportunities up front.
This match presents an interesting subplot as Sale can go 3-1 and Churchill can break the ice.
