Cup battle down to last four

SOCCER

LVSL

By LAURIE WILLIAMS
FALCONS continued to keep their Battle of Britain Cup hopes alive in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League, after a good second round win over Sale.
The Birds progressed into Round 3 this weekend, while in other games, Tyers won on forfeit to Churchill, and Newborough/Yallourn put their game plan together to overcome the Olympians.
Falcons continued on their merry way to win the second round match against Sale 5-1.
Falcons started with a 12-minute goal to grab an early head start. Another goal just before halftime gave Falcons a good buffer going into the second half.
Sale responded in the second half with a goal at 55 minutes, but their revival was short-lived as Falcons whacked on another three goals to put Sale out of the cup.
Falcons will now face up to Tyers in the semi-final this Saturday at Traralgon City’s pitch (4pm).
It was all one way traffic for the Combine as they demolished Olympians 7-0 in a warm-up for their semi-final clash against traditional rivals Moe this Sunday at Burrage Reserve (4pm).
Newborough/Yallourn had four goals on the board within 20 minutes, and from then on, dominated.

Battle of Britain Round 2 results
▶ Newb/Yallourn 7 (Ash Birrell 3, Adam Batt, Clay Bell, Cooper Baldacchino, Ryan McCluskey) d Olympians 0
▶ Moe 2 (Conner O’Hanlon, Riley Winkelman) d Fortuna 1 (Damon Scott)
▶ Falcons 5 (Anton Sbaglia, Jamie Pistrin, Nick D’Allesandro, Nonda Lazaris, Tom D’Alia) d Sale 1
Shopwell Trophy
▶ Falcons 1 (Enrique Sbaglia) d Sale 0
▶ Fortuna 1 (Bradon Grover) d Moe 0
▶ Churchill d Tyers (forfeit)
▶ Newborough/Yallourn d Olympians (forfeit)
Second Division
▶ Sale White d Sale Green (forfeit)
▶ Moe 3 (Brad Howard, Gedd Heusemann, Sander Versiuis) d Fortuna 1 (Ethan Hanlon)
▶ East Gippsland d Churchill (forfeit)
Women
▶ Sale d Falcons (forfeit)
▶ Fortuna 5 (Sophie Jarvis 3, Tenae Shankland 2) d Churchill 0
▶ Tyers 1 d Newb/Yall 0
▶ Pegasus 1 d Traralgon City 0

Moe United match review

By JOHN CARDONA

IN a fiery, full-on encounter where neither side gave an inch and there was three red cards and numerous yellows, Moe United eventually came out victors to advance to the semi-finals of the Battle of Britain Cup after beating Latrobe Valley Soccer League champions Fortuna 2-1.

Taking to Olympic Park on Saturday afternoon, the opening minutes flowed from end to end, with United creating the opportunity after a shot by Luke Bathgate was deflected wide by Fortuna keeper Mavroidis.

At the other end, a quick counterattack saw the ball finish up in the goal, but Fortuna’s celebration was short-lived when the linesman flagged an offside infringement.

Moe United quickly regained their composure, and a Noah Kane free kick on the left found Luke Bathgate at the back post, but his header was hacked clear by the Fortuna defence.

Not to be denied, Fortuna came rushing straight back on the offensive after 20 minutes, and a run by Hayden Tanti saw his cross catch the Moe defence out of position. Great first touch by Damon Scott created the opening goal for the visitor’s.

On the half-hour, United was awarded a free kick on the halfway line. The awareness of striker Connor O’Hanlon saw him quickly take the free kick out wide to Riley Winkleman, who ran deep into the box which saw his cross collected again by O’Hanlon, who then sidestepped a Fortuna defender and unleased an unstoppable right foot shot to the back post past the keeper.

Both sides had appeals for a penalty waved away shortly after United came close to taking a halftime lead when a Bathgate cross saw a diving Winkleman go for a header, only to be denied by a slight deflection by Rayval Whiting.

United gained early control of the second half and created a couple of excellent chances. The first coming from an O’Hanlon pass to Winkleman who’s first-time shot was saved.

Next was a Noah Kane free kick which was deflected away from goal.

With the match at boiling point, a late tackle by Bathgate saw a striking retaliation by Hayden Tanti erupt into an all-in brawl. The resultant penalties saw Tanti and Damon Scott from Fortuna and Moe coach Kevin O’Farrell all receive their marching orders with red cards.

Moe had some advantage as Fortuna was down two men, and the Red Devil’s tried to finish them off. A shot from Kane was fumbled by Mavrofidis, only to grab the rebound on the second attempt.

Within a minute, a long through ball by Brendan Ruddell sent substitute Oscar Sceney clear, only to see his strike at goal saved by the keeper.

The failure by the Moe United side to kill off Fortuna saw a nervous final five minutes by the large Moe crowd.

A thunderous Daniel Cooper shot rattled Peter Albanese’s crossbar, followed by a succession of three corner kicks which were unconvincingly cleared by a desperate United defence before the final whistle was blown.

Best for Moe was Tanner Pyle, Matt Shearing, Nick Fogarty and O’Hanlon.

In the Shopwell Trophy match, Fortuna advanced to the semi-final after a 1-0 win over Moe United.

Scorer for Fortuna was Brandon Grover.

The upset of the day came in 2nd Division, where the highly-fancied Fortuna was knocked out of the Nan Bosma Cup 3-1 by Moe.

Scorers for Moe Untied were Kayne Heusmann, Brad Howard and one time Moe Lion footballer Sander Versiuis.

Scorer for Fortuna was Ethan Hanlon.