SOCCER

LATROBE VALLEY

By LAURIE WILLIAMS

 

 

ROUND 16 of Football Victoria Latrobe Valley left the title race officially down to two teams.

Olympians are first on 39 points, while Churchill United is just two points behind.

Olympians however has a game in hand.

It looks like Olympians could take out the championship with two rounds to play, but the big key is their match against third-placed Falcons in the last match. Olympians look likely to beat Sale United, but will have a strong fight against Falcons, who could deny them the title.

Churchill United should be able to beat Traralgon City and Newborough/Yallourn United to go to 43 points, while Olympians need to beat Sale to go to 42 points and need to draw (one point) or beat Falcons for the title.

If they draw with Falcons, it will be both Olympians and Churchill level on 43 points, but Olympians will have a greater goal difference (currently 81 to 33).

The ladder reads: Olympians (39), Churchill United (37), Falcons 2000 (31), Monash (30), Sale United (28), Moe United (21), Pegasus (18), NYU (12), Traralgon City (11), East Gippsland United (6).

Fortuna finished its state league season recently. The Lions ended sixth of 12 teams on 29 points with nine wins, seven losses and two draws.

 

Olympians 5 def Pegasus 1

THIS match was played on Wednesday, August 5 as a catch-up round.

The Traralgon team showed they are good at night as well as the day, winning 5-1 at home.

Olympians had most of the play in the first half, not allowing Pegasus to get its usual run on style of play.

The Pegasus defence was under pressure, and confusion in the box saw Jake Dustall get the tap in although officially it was called an own goal.

After some determined set plays, Olympians got on the scorecard again through Anton Sbaglia getting a shot in just before the break.

Pegasus came out with an attacking style with Chocho Jacob scoring at 53 minutes, but this was to be Pegasus’ first and only goal for the match.

Jared Goodwin was called on to make some good saves in goal for Olympians.

Dylan Dunstall and Moni Eliaser boosted Olympians score to 4-1 and Stefan Sbaglia finished off the scoring at 85 minutes.

Bulk changeovers at 86 minutes saw five new players enter the arena, with Riduan Sobari, Zac Anderson and Rayval Whiting all getting a run for Olympians, while Adonya Victor and Kwenda Muhammad got their turn with Pegasus.

 

NYU vs Olympians (match abandoned)

OLYMPIANS was forced to play just three days later on Saturday night, travelling to Burrage Reserve to battle Newborough-Yallourn United.

The battle never eventuated however, as a power surge to the light towers saw a blackout 12 minutes into the match.

The match was abandoned to be played at a later date.

 

Pegasus 6 def East Gippsland 0

AFTER a recent run of losses, Pegasus bounced back for a win over East Gippsland.

The Morwell-based side scored a deserved 6-nil victory over their Eastern opponents at Ronald Reserve.

There were many tired players on the park after playing midweek, but Pegasus pulled through to secure victory.

The Horsemen were three goals up by halftime after Chocho Jacob, Levi Mahammad and Samuel Jacob all scored to give their side a good buffer going into the break.

It was all Pegasus in the second half, with more possessions and less turnovers than the youthful East Gippsland.

Nelson Tombra scored Pegasus’s fourth goal at 52 minutes and Cholil Nyachiol chipped in on the hour to give Pegasus a 5-niul gap.

Adonya Victor made it a 6-nil whitewash at 90 minutes.

 

Monash 2 def Traralgon City 1

THE in-form Monash had to score in the last minute to break a 1-all deadlock against Traralgon City.

This was a match where the Roosters matched the Wolves for most of the game.

After a scoreless first half where the respective keepers kept a clean sheet, it was down to the second half where all the action began at Monash Reserve.

Cooper Baldacchino opened up the Wolves scoreline at 63 minutes. The home side held the lead for 26 minutes before Traralgon City was able to equalise through Ethan Hanlon.

With only a few minutes to go, Shawn Lawrence got a yellow card, but only seconds later he was rejoicing as he scored the winner in extra time to give the Wolves a hard-earned 2-1 win.

Round 17 fixture:

Pegasus vs Falcons (Saturday 3pm), Olympians vs Sale (Saturday 6pm),

East Gippsland vs Moe (Sunday 3pm), Churchill vs Traralgon City (Sunday 3pm),

Monash vs NYU (Sunday 3pm).