21/08/10
Victorian Provisional League Division 1SE -- Round 19
Boroondara Eagles 0-4 Mooroolbark
Scorers-
Mooroolbark: Andrew Cowie (3), Brechan Adams (50), Trent Hardcastle (76, 90+3)
Barkers, lying 4th, paid their first ever visit to a sunny Macleay Park today to face bottom side Boroondara Eagles. This was an unprecedented fourth consecutive away game, and Barkers needed to stop the rot after 2 defeats. Also of interest was B.Adams's quest for the division's golden boot. Barkers made 3 changes from the side that lost 0-2 to Old Camberwell, with Milne, Dube and T.Adams replacing Geoghegan, Findlay and Doughty.
Barkers made an early breakthrough when, from a right-side corner, the ball was cleared to the edge of the area, from where Cowie headed strongly into the corner of the net for 0-1 with less than 3 minutes gone. Eagles kept Havercroft busy though, with him first tipping a shot over, then saving low at his near post on 5 minutes. Barkers almost doubled the lead 3 minutes later when Hardcastle headed on to B.Adams, who uncharacteristically missed the target from close in. Eagles replied on the quarter hour when, from a T.Adams blocked shot, an Eagles player broke down the right and nutmegged Topali (sorry Mergs!) before shooting over. On 26 minutes Milne broke from defence and fed Dube on the right, who flew down the wing before shooting at the keeper, then a T.Adams corner found Dube at the far post, who headed wide.
Eagles' best chance so far was 6 minutes before the break, when a cross from the right touchline found a forward at the far post with the goal at his mercy, but he had to stretch and put the ball narrowly wide. Right on half-time, a superb cross from Hardcastle almost found Linnie's head, then B.Adams nearly threaded a way through a massed defence before his shot was blocked. An entertaining half ended 1-0 for Barkers. The game was fairly even for 35 minutes, then Barkers began to take charge, and a second goal looked inevitable before the half-time whistle.
Four minutes in, a left-side move (which I missed thanks to Clive chewing my ear) led to B.Adams comfortably slotting home from close range for 2-0 Barkers, who were now well in charge. Six minutes later, as the rain arrived, Cowie (who, like dogshit, seemed to be everywhere) missed an absolute sitter from close in -- how easy this game is from the sidelines. On 63 minutes, a Barkers attack caught the Eagles keeper off his line, Notaro put a shot goalbound, but the keeper scrambled back to make a superb save. At the other end, Havercroft punched clear under pressure, but fell awkwardly and had to be substituted. On sprinted the athletic frame of Deichen -- could the Eagles find a way past the big German and into the match?
With 15 minutes left, Barkers had a free-kick by the left corner flag. Up stepped Hardcastle to curl a remarkable shot into the top corner via the keeper's helping hand -- quite brilliant, and 3-0 to Barkers. Next chance fell to Notaro, who shot over from close in. With 10 to go, Deichen was tested, but saved well low down by his post. Six minutes later hew was at it again, saving low almost at point-blank range. With the 90 minutes up, Christoforou fancied a piece of the action and went on a long run before being tackled, the ball falling to B.Adams who shot over. Two minutes into stoppage time, Barkers put the icing on the cake when Findlay fed Notaro on the left, who slid the ball to B.Adams, who crossed to find Hardcastle unmarked at the far post, who made no mistake for 4-0.
Barkers took their time to assert themselves in this match, but once they got going were not really troubled. Standouts today were Hardcastle, T.Adams and Cowie. The important thing for Barkers is how Havercroft and Doughty recover from injury this week as Barkers face 3 tricky games in the run-in. Barkers stay 4th, but are only 1 point off 2nd and are in with a real shout, but we need those injured players back. Eagles stay 12th and are now long odds to stay up. Next week Barkers finally reacquaint themselves with Esther Park, as they take on 5th-placed Old Melburnians in a huge match for both sides.
Line-up:
Mooroolbark: Robert Havercroft, Andrew Linnie, Steve Milne, Andrew Cowie, Adrian Notaro, Nhlanhla Dube, Mergs Topali, Yiannaki Christoforou, Trent Hardcastle, Taury Adams, Brechan Adams. Subs used: Mark Findlay, Erik Deichen, Kris McEvoy.
Loading...
6:57
2011 FFV - Springvale City v Mooroolbarkby FootballChaos1,091 views
Check out the 14year olds goal at 7min
MooroolbarkSC 1 year ago