Rams clip swans wings

Churchill trounced Sale 6-0 on Sunday to remain undefeated and a game clear on top of the Gippsland Soccer League ladder.  

The Swans were unable to reproduce the heroics of last round when they defeated 2011 champions Fortuna as the Rams brought them back to earth with a display of clinical soccer.  

From the outset Churchill terrorised Sale and it wasn’t long before Aiden Huizer opened proceedings with a neat finish after Dean Pyle crossed a ball from the left.

It was soon 2-0 when Nathan Lugton finished confidently after some classy lead up work from wing back Nathan Osborne.

Sale was shell shocked and when Rams’ coach Luke Cheney unleashed a thirty yard tracer the Swans were cooked 3-0.

Churchill was relentless and poked home another two goals through Tim Dawson and Jesse Kennedy to lead 5-0 at the break.

The second half followed the same script with the only difference being the absence of clinical finishing that characterised the first half.

Churchill squandered two penalty shots with Cheney spraying his attempt and Kennedy having his saved by Sale keeper Chris Richardson.

It was left to reigning Scott Frendo medalist Nathan Lugton to get a score on the board in the second half as he claimed his brace for the Rams to run out big winners 6-0.

Fortuna vs Monash

Fortuna has returned to the winners circle with a 4-0 thumping of the previously undefeated Monash in wintery conditions on Saturday night

The Orangemen immediately had the Wolves on the back foot and their dominance resulted in an early goal to Josh Tanti, completing some great lead up work from his cousin Hayden.

Monash defector Rayvel Whiting was involved in the lead up to the second goal before Josh Tanti’s strike from outside the box beat keeper Mark Heatherington 2-0.

Twenty minutes into the second half Fortuna made it 3-0 when Andres Nilo curled a free kick to beat Heatherington all ends up.

The Fortuna rout was complete 4-0 and Tanti claimed his hat trick when he fired home a penalty kick after Olympians recruit George Fkaris was felled in the box.
 

Moe United vs Traralgon City

Traralgon City has held onto second spot with a narrow 1-0 win over Moe United.

The game was played at a high tempo with both sides showing plenty of promise going forward but both lacked the final finish to go ahead on the score board resulting in a 0-0 stalemate at the break.

City looked better in the second half but the Red Devils managed to hold back their advances with John Kuol and Connor Van Der Staay running rampant for the Roosters.

City finally broke the deadlock and claimed the match when Andrew Batt sprung the Moe offside trap to run on and score the winner 1-0.

Newborough-Yallourn vs Falcons

Falcons posted a convincing 3-0 victory over Newborough/Yallourn at Burrage Reserve on Sunday.

Fresh from a goalless draw against Olympians the Combine were looking for all three points but Falcons were much more determined to take the win.

In the first half NYU had a great chance to take the lead but were thwarted by Falcons ‘keeper Adrian Salvatore.

Scott Mackeown opened his account for the season, and Falcons for the match, with a tap in from a scramble in the box to lead 1-0 at the break.

The young birds’ line up eventually got their second mid way through the half with Sam Amaira finishing neatly from ten yards out.

The third was soon to follow with Nick D’Alessandro bursting through the NYU defence and cheekily lofting the keeper to wrap up all three points 3-0.

 

Traralgon Olympians vs Tyers

Tyers Lightning claimed a point against Traralgon Olympians with a late equaliser from in form striker Jake Budija 1-1 on Sunday.

Olympians were missing playing coach and key defender Anthony Collins through injury forcing a team restructure. 

Frank Albanese was proving a hand full for the Tyers defence early, holding the ball up well and having a few chances of his own.  

On the quarter hour Tony Pardo played youngster Michael Fava in whose speculative cross rebounded off Tyers defender Joshua Membrey for an own goal for Olympians to lead 1-0.
Olympians were dominating possession but were unable to increase their lead as the match wore on.

Budija joined the match with ten minutes to spare and made an instant impact when he pulled scores level 1-1 after finishing an inch perfect through ball.

Olympians pushed for the winner but were again left to ponder what could have been with its third successive draw.

Round 6 Preview

This week’s round has served up some excellent matches starting with Falcons (6th) at home to Moe (7th) on Saturday night.

On Sunday all eyes will be on Traralgon City (2nd) to see if they can continue their early season form and defeat Fortuna (3rd).

In other matches Monash (4th) host Churchill (1st), Sale (5th) face the unlucky Olympians (7th) and Tyers (8th) take on Newborough-Yallourn (10th).