Olympians climb ladder

Olympians have climbed to sixth on the Gippsland Soccer League ladder after a break through 3-0 win over their neighbours City in the Traralgon derby.

With Clayton Bell directing midfield play and Coach Jon Buhagiar marshaling the defence the Olympians controlled the match from beginning to end with fluent attacking soccer.

City’s chances were few and far between as the midfield stalled and attacking guns John Kuol, Dustin Moos and Mark Fairbrother failed to fire.

Olympian’s young brigade did the damage on the score board with Michael Fava, Kenny Higgins and Aaron Daniels all on target.

The Roosters now only hold a tenuous grip on fourth place after three losses on the trot.

Moe United vs Churchill United

Churchill got out of jail with a late 2-1 win over Moe after the Red Devils held the lead with just twenty minutes remaining in the match.

Moe were without influential duo Adrian Savage and Jason Koppen but still managed to put tremendous pressure on the Churchill midfield with Marc McCallum a stand out.

The match didn’t kick into gear until McCallum pounced on a defensive mix up between Rams captain Jamie Robson and ‘keeper Jason Sands mid way through the second half to coolly finish and Moe to lead 1-0.

Churchill then pressed Robson into the play to try to pressure an equaliser.  Moe eventually cracked when Taylor Jackson collected a misguided kick out from Moe ‘keeper Peter Albanese to cross to Luke Cheney to draw level 1-1.

Soon after Churchill had the winner when inform midfielder Mitch Jackson beat Albanese with a speculative shot from thirty yards out for Churchill to claim the lead 2-1 with ten minutes to play.

Monash vs Newborough-Yallourn

Monash came from behind to claim the points in a pulsating derby against cross-town rivals Newborough/Yallourn Utd.

The combine started well and pressed their opponents at every opportunity. They were duly rewarded fourteen minutes in when Monash turned the ball over in defence and Heydan Cook found himself unmarked in the box and powered the ball home.

Cook doubled the lead again minutes later after Monash again coughed up posession in their defensive third, thundering the ball into the far corner of the net to lead 2-0.

Monash reduced the arrears five minutes later with Daryn Cummings whipping a teasing cross in for Eric Sostak to slide home 2-1.

The veteran marksman then tied things up as he latched onto a Ash Birrell through ball to slot past the advancing keeper 2-2.

Monash took the lead prior to the break when Sostack claimed his hat trick after NYU failed to clear a Felici free kick and the talisman calmly fired home through a crowded penalty area 3-2.

The Wolves made it 4-2 and built a handy buffer as Sostak flicked the ball on and Darryn Cummings raced onto the ball and rounded the keeper to slot away with half an hour to play.

Chances were few and far between late in the game, as the final act saw Cook shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Birrell that saw the Monash playmaker leave the pitch injured.

Fortuna 60 vs Falcons 2000

Saturday night saw fierce Morwell rivals Fortuna and Falcons face off and despite Falcons often outplaying their opponents they walked away losing 3-0.

 Fortuna started all guns blazing but could not fashion any chances, while Falcons slowly worked themselves into the game and began taking control.

Against the flow of play, Hayden Tanti snuck in behind the Birds defence and scored the opener.

This did not deter their opponents and amazingly they hit the cross bar twice in the space of a minute through Sam Amaira and Nick D’Alessandro. The latter than had two seemingly goal bound efforts thwarted by Fortuna ‘keeper Dean Hamilton to ensure his side went into the break 1-0 up.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first with the visitors continuing to press, however the experienced Fortuna side fashioned two chances in five minutes to take a commanding 3-0 lead through Joel Pirotta and Andres Nilo.

Falcons continued to press and once again had three chances saved from the impressive Hamilton but it was not to be their night as they left empty handed.

Fortuna’s night ended with disappointment as captain Josh Tanti was red carded and will now miss next rounds top of the table clash versus Churchill. 

Sale United vs Tyers Lightning

Sale United continued their winning streak with a comprehensive beating of Tyers Lightning 6-1. 

The Swans had winners all over the park and dominated the game from the kick off with youngsters Tommy Nguyen and Ashley Ross controlling proceedings in the middle of the Park. 

It was only a matter of minutes for theSaleoutfit to be rewarded for their efforts with a sharp offensive attack from Ashley Ross finding Ray Allred in the clear to deftly control the ball and chip the advancing Matt Penning in the Tyers goals.

Continued waves of Sale attacks led to a corner kick where Callum Clancy played in a cross for returning striker Jon Piefke to score the Swan's second. 

When Tommy Nguyen outpaced the Tyers defence and scoredSale's third goal it appeared the contest was over before the break. 

Tyers were thrown a life line before the break when in form striker Jake Budija converted a penalty to trail 3-1.

After the restart the Lightning continued to attack but theSaledefender's soaked up the pressure.

Salewrestled back the ascendancy and ran away with the match 6-1 with goals to Nguyen, Ray Allred and Jon Piefke.

Salenow sits a game clear in third place and are closing in on Fortuna in second position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leading goal scorers senior men

 

Name	Club	Goals
Luke Cheney	Churchill United	9
Josh Tanti	Fortuna 60	8
Eric Sostak	Monash	7
Jesse Kennedy	Churchill United	7
Jake Budija	Tyers Lightning	6
Lee Dastey	Moe United	6
Andres Nilo	Fortuna 60	5