Expectation floated around Lara all week and particularly on Saturday that both the Reserves and Seniors squads would claim an easy 3 points each against a Sporting Carlton outfit that would play both games with few substitutions.

The Reserves came out early in the same fashion that they have in recent weeks. Carlton felt the early pressure as Lara pushed and tested the opposition goalkeeper. However, it was Carlton who broke through first, flooding numbers forward into the attacking area and putting the ball high and past fill in Reserves 'keeper, Paddy Carey. Sat a little further back, Carlton continued to soak up the pressure and pounced on a back pass that didn't make the distance to make it a surprising 0-2 inside the first half hour. Lara were left stunned and from then, changed from their typical playing style as they tried to regather the momentum. Ten minutes from the main break, Heath Urqhart made a charging run from the centre of the ground down the right wing and played in the perfect ball along the ground, past the 'keeper and defender and from only a metre out, Ryan Horrocks netted to make it 2-1. The goal was enough to remind Lara how they'd played previously and needed to play to get a result in the second half.

It oknly took 7 minutes of Lara pressure at the start of the second half before the Reserves managed to draw level. Jake Armstrong intercepted a lazy pass in the midfield and streamed through to the top of the box where he was lazily fouled. Heath Urqhart stepped up to take the free kick, his shot put the ball over the wall and back down to the bottom left of the goal where the keeper allowed the ball to hit his hands on the way through to it rolling between his legs. From then on, Carlton couldn't manage a single attempt and allowed Lara to create a flurry of chances. The Reserves were destined to take the lead and with 20 minutes left, a Ryan Mathieson cross bounced on its way to Jordan Robertson, who hit the ball up on the half volley and buried it into the bottom right corner to give Lara a deserved 3-2 lead. Scott Miller came on as player/coach and created a large number of chances for himself, and with 5 minutes remaining, Miller received the ball and took it to 8 yards before nailing it into the roof of the net. A perfect seal to a convincing 4-2 come from behind win.

Some of the Reserves players from Carlton just stayed on the field as they waited for the Senior's fixture to start, while others went to the changerooms for a quick break and regroup. Most of them would have hoped they'd stayed in the changerooms though, after 10 minutes Lara were up 2-0 courtesy of Ben Houston and Luke Wilson goals. Very rarely did the ball enter Carlton's attacking half as Lara attacked through just about every player on the field. Wilson doubled his personal tally for the day on 35 minutes, his third goal in two games. League leading goal scorer, Damien Nasta, could've had a hattrick in the first half and was unlucky not to have scored earlier. With 3 minutes left in the first half, Nasta extended his lead in the race for the boot and put Lara 4-0 up.

The crowd were feeling comfortable and there was already a sense of moving on to the next round amongst them. Carlton players began to limp off the field and they rounded out the game with 10 on the field. Nasta scored again and Wilson got subbed off to a hattrick as Lara continued to cruise. Captain Shawn Murphy even created a few chances for himself, but it was Nasta that made it 7-0, completed his hattrick and took his tally to 13 goals in 8 games. Houston made sure he was the one to score the first and last goals for the day making the final score 8-0 in favour of the Seniors who refuse to take the pressure off Spring Hills.

The Reserves are now 3rd with only goal difference seperating them from Spring Hills, who are also 7 points off top. The Seniors are 2nd, 5 points behind Spring Hills however both the Reserves and Seniors still have a game in hand against RMIT. Next is Balmoral away at 5pm & 7pm, Saturday 30th May.