By Peter Stephenson
On Sunday afternoon, Barkers men travelled to Caulfield Park for the first in a run of three away games, this one against North Caulfield.
Ladder positions suggested Barkers were favourites, but they had lost all three away games to date. Barkers looked to have begun brightly, and it was in this period that Sam Klepac had his first of thre efforts cleared off the line.
On 15 minutes, NC’s Joel Parasol cut in from the left and had a shot which was deflected over. Two minutes later, Barkers captain Geordie Scott hit a great ball out to Josh Newman on the right, and he had a shot which was cleared at the near post. Then on 24 minutes, Barkers gave the ball away, and NC’s Michail Schneider hit a high shot which Mark Naumowicz held onto. Barkers replied on the half hour when Jack Buglass hit a corner in from the left, finding the head of Klepac, but his header was held by Sam Quinn in the home goal.
Barkers then came very close to opening the scoring when a Buglass free-kick from midfield was sent to the far post. It was slightly overhit, but Klepac retrieved the ball and crossed from the right to find Scott at the far post, but his header was denied by the post.
Up to now it had been an even contest, but it was broken open in controversial circumstances when, after a NC attack was cleared, a forward was left down in the penalty box. The ref pointed to the spot but there seemed no obvious foul. It was Ariel Ritz who hit the penalty low to Naumowicz’s left to make it 1-0 Caulfield. Then on the stroke of half-time, Caulfield took a quick free-kick to find Parasol in space on the left wing. He cut inside and hit a precise shot beyond Naumowicz, which went in off the far post to make it 2-0 to Caulfield at the break. Not really a fair reflection of play, but Barkers now had a lot to do to salvage anything from the game.
A very calm, purposeful team talk from coach Paul Burrows set the tone for Barkers’ second half. Within seconds of the restart, Barkers won a free-kick for handball. The ball came in from the left, the defence missed it and Klepac had a straightforward task to hit a low shot into the net for 2-1 Caulfield. All this took only 39 seconds from the kick-off.
Aah time, that elastic concept. It raced along for Barkers but plodded slowly for Caulfield as they continually went down injured to use up the minutes. On 54 minutes, Klepac won a 50-50 ball and found Maxim Solovyev on the left. He weaved his way inside and was fouled on the edge of the box. Buglass’s free-kick, though, was hit too high and the chance was gone.
Two minutes later came a crucial moment. With Barkers on the attack, a defender missed his clearance, allowing Newman to run in on goal with only keeper Quinn to beat. Quinn raced out and tackled Newman to clear the ball, but appeared to take the man as well. The referee appeared to point to the spot, but after conferring with his linesman the astonishing decision was a drop ball to Caulfield.
Barkers, though, heeded their coach and stayed calm and purposeful. With 20 minutes left, Klepac had two attempts cleared off the line, then three minutes later, Scott cut in from the right to drill the ball home for the equaliser. Surely now Barkers would get the reward they felt was theirs?
Sadly not. Another three minutes later, a Caulfield free-kick led to a close-range shot to make it 3-2 and Barkers were back to square one – dispiriting to say the least.
Barkers threw men forward leaving huge gaps, as the game became very open, but the closest they came to another equaliser was a stoppage-time shot from Klepac which went wide. Full-time: North Caulfield 3-2 Mooroolbark.
This was hugely disappointing, especially as all our rivals at the top, bar Collingwood, also dropped points. It should be added, however, that at no stage did Barkers panic or lose their discipline, and were able, albeit briefly, to work their way back into the game. Barkers’ awful away form continues, but this must change quickly. Next week, the second half of the season begins with a trip to Old Scotch.
