By Peter Stephenson
A mild sunny day heralded the new State 2SE season at Esther Park as the Mooroolbark Soccer Club’s Barkers hosted Hampton East Brighton.
Already, Barkers had three players out through suspension. Meanwhile, evergreen Brett Tronconi was celebrating being 21 (again) – could he mark the occasion with a goal?
Early on, HEB’s Richard Morrissy had a shot comfortably saved by keeper Mark Naumowicz. Then Ross Clark, who was proving a handful for HEB, won a free kick 25 yards out, just right of centre. John-Paul Cooper dropped the ball awkwardly in front of keeper Bernard Paris. Paris and Clark both went for the ball, but it ran loose to Ray Markley, who stroked the ball into an empty net to give Barkers the lead.
Just before the half hour, Steve Nittoli won a free kick just outside the penalty area, but Cooper drove the ball into the HEB wall. Barkers, though, were looking in control, with Clark and Markley combining well with Cooper. At the back, Barkers always seemed to comfortably cut out HEB’s final ball.
The visitors came into the game after the half hour when Morrissy beat Dan Burrows to the ball, headed towards goal and shot straight at Naumowicz. Then Delfin Esara found John Gribble, who went past one man but his point blank shot was blocked by the home keeper.
Right on half time, Barkers were rewarded for their good play when Clark squared to Dan Burrows on the right wing. He outpaced his marker and crossed into the danger zone. Paris could only parry the ball into the path of Cooper, who shot into an empty net to double Barkers’ lead. Half-time: Mooroolbark 2-0 HEB. In a game of few chances, Barkers were good value for the lead.
In the first minute of the second half, HEB’s Esara was in on goal, but Naumowicz was alert to block. Barkers then took over for a while, with Sean Perrin and Markley working well together to win a corner, but Paris snuffed out the danger. Then Clark turned smartly and shot wide.
Was it Barkers’ complacency or HEB’s persistence that turned the tide? Probably the former, as the hosts kept giving the ball away carelessly. On 53 minutes, HEB’s Matthew Maselli struck a corner from the right. It was played back to him, and he hit a curling cross to find the head of Morrissy, who put the ball just wide.
Barkers almost caught out HEB when Perrin hit a lovely long crossfield ball out to Dan Burrows, whose cross forced Paris to punch the ball almost into the path of Markley. This, however, was a false dawn. Just on the hour, HEB constructed a nice passing move on the right. Eventually the ball reached Esara, who slipped a clever ball out to Miguel Diaz. Diaz got to the byline and cut the ball back, from where a shot was blocked. The ball came out to Dorian Sorace, who sent a gentle but accurate header looping over Naumowicz into the net to cut Barkers’ lead to 2-1 – no more than HEB deserved at this point.
On 72 minutes, Maselli took a free kick near the right corner flag, and the ball sat up for Connor Mewton, but he skied his shot horribly, worrying the local birdlife more than the keeper. Barkers heeded the warning and 10 minutes later, a Cooper free kick met the diving head of Maxim Solovyev, but he couldn’t get direction on the ball. Then Clark slipped the ball inside to Cooper, whose low shot was well held by Paris. HEB immediately hit Barkers on the break, and as Kenneth Trac crossed from the right, Dan Burrows had to hurriedly clear from his 6-yard box.
Sure enough, HEB made Barkers pay for not putting the game to bed. In the last minute, Trac threaded the ball to Esara, who was unnecessarily brought down inside the penalty area – penalty to HEB. Bran’s first kick went in, but the referee ordered a retake for encroachment. Bran repeated the dose, sending the ball to Naumowicz’s right and in for 2-2.
Stoppage time was mired in controversy. First, Cooper found Max Burrows at the far post, who bundled the ball to Solovyev, who netted from close range. However, the goal was ruled out for a foul on Paris. HEB then launched a long ball upfield which ran straight through to Chisanga Nshindano, who scored from close range. Once more there was a foul given on the keeper and the goal was struck off. Full-time: Mooroolbark 2-2 HEB.
After a good first half, Barkers threw two points away through carelessness. They definitely have the cattle to cause most teams problems in this league but mustn’t allow sides back into games like they did today. Earlier, the reserves started with a 2-0 win with goals from Chris Barber and a penalty from Taylan Hakki.
Next up after the Easter break is another home game against Skye United, kick-off Saturday 6 April, 1pm (reserves) and 3pm (seniors). See you down the Kennel!
