By Peter Stephenson
A cold, wet Saturday at Glen Waverley’s Brandon Park Reserve saw Barkers (4th) visit Mazenod (2nd) in round 7 of Men’s State 2 South-East, Barkers made one change (Brett Tronconi in for Maxim Solovyev) to the team that lost 1-3 at Moreland in midweek.
The first 15 minutes were largely stalemate with few clear chances. Then Mazenod gained the upper hand. Stuart Edgar broke down the right and crossed towards Jeremy Alleaume, but a Barker beat him to the ball. Then Jack Palazzolo hit a low shot which keeper Mark Naumowicz saved at full stretch.
Barkers’ first threat came three minutes later when the ball fell kindly for Marcus Watson, who smashed a volley wide. However, then Mazenod countered and had men spare. Alleaume’s shot rebounded back out for Jesse Gorsovski, whose shot produced a flying save from Naumowicz at his near post. Then on 19 minutes, S.Edgar was in space and stooped to head narrowly wide. Respite was provided by Watson when he found Eddie Clark free on the left, whose angled shot was saved by home keeper James Edgar.
Then the decisive moment on the half hour. Barkers gave away a free kick just outside the area and Palazzolo curled the ball over the wall and beyond Naumowicz into the net for 1-0 Mazenod. Five minutes before the break he almost did it again but hit the post in a let-off for Barkers. Three minutes before half time, Barkers constructed a neat move when Paul McEvoy found Liam Seaye on the right. His cross was headed back by Clark to Watson, whose header was saved comfortably by J.Edgar. Half-time: Mazenod 1-0 Mooroolbark, with the hosts good value for the lead.
The second half began in a similar vein. On 51 minutes, Mazenod worked the ball through the middle, and Gorsovksi ran at the Barkers defence. Although one defender slipped, Gorsovski couldn’t take advantage and shot wide.
On the hour, Mazenod’s Jayson Gucciardo ran down the left and crossed for D.Flanders, who almost sneaked in at the far post. Then S.Edgar broke down the right, but his touch let him down and the ball went wide. On 67 minutes came the most dangerous chance of the half when S.Edgar latched onto a curling ball totally unmarked, but he headed wide.
The last 15 minutes saw Barkers finally gain some momentum in a bid to force an equaliser. On 74 minutes, Seaye crossed from the right and found Geordie Scott’s head, but there wasn’t enough power in it to trouble J.Edgar. Then Cooper pinged a superb long ball out to Solovyev. The keeper slipped and Solovyev was forced wide, but we won only a corner. The corner found Watson’s head, and the ball went back to Ahren Angulo, whose shot was blocked. Finally in stoppage time Barkers came closest of all. A corner was cleared out to Sam Klepac, and he hit a bullet through a crowded penalty box but was denied by the post. Full-time: Mazenod 1-0 Mooroolbark.
Possibly some fatigue from the cup tie, but it would be hard to state a case for a Barkers win today. Maybe it’s just that Mazenod are our bogey team. Speaking of which, we visit North Caulfield next week – oy vey.
The reserves finally had something to smile about. Sam Klepac’s experience aided a dominant performance, with a Jack Buglass penalty just after the break settling the result. Well done too, to young keeper Nick Di Crea with a debut clean sheet. Full-time (reserves): Mazenod 0-1 Mooroolbark.
In other games, the Men’s over 35s lost 0-8 at home to Mount Martha, while the Men’s thirds visited Brighton Old Boys (result not available). This week’s junior winners were Boys’ under 12 Kangaroos (5-0 v Box Hill United), Girls’ under 15 (4-1 v Old Scotch), Girls’ under 13 (8-0 v Maccabi Caulfield) and Girls’ under 12 (3-1 v Malvern City).
Next week’s senior fixtures see both men and women play on Sunday. The men are at North Caulfield (Caulfield Park, Caulfield North, 1pm and 3pm) while the women visit Beaumaris (Beaumaris Secondary College, Beaumaris, 4pm). See you down the Kennel!
