By Peter Stephenson
Barkers (eighth) hosted league leaders Argonauts, paying their first visit to the Kennel, which was bathed in late winter sunshine. Barkers made three changes to the side which lost 0-5 at Chisholm, with Max Burrows, Ross Clark and Harry Rushton replaced by Geordie Scott, Liam Seaye and Ryan Smith. For the visitors, Scott Jamieson became the first ex-Socceroo to grace the hallowed turf of Esther Park since Danny Allsopp for Croydon in 2013.
Jerome Valadon provided some early trickery on the left to win Barkers a free-kick on the byline, but it was wasted. A minute later, Argonauts’ Zach Lemke found league top scorer Mitch Cooper on the right. He crossed and the shot was deflected for a corner on the left. The corner found Tyson Holmes, who squeezed a shot in off the near post to give Argonauts an early lead.
Barkers settled though, and on 12 minutes Valadon got a touch in the box, it struck a Bayside player, and despite Barkers’ penalty appeals, play was waved on.
Bayside almost doubled the lead on 23 minutes when a corner from the left was flicked on by a defender’s head towards his own goal and hit the near post. Up the other end, Barkers won a free kick on the right. Seaye put the ball in for Scott, but his header went wide under pressure.
Bayside then took control for a while. On 27 minutes a free kick was floated from the left but eluded a crowded goal area. Then a long clearance left Jesse Devers clear, but Mark Naumowicz raced out of his box to clear. The ball went upfield to Valadon, who found himself with only keeper Carl Darling to beat, but he did well to block. Half-time: Barkers 0-1 Argonauts, a deserved lead.
Barkers began the second half well with Daniel Aye going on a solo run, beating four men before slipping the ball to Valadon on the overlap, but he was offside. Then on 49 minutes Bayside’s Noam Kolakofsky’s first touch took him away from his marker, and he found Leigh Kissas, whose shot was blocked point-blank by Naumowicz.
Again Bayside dominated for a while, with Cooper, Jamieson, Lemke and Devers all testing the home keeper. Barkers held out and as the game wore on, began to put Bayside under pressure as they sought an equaliser.
Valadon ran clear and shot just past the far post, then Maxim Solovyev got through a ton of running to chase down the Bayside left winger and get a saving tackle in. Barkers couldn’t break through, and indeed Bayside’s Liam McKenna almost doubled the lead at the death.
Full time: Barkers 0-1 Argonauts. This was a much-improved Barkers display compared to the Chisholm game, but in the end the league leaders were too strong.
The Barkerettes were due to host Alphington, but the visitors forfeited the fixture, giving Barkers three points. They are five points clear of Collingwood, who have a game in hand, and Barkers have three games remaining.
