The Lilydale Eagles celebrated Club Day on Saturday 31 May, with the junior and senior sides coming together throughout the day to support each other.
Once the activities had wrapped up and plenty of lollies had been handed out, the senior sides were set to take the field up against Healesville.
The Reserves were up first and looking to get back to winning ways and got off to a bright start, immediately getting on top in general play.
Healesville had the first real chance, however, a shot from their left wing which struck the outside of the post.
The deadlock was broken early with Trent Scott-Elsley putting the Eagles 1-0 up in the 13th minute with Lilydale up and about and thinking it could be a big day in front of goal.
Despite continuing their dominance on the ball and creating plenty of chances, Lilydale would be frustrated.
The Eagles had three goals all in the first half, ruled out for offside, including the chance for a first club goal for new recruit Josh Zmegac.
Lilydale had lots of play down their left-hand side with Mark Vanderkolk, Marcus Salvitti, Theo Georgiou and Scott-Elsley combining beautifully but Lilydale lacked a clinical edge or the right movement in the box to finish off their abundance of chances.
The Eagles went into the halftime break with the lead but in disbelief as to how it wasn’t more.
Keen to atone for their first-half woes in front of goal, the Eagles came out and looked like they might have put it behind them when poker extraordinaire Byron Loveless finished a chance to make it 2-0 and a more comfortable lead for Lilydale.
The status quo would soon resume however, as the Eagles created to create and push forward for attack after attack, only not to put them away.
In a day full of gilt-edged chances, there was still a clear miss of the match when right back Dylan Donovan snuffed out a long ball from Healesville and played a terrific pass through the guts for Scott-Elsley drifting in from the left. Scott-Elsley’s touch just in front of the keeper was good, putting him out in front of the open goal with nothing but grass and the net in front of him. Scott-Elsley took the shot on the turn and he could only watch on in despair as it kept rising up and over the bar, in a moment that summed up the day for the Reserves.
The Eagles were able to see out the game without any scares but the same could not be said for the referee, departing the pitch with five minutes left in the match due to some tummy troubles. Lilydale’s attackers weren’t the only ones making runs in behind it seems.
Plenty of players had chances they would like to have again but the Eagles will be pleased however, to not have been challenged too much the other way, keeping a clean sheet with the final score 2-0. The Reserves are fourth in the table with three wins, two draws and two losses.
The Firsts stepped up next, looking to continue their good form in the league with our wins on the bounce, but faced a stern challenge from ladder-leading Healesville.
The Eagles were on the back foot early, with Healesville getting on top and striker John-James O’Connell needing to be denied one-on-one by the right arm of keeper Callum Ludwig.
Healesville’s pressure would continue to mount however, as they earned a corner after Ludwig could only tip a curling cross around the post. The ball would be played in and Healesville would direct a lobbed header towards goal, with O’Connell making amends by getting in front hi marker and volleying home from close range.
Only five minutes later and another corner would the undoing of Lilydale, this time with the outswinging delivery met first time on the volley by Daniel Tadesse and fizzing into the roof of the net.
Two disappointing goals to concede for Lilydale who had been strong from their own attacking set pieces so far this season but with work to do on their defensive structure.
Things would settle for the most part for the rest of the half with Healesville’s only big chances being denied by the offside flag and Lilydale growing into the game without threatening the opposition goal.
That was until the 43rd minute when Helaesville’s John Caloutas would go on an impressive run, evading a couple of Lilydale challenges to make his way to a dangerous area on the left wing. Caloutas was held up but given too much space to cut inside and put in an inswinging cross to O’Connell who got in front of Lilydale centre back Lachy Hamling and put a perfect glancing header into the far corner to make it 3-0 just before halftime.
At halftime, Lilydale looked to be more physical and solid at the back and worked their way into the game.
The second half was a much cagier affair than the first, with neither side creating many chances of note early on.
Lilydale thought they had a claim for a penalty when playing coach Daniel ‘Dicko’ Dickson went down in the box but the referee waved it off and let play continue, something he couldn’t manage in the Reserves when nature called.
Lilydale were much stronger in the tackle and at the back in the second half, keeping Healesville’s chances minimal but were unable to make a breakthrough down the other end, only managing to get off a few shots that either went wide or over the top.
The scoreline remained the same at full-time with the Eagles’ unbeaten run in the league coming to an end. The Firsts sit fifth in the league with four wins and three losses.
No game this weekend due to the King’s Birthday public holiday, with the Eagles to return away from home against Dandy Casuals on Saturday 14 June.
