On Saturday, Bentleigh’s Victory Park was dull and blustery as Barkers (sixth) visited Bentleigh United Cobras (eleventh). The venue was well-named – if you’re the away team. Yes, Cobras had a Bond-esque 0-0-7 home record this season. Coach David Stack made two changes to the side which beat Doncaster 2-0, with Ross Clark and Tristan Walker replacing John-Paul Cooper and Anthony Di Crea.
It soon became clear that, despite the bombsite of a pitch, Barkers had the measure of Cobras, whose only real threat was Miguel Anderson on the left wing. On five minutes, Clark hit a high snapshot, which was comfortably caught by keeper Samuel Dabinett. Then Marcus Watson broke free of the defence and shot over, before James Barber crossed from the right for Danny Aye, who hit his shot over.
All this pressure was accompanied by some nice football on the bumpy surface, and an early breakthrough was no surprise. A ball was put through to Clark, who turned, beat his man and toe-poked the ball into the corner of the net to make it 1-0 Barkers. Two minutes later, a long punt from keeper Vladi Velikin saw Aye hit a dangerous shot on the turn, which Dabinett did well to palm round the post.
On the half hour, a corner from the right saw Walker smash a first-time shot wide, but we didn’t have to wait long for the next goal. Within a minute, Clark was through on goal, but his shot was blocked, then rebounded out to Watson, who tucked the ball home to make it 2-0 Barkers.
Eight minutes before the break, the Cobras had their best chance of the half. A long ball was instantly brought under control by Anderson, who turned and shot narrowly wide. Barkers regained the upper hand in the last five minutes. Walker put a lovely ball through to Clark, who shot wide. Then right on half-time, a slick Barkers move saw Aye shoot over. Half-time: Cobras 0-2 Barkers, with the visitors well in control.
The first five minutes of the second half saw Barkers pile on the pressure. On 51 minutes, a swarming attack saw a shot from Aye take a wicked deflection, but Dabinett did brilliantly to get a hand to the ball.
A rare Cobras attack five minutes later saw a ball played in from the left for Anderson. He was pulled down, but the free kick from Nicholas Tsamis saw Velikin get down well to hold. Just before the hour, Barkers struck again. A patient build-up from Clark and Walker saw the latter square the ball to an unmarked Watson, who made no mistake to score his second and Barkers third.
Barkers slackened off after that, but Cobras never really threatened Velikin as Barkers defended soundly. With two minutes left, Cooper crossed for Aye, whose shot was blocked. In stoppage time, Barkers had a shout for a penalty denied when Mario Rivera was unceremoniously put on the deck. Full-time: Cobras 0-3 Barkers.
Barkers looked in cruise control today against a limited Cobras. That’s four wins in a row and three clean sheets in a row, but have Barkers left their run too late? Next is a tricky Friday night trip to Noble Park United. The last meeting of these two produced a crazy 5-5 draw, so it should be fun.
