Laurie Williams
CHURCHILL United defeated Sale United 1-0 in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League on Sunday.
The Rams avenged their previous two defeats to the Swans in a match which the wind caused havoc with the scoring attempts.
The home team scored the only goal five minutes in through a Sam Di Ciero strike, before the match settled to a tug-of-war, with neither team getting the breaks.
Sale kept pushing forward, only to be denied any score.
Churchill would have been happy with the three points, but disappointed it couldn’t add to its tally.
The Rams took the points from Sale, but it wasn’t all one way traffic as the Swans strung passes together but fell down at the final hurdle.
A GOAL by Tommy Nguyen 30 seconds into the second half was all that separated Traralgon City and Fortuna.
The game was a tense struggle between two evenly-matched teams.
The cross-wind created difficulties for both teams to accurately pass and shoot.
The first half was a stalemate, with the two goalkeepers not worried by the poor attacks. Both teams were strong across the defensive zone, keeping the usually effective strikers to long kicks.
Sale recruits Ray Allred and Tommy Nguyen provided a strong linking pair across midfield for the Roosters, but the pair were thwarted by Fortuna’s Liam McCluskey and Oliver Spiteri, who were tight across the back.
A good duel developed between Roosters striker DJ Matar and Fortuna defender Takudzwa Gwara with the honours about even.
After a score-less first half Nguyen’s strike at the resumption turned the game around.
Shayne Cassar was strong, giving his Fortuna teammates plenty of possession but to no avail as turnovers were the Lions’ eventual downfall.
Fortuna keeper Nick Pridgeon had to pull off a good save midway through the half, but there was little other activity around the goal.
Fortuna was relentless with five minutes to go, and three good strikes almost brought the equaliser, but Michael Bloss was strong on the line, holding out until the final whistle to give the Roosters a 1-0 victory.
MOE United scored its first win over Trafalgar Victory since 2016.
The Red Devils got on the board at 24 minutes through Josh Porter, but Trafalgar equalised 12 minutes later with a good shot from Logan Winter.
Moe, in the shadow of half-time produced three goals in three minutes to shatter the Victory. Strikes from Riley Winkelman, Ty Georgiou and Noah Kane found the back of the net before the break.
This took the wind out of the Victory’s sails and Moe added three goals, from Georgiou at 74 minutes, Winkelman at 89 and Andre Antonopoulos on the 90-minute mark.
NEWBOROUGH-Yallourn United sits on top of the ladder after defeating Monash 5-0 in the local derby.
The Wolves looked flat, continually beaten to the ball by the visitors.
Mark Fairbrother continued his run of goals with another pair, scoring the first two goals three and 13 minutes into the game. Hayden Tanti followed up with two more at 22 and 26 minutes.
After the break, Monash showed more fight but was unable to get one in the net.
Damien Gilbert made some good saves for the Combine as Monash launched some attacks.
Ash Birrell scored NYU’s fifth goal on the hour.
RYAN McAuley became an instant hero for Falcons, scoring an opportunist goal right on 90 minutes to give his side a 3-2 win over Traralgon Olympians.
Olympians gave Falcons a fright early as the two teams traded goals.
Harry Crooker opened the scoring for Olympians at 11 minutes, before Lachlan Spiteri equalised 25 minutes later.
The home team was putting pressure on Falcons, and when Henri Scott scored Olympians led 2-1 just before half-time.
After shuffling its line-up, Falcons began to produce good passes, although the wind caused many problems.
Olympians gave Falcons little chance of scoring the equaliser, but the elusive Jamie Pistrin chipped one past the keeper to level the scores.
The match looked destined to be a draw, but McAuley broke the deadlock in the dying stages.
