Laurie Williams
FALCONS had to fight hard for its 2-1 victory over a feisty Sale United team during round 15 of the Latrobe Valley Soccer League.
The visitors had to come from a goal down to overrun the Swans on Sunday.
Jacob Richardson gave the Swans an early break with a goal just before half-time, which gave them plenty of confidence going into the second stanza.
Falcons couldn’t be contained in the second half as Jamie Pistrin equalised with eight minutes after resumption.
Sale applied pressure, and it was end to end work by both teams as they tried to break the deadlock.
Winger Kevin Carcella put himself on the scoresheet with only three minutes to play to give Falcons a victory.
SECOND-PLACED Traralgon Olympians was within a whisker of beating league leader Newborough-Yallourn United.
The 1-1 draw pushed Olympians down to fourth.
Newborough-Yallourn fought hard against a willing competitor with Olympians blocking out the usually strong attacking Combine.
Alex Van Vliet got NYU on track with a good goal at 32 minutes.
Olympians applied pressure in the second half and was nearly rewarded when a flying shot hit the bar but rebounded away. Olympians recovered and with the clock ticking down equalised 10 minutes from full time through Jaydon Steele.
Newborough-Yallourn tried hard to break the deadlock only to be repelled by a strong Olympians defence.
FORTUNA overcame a brave performance by lowly Trafalgar Victory to win 4-2.
The Lions set the pace early with defender Shane Cassar finding space to score at seven minutes. Hayden Cook put one in at 31 minutes for the Lions before Matt Coward ensured Fortuna went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
Another goal by Cook put the Lions 4-0 ahead, but Trafalgar’s pressure was rewarded at 78 minutes when Jackson Landy broke the drought.
Trafalgar was playing better and gave Fortuna little chance of adding to its tally. Aiden Wyatt scored a late goal for the Victory.
TRARALGON City returned to second place on the ladder with a 6-0 win over Monash.
Striker James Sykes bagged a hat-trick with goals at 44, 51 and 64 minutes.
Brandon Scott opened the scoring for City at three minutes which set the pathway for City to score freely.
The Roosters scored four goals in the second half, including one each from Jake Bujida and DJ Matar.
MOE United defeated Churchill United 3-2.
The Red Devils set-up the win with first half goals from Matt Shearing and Ty Georgiou, before Harley Robinson scored just after half-time.
Churchill came back with two goals from Sam Di Ciero and Lachlan Huizer to give the Rams some confidence.
Moe hung on, but there were times when Churchill showed good passages of play only to be let down by poor passing.
