Murdoch University Soccer Club

Murdoch travelled to meet the league leaders for their 3rd encounter of the season looking to reverse a run of close defeats to Lynwood. Murdochs cause not helped by a spate of injuries to the club that meant only 10 regular squad players weere available. Fortunately members of the first team squad agreed to help thelads out in a gesture that was well received. Right from the first whistle Murdoch took the game to their opponents with a positive attitude to attack that cause Lynwood a number of problems. The best chance of the game occured when a cross from Jordan just eluded the onrushing Henriko. Lynwoods attempts to ge back into the game were hindered, as time and time again their attacks floundered against the midfield and defence. The midfield trio of Vincent, Jordan and Blaz were excellent. Special mention to Vincent who was covering alot of ground both in attack and defence.

The only scare of the half occured when a misjudged backpass sold john short. The blocked tackle rebounded over his head but he recovered in time to clear off the line.

At halftime the message to the lads was to keep the workrate up and continue playing as they were. Blaz was replaced by Clayton and for the first time all season Murdoch began to put togther to equal halves of quality football. With Murdoch becoming increasingly comfortable Lynwood began to get rattled and their football took on a more desperate approach. This approach increased when Murdoch took a deserved lead. The goal was well executed as a fine run and cross down the left flank from Jordan met the head of Clayton who steered the ball confidently into the top corner. With time ticking Lynwood chucked an extra man forward. Murdoch coped well with this until with a couple of minutes to go Lynwood were awarded a corner. The corner was not cleared properly and the well placed Murray eaded off the line. From the resulting clearance a mistimed tackle allowed the substitute forward ( who was not averse to taking a tumble) to fall and claim a penalty. The resulting penalty was agonisingly close to being saved by the excellent De Souza and Lynwood were out of jail.

Murdoch were down but should take great heart from the best performance of the season against a very good team.

On what was a rare sunny day amongst the poor weather experienced over the past couple of months, the Murdoch first XI took on Lynwood Colts in the rematch at Hossack Reserve. Murdoch started behind the 8-ball before the first whistle was even blown as four of their starting eleven had featured in the previous reserves match and the bench lacked fresh substitutes. Murdoch did not let this worry them and started the better of two sides with some excellent ball movement and physical pressure on their opponents. Murdoch were the first to create an opportunity when a through ball had Andrew Jennings onside and only the keeper to beat but unfortunately his low shot under pressure from the chasing Lynwood defenders was off target and hit the Lynwood goals side netting. Within twenty minutes Murdoch were on the board when a cross into Lynwood’s box was not dealt with by their defenders allowing Andrew Jennings to latch onto a bouncing ball just inside Lynwood’s 18 yard box and the resulting volley was deviated by Blazen Zoric past the wrong-footed keeper and into the net. Upon resumption of play, Lynwood applied more pressure to Murdoch which panicked Murdoch to change their game to long balls. In contrast, Lynwood started to play through their midfielders and soon exerted authority through the middle. Against the run of play, Tim Brewer found himself with the ball at his feet attacking down the left flank and some good dribbling and strong body work saw him in Lynwood’s 18 yard box with only the keeper to beat but unfortunately his low shot to the keepers right side hit the outside netting of the goal. Lynwood found themselves level with Murdoch at half-time when a cross deep to Murdoch’s back post was pounced on by an unmarked Lynwood player leaving John De Sousa with little chance. To compund Murdoch’s woes, Murdoch had already made two of its possible three substitutions, with Jordan Petrone being substituted with Henrico Saeran and Andrew Jennings subsitituted with Daniel Jones after tearing his hamstring. After a pep-talk and a brief analysis of where Murdoch were being broken down, Murdoch retook the field ready to take all three points from Lynwood. The majority of the second half was a dog fight with both teams refusing to let the other take control. It saw numerous fouls, the odd penalty claim and a few yellow cards being brandished in Murdoch’s direction. The best failed opportunity for Murdoch to take the lead came in the later stages of the second half when Flavio L’Abbate received the ball on the edge of Lynwood’s 18 yard box and some quick touches saw him round the Lynwood defender and latch onto a thunderous left-footed shot before another advancing defender could reach him - the Lynwood keeper had no idea what was happening but unfortunately the ball sailed just over the cross-bar. Some strong defensive work by Murdoch, in particular Matthew Wilson and Romper, stopped Lynwood from creating any real chances despite the amount of pressure Lynwood were heaping on. At the other end, Daniel Jones, whilst not used to filling a forward position, became an increasing nuisance for the Lynwood defense as his strong body work and ability to hold up the ball saw them reduced to fouling him on most occassions. Murdoch’s second goal and ultimately the winner came with about 10 minutes remaining, when a corner whipped over by Tim Brewer found Romper unmarked at the back post and his low header left Lynwood’s keeper and back post defender with little chance. The final whistle and the three points came as a blessing to Murdoch who showed great heart given the odds they were up against. The winners song had never sounded so sweet!!

All the lads…………….

EL Pres

Scorers: Blazen Zoric (18), Mark Kendall (81)

Starting 11: John De’Sousa, Dave Drummond, Mark Kendall, Matthew Wilson, Jacob King, Tim Brewer, Clayton Kendall (65), Blazen Zoric, Jordan Petrone (30), Flavio L’Abbate, Andrew Jennings (35)

Subsititutes: Daniel Jones (35), Henrico Saeran (30), Andrew Barrett (65)

Murdoch’s annual quiz night fundraiser is on again!!!!

When: Friday, 15 August 2008
Time: Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start
Where: RAAF Club, Air House, 2 Bull Creek Drive, Bull Creek (Just off Leach Hwy)
Cost: $10 per person (tables of 10)

BYO snacks - some snacks will be available for purchase over the bar.
This is not a BYO alcohol event.

We hope to see you all there!!!