Murdoch University Soccer Club

Round 6 of the amateur premier league season saw Murdoch Uni take on newly promoted Stirling Panthers at Len Shearer Reserve on what was a perfect day (weather wise) for football.

1st Half

The first half saw Murdoch change from is traditional 4-4-2 lineup to an untested 3-5-2 lineup with Clayton sweeping behind Romper and Fred, and Shae, Sasa S and Matt Wilson forming the three in the middle. The change in structure immediately paid dividends for Murdoch as they pressured and frustrated their opponents over the duration of the first 45 minutes.

Jamie Nugent and an injury free Andy Jennings proved to be a handful for the Stirling defence as their pace and skill found them in shooting positions on several occassions. Nugent was the first to test the Stirling keeper with several long distance shots enough to keep the Stirling keeper accountable. But it was Jennings who got the breakthrough after a low throughball coupled with his pace put him on to goal and Jennings’ low drive to the keepers near post was to good. 1 nil to Murdoch.

Nugent was the next to come close. After the Stirling defender failed to properly deal with a high ball, Nugent out-muscled the defender inside the Stirling 18 yard box to win back possession and he then turned the defender, but his low struck shot to the Stirling keeper’s near post was well saved by the keeper. However, Murdoch won a corner and it was this corner that lead to Murdoch’s second goal. Jacob whipped in a high and long corner to the Stirling back post and Romper outjumped his opponent and expertly headed the ball low to the Stirling keeper’s near post and into the net. 2 nil Murdoch.

At the other end, Stirling offered very little in attack and any attempt was either thwarted by the Murdoch midfield, particularly Matt W who restricted the Stirling playmaker, or the Murdoch defence who outcontested the Stirling strikers.

Unfortunately, Murdoch was unable to add to its lead despite having several very good opportunities, but went into the half time break with a 2 nil lead.

2nd Half

The second half saw a complete swing of momentum as Stirling came out very much the agressors in the opening exchanges. Murdoch were on the backfoot and lost a lot of its midfield supremacy.

Despite withstanding several freekicks outside the 18 yard box and some long-throws from Stirling’s playmaker, Stirling eventually struck. A long throw from the Stirling midfielder went unchallenged to the back post and some lose marking allowed the Stirling winger to place the ball into the opposite corner of the Murdoch goal. 2 - 1 Murdoch.

Stirling soon equalised the scores when a mis-fired cross from the Stirling winger was unexpectedly bundled behind the defence line, but some poor marking again allowed the Stirling striker the opportunity to shoot, and whilst the shot itself was not powerful, it managed to evade the outstretched arm of Andy Barrett. 2 all.

Murdoch began to solidify and put some pressure back on Stirling; however, it did not go without some close calls after several Stirling attacks lead to fumbled balls in the Murdoch 18 yard box and a save off the line by Romper and another from Barrett.

Murdoch may feel unlucky not to have scored a third goal with good chances falling to both Shae and Jacob, however both shots were placed wide of the goals. Late in the half, Jennings was subsitituted for Meo in the hope that a change in legs may lead to a breakthrough, but it wasn’t to be for the MUSCrat army and the score finished at 2 all.

Jerry’s final thought 

Murdoch may feel a bit cheated to have sacrificed points, but ultimately it is a game of 90 minutes and opportunities need to be taken.

Players - Andy Barrett, Clayton Kendall, Romper, Fred, Jacob King, Sasa S, Matt W, Sasa G, Jamie Nugent, Andy Jennings

Substitutes - Meo Nintendo, Andy Larkins, John Brennan

Scorees - Andy Jennings, Romper

Gentlemen…..and Dixon

It’s that time again………..

The FA cup final for the 2008/09 season is to be played on Saturday 30 May 2009.

MUSC will be holding an FA Cup function at the South Street Ale House. The details are:

Match: Everton v Chelsea
Date: Saturday, 30 May 2009
Time: Function commences from 7.00pm with the game kicking off at 10.00pm
Cost: $10 per person, which goes towards food platters and a bar tab
Other: There will be some competitions run throughout the night, with the winner taking a cash prize and / or Nursey

Always a good night and it also helps support our club sponsor, South Street Ale House. You’re welcome to bring friends and family, the more the merrier.

Would you please rsvp to clayton@murdochsoccer.com ASAP via return email if you and anyone else you know will be attending so I can organise catering.

Cheers

El Pres

Murdoch hosted the little known division 2 amateur team, North Perth, in the second round of the amatuer league cup at Len Shearer Reserve. The MUSCrats had only heard that their rivals had had a large win the week before and possibly had recruited some ex-Azzuri players.

First Half

It didn’t take long for Murdoch to realise that North Perth had arrived with nothing to lose and it was the visitors who piled on the pressure for the first 15 minutes. North Perth’s long ball approach appeared to be effective and often saw Murdoch’s defence line running back towards thier own goal. After negating some of North Perth’s pressure, Murdoch started to gain possession of the ball and knock some slick passes around. It was during this spell that a well weighted throughball by Dogshit Dave saw Meo slot a precision shot past the helpless North Perth keeper and help Murdoch take an arguably lucky 1 nil lead.Murdoch continued to impose themselves on the game and Jamie Nugent was unlucky not to give Murdoch a 2 nil lead when his blistering shot, after a beautiful Meo layoff, was very well saved by North Perth’s goalkeeper. North Perth however were not prepared to let Murdoch take charge and continued to exert physical pressure on their higher ranked opponents. It was via this pressure that saw North Perth awarded with a free kick on a tight angle just outside the 18 yard box. The inswinging free kick exposed Murdoch’s lack of commitment to an aerial challenge and emphasised North Perth’s well drilled set piece as North Perth’s bloodnut striker leapt unopposed onto the cross and glanced the ball convincingly past Barrett. Five minutes elapsed, and North Perth squandered a great chance to take the lead through almost a mirror image of their first goal; however, the other striker was not as clinical with his header. Half time saw scores levelled at 1 a piece.

Second Half

The second half saw Murdoch start with a bang and were unlucky not to be rewarded with a goal about 6 seconds in. The initial kickoff was knocked back to Clayton who played a throughball to Dave who then played a throughball to Meo, but unfortunately Nintendo’s strike was well saved by North Perth’s goalkeeper. Murdoch continued to look the more threatening of the two teams in the opening exchanges of the second half, with several flick-ons from Barrett’s goalkicks and Jacob and substitute Matt Wilson’s long throws putting Jamie and Meo into goalscoring positions, but unfortunately Murdoch were unable to capitalise. And it was this failure that lead to Murdoch being punished. Some good attacking build-up by North Perth saw a dangerous cross swung into Murdoch’s penatly box and the incoming North Perth player headed the ball into the net to give North Perth a 2 - 1 lead and every chance of knocking the premier league team out of the cup. With the pressure well and truley on, Murdoch hit back, but were unable to find the equaliser. Against the run of play North Perth stormed Murdoch’s 18 yard box and an inocious challenge by Romper saw the North Perth striker brought down inside the Murdoch box (according to the ref). It was North Perth’s skipper who stepped up to take the penalty, which he struck against the upright (although Barrett had it covered) and then fired the follow-up over the bar (although he was unable to touch the ball). Some strategic substitutions saw Michael Jennings and Neil McClure come on for Murdoch and it was this substitution almost gave Murdoch the much needed equaliser. A long ball sent Jennings through on the left wing and it was his low drive across the goal square that saw Jamie Nugent tap the ball into the open net. Much to Murdoch’s disbelief, the linesman, who appeared to be well off the play, signalled off-side and gave the ref no option but to overrule the goal. It was this decision that lead to Nugent accidentingly mistaking the linesmans name as ‘cheat’ and being given his marching orders by the ref. A goal down and a player down, Murdoch had it all to play for. However, it was North Perth who again had the opportunity to put Murdoch away when the advancing striker disposessed Matt Wilson and in a 2 on 1 centred the ball the his fellow striker who had practically an empty net, but scuffed his shot and Barrett comfortably collected the ball. It was with about four minutes to go when Murdoch’s fortunes changed. A a throw-in to Meo’s feet inside North Perth’s 18 yard box, and some good work by the Murdoch striker, lead to Meo being fouled and the ref awarding a penalty to Murdoch. Dogshit Dave showed nerves of steal and stepped up to equalise for Murdoch and send the game into penalties.

Penalties

North Perth took the first penalty and again it was their skipper who fired the ball into the path of a diving barrett to give Murdoch the early edge. McClure then stepped up and consolidated Murdoch’s lead. Barret then pulled off a great save on North Perth’s second penalty only for the ref to judge that he had come of his line and give the red faced North Perth player a second opportunity. He didn’t need another and fired home truley. Clayton, Dogshit Dave and a single footed Jennings all stepped up and converted thier penalties. North Perth also converted their next three penalties. Accordingly, the win fell on the shoulders of one Rompario, and he shed away the ghosts of history to convert his penalty and send the MUSCrats into the 3rd round of the cup.

Team Line-up - Andrew Barrett, Jacob King (S), Romper, Fred, Sasa Gojic, Sasa S (S), Clayton Kendall, Dogshit Dave, Shae Whatmore (S), Meo Nintendo, Jamie Nugent - thug

Substitutes - Michael Jennings, Neil McClure, Matt Wilson