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)

The battle of Len Shearer will go down in history as one of the bloodiest battles to be seen in WA football. Casualties included 4 Freo players, an injured Jacob King and the good game of football itself. The game started at a fast pace with both sides having chances and no-one wanting to take control of the grenade, choosing to give possession away at every opportunity. On the half hour, Freo took the lead when Murdoch failed to clear the ball and the striker took his chance. Murdoch equalised soon after, with Kudzi heading in confidently from a pin point cross from Sasa. The game was moving end to end and was entertaining with football certainly being the winner. Freo played as a team beyond their divsion and were a constant threat.

Before half time, Freo were reduced to 9 men. The first player was sent off for 2 yellows with the second player being sent from the field for a nasty challenge on the Murdoch Goalscorer. As is with the case of many teams who are up against teams benig reduced to 10 and 9 men, Murdoch found it difficult to get to grips with the more time and space they had and were determined to give Freo the ball at every opportunity. Freo on the other hand were fighting for their lives……quite literally. They were chasing down every ball, put men behind the ball to deny Murdoch space in the final third and cretaed a few problems with their striker holding the ball up well and bringing other into the play. Murdoch gave Freo too many free kicks and throw ins in the final third which gave Freo the opportunity to put the Murdoch defence into trouble.

The game had already had its fair share of excitement but more was to follow, with Freo being reduced to 8 men after their player was sent off for his second bookable offence. Very poor discipline with him kicking the ball towards the ref when he was receiving his first caution. You just cant do that! The spectators thought it was acceptable and continued a tirade of abuse towards the official. One of these ‘fans’ entered the field of play threatening all sorts and was held back by our highly trained security team, who were called into action on more than one occasion.

To the relief of the Murdoch supporters, they went 2-1 ahead through a very fortunate mis hit shot from Anthony Walsh that lobbed over the keeper. Instead of capitalising on this, Murdoch gave away yet another ooportunity for the Freo full back to put in a very long throw. This caused lots of trouble for the defense and Freo equalised, much to the home teams embarrassment and dis-belief. A lack of discipline and a few choise word towards the referee resulted in another Freo player to be dismissed leaving them with only 7 men on the pitch!!!

After a lot of huffing and puffing by Murdoch, they scored a third 5 minutes from the end to secure the victory. You will never see a game like this again, hopefully for you that is!

Murdoch got back to winning ways with a hard fought a deserved victory over Lynwood Colts at Len Shearer Reserve.  The early exchanges saw few chances at either end and lots of huff and puff in midfield.  Colts struggled to get to grips with the small pitch and didn’t manage to find their range with their regulation long balls.  Colts managed to add pressure on with well directed free kick and long throw ins which unsettled the Murdoch defence.  It was a different line up for MUSC with Mark ‘Romper’ Kendall makig a long awaited return to the first team with a solid performance at the heart of the defence, moving Clayton ‘el Pres’ Kendall into midfield.  This gave Murdoch far more presence in the centre of midfield with Kendall having an inspired game.  The two teams went in at half time sharing the spoils.  No-one could have predicted the goal fest the second half second half was going to provide.

5minutes after the restart, Colts opened the scoring with after a cross from the left was headed in well by their striker.  This sparked MUSC into gear and responded with a similar goal shortlty after when Kendall Jr headed in from a cross from the left.  Before Colts could catch their breath MUSC were on the attack again and caused mayhem in the box when a corner was flighted in.  The Colts defender thought he had GK gloves on and punched away the cross that was falling onto the oncoming MUSC strikers head.  The resulting penalty was thumped home by Andrew Jennings, who was making his return after suspension and provided much needed pace in the forward line.

As soon as the second goal went in, Colts faded rapidly after showing so much earlier promise and gave up with a wimper for the final 25 mins.  Neil ‘Troy’ McClure made it 3-1 after some good work from Andrew Jennings.  MUSC rapped the game up in the final 10 mins with a headed goal from Romper at the far post from a Blaz ‘lightyear’ Zoric corner.  It was a good result for MUSC to bounce back after a disappointing performance the previous week.    

It was a game of 2 contrasting halves.  If Murdoch had turned up in the first half the result may have been different.

Kingsway started very brightly and created a few chances causing Murdoch problems from the first whistle.  They had their tails up and scored in the first 5 minutes when a flick on was not dealt with and the striker placed the ball past John De Sousa.  Although the replays showed the striker was offside when receiving the flick on the referee over ruled his ‘assistant’ and the goal stood.  The ball continued to be turned over by mUrdoch who struggled with the pace of teh game and it was not long before Kingsway went further ahead when the defence failed to make a challenge in the box and the shot was cooly curled into the far corner through a host of players.

Murdoch had their chances missing 2 golden 1 on 1 oportunities, and got on the score sheet through a fantastic long range effort from Neil McClure, blasting the ball over the giant keeper.  Certainly the highlight of what was a poor opening period for the purples.  Things got worse for Murdoch when Tommy brought down the winger in the box and the penalty was placed into the corner past the keepers out stretched arm.  The half ended on a sour note when Sverre got hs marching orders for decsent after being adjudged off side.  It was one of 5 bookings or sendings off on the day for talking back to the referee and is totally unacceptable.  These will come back to haunt MUSC in weeks to come if it continues in the same vain.

With 10 men, MUSC made most of the play but could not break down the Kingsway defence and and the scores remained 3-1 at full time.  It was certainly a wake up call for Murdoch who will have to bounce back against Lynwood next week with a more concentrated effort for 90 mins!   

Round 2 saw 2 of the top teams in this years competition battle it out at Len Shearer.  It was an evenly matched game with both teams having periods of control in the match and neat football being played.  Murdoch were looking to play the ball on the floor, and with the introduction of Seb Trimm in the midfield and the tireless work of Shae Whatmore on the flanks the Murdoch team played with plenty of energy and moved the ball around well.

The early exchanges were fairly even, but the deadlock was broken by Dwain Fernandez as he put past his own keeper to open the scoring for Rovers.  A goal of real class, just at the wrong end.  Murdoch responded well by moving the ball around and creating chances.  It was from 2 dead ball siturations in quick succession that Murdoch levelled and soon after took the lead.  Anthony Walsh bundled in a the ball from a Trimm free kick and Sasa Gojic, who had an inspired game, headed in from Trimm free kick this time.  The purples went in at half time with their noses in front but knew that Rovers were very much still in the game.

Poor marking lead to Rovers equaliser when no-one picked up a runner at the far post when a cross was floated over from the right.  A soft goal to lose, but very well finished none the less.  Murdoch made 3 inspired changes in the second half, and it was a moment of magic from Princess Sverre that won the game for Murdoch 10 minutes from time.  He neatly controlled the ball on the thigh turned and volleyed low to the keepers right.  Murdoch could have stretched the lead 5 minutes later when they put the ball in the back of the net noly for it to be ruled off side.  It wasn’t comfortable for Murdoch, as Rovers were big, strong and well drilled, but took the points on what was a very pleasing afternoon for the Muscrats.