The long trip to the end of the free-way proved to be a worthwhile venture for the reserves. With news of the league leaders slipping up mid-week the squad realised that it was a great opportunity to draw level with Lynwood. Despite the rewards on offer it was a fairly timid first 45 minutes with Joondalup making the early running and exploiting Murdoch inability to retain control of the ball for sustained periods. Murdoch made several changes from the previous week with Anthony and Dwayne coming down from the first team and Jordan and Matt going up in the opposite direction. The changes allowed Mark Hodgson his first start of the season and he played like a man with a point to prove. Despite the inertia from the Murdoch team the first half coughed up a numbner of chances that Murdoch through a mixture of good defending, poor finishing were unable to convert. Stewart in goal was calle into action and saw his left hand upright rattled at the close of the half.

The halftime chat looked to address the passiveness of the lads and it was a far different team that began the second half. Murdoch pressed the opposition and began to play in a series of testing balls that pressured the Joondalup defence. The break through came when skipper Tim Brewer pick the ball up in the box and was crudely chopped from behind for a penalty. Flav stepped up and made amends for the prvious weeks miss by confidently dispatching the ball into the corner of the net. Murdoch maintained the intensity and the arrival of fresh legs on the flanks enusred that Joondalup were kept on the back on the back foot. One of theses changes was Vincent who saw a tremendous volley crash against the post and the follow up from Anthony also hit the crossbar. While the lead stayed at 1 goal Joondalup were always in the game and a few late attacks put Murdoch under intense pressure. From one of these attacks a clearance released Anthony who outpaced his marker to slot the ball home for a deserved goal. With the 2 goal advantage the pressure was off mUrdoch and they ran out comfortable winners.

Next weeks fixture bring last years runners up Shamrock to Len Shearer where Murdoch will be looking to improve on last years performances and cement their position at the top of the table.