Murdoch reserves made the short trip to play their local rivals at the weekend looking to pick up 3 valuable points before going into next weeks cup match. With the weather conditions being far from ideal the team looked to take advantage from the wind and soon took the lead when Jason Dixon bundled home a corner from Alex Kurz. As in previous weeks Murdoch failed to build on this lead and allowed spirit back into the game. An innocuous ball into the box was handle by a Murdoch player and a penalty awarded. The kick was well placed to the right of John whose quick reflexes allowed him to palm the ball onto the post and the defense cleared the ball to safety. Murdoch played on the counter but a failure to hit the target kept the spirit in the game. Shortly before halftime this inability to lengthen the lead was punished when a corner fell to the spirit striker who had time and room to smash the ball past john. At halftime some harsh words were mentioned and the team changed formation to a 4-4-2 with Taps making his first appearance for a number of weeks after injury. Taps soon began to have an influence on the match with his direct running.

Murdochs resurgence during the half saw them reclaim the lead when the impressive Fernandez crossed low and true for the onrushing Rohan Cross to steer him from close range. Two soon became three when Taps weaved into the box and slotted past the exposed spirit keeper. Despite the lead Murdoch defending into the lwind had plenty to do and a failure to clear the ball saw a wind assisted shot slip past the excellent Desousa in goal to give Spirit a lifeline with 10 minutes left. This lifeline was soon withdrawn when Murdoch scored the goal of the match as the impressive player coach weaved his way like a little eel through the spirit defence before playing a one two with Taps that saw the return ball cooly dispatched in at the far post. With the 2 goal lead restored Taps scored his second and Murdochs fifth as he latched onto a long ball and slotted home. This was a good second half performance by Murdoch but there is still work to be done.