Langy concede late goal in a 2–2 draw
Posted: 11 July, 2007
| Langwarrin | 2 | — | 2 | Westgate |
| Caleb Nicholes (2) | ||||
Round 13: Langwarrin v Westgate — 7 July, 2007
Today we welcomed Westgate to Lawton Park for the start of the second half of the season. Westgate managed to secure all the points in the first fixture so Langy was keen to reverse the result.
The weather gods were not kind on the day with steady rain falling all week and on the day. The main pitch looked great but the surface was covered with water.
The reserve game was moved to top park and things were not looking good for the 1sts fixture. The senior ref checked out the main park and after much consideration decided that the pitch was not safe to play on. Unfortunately the hours of work trying to remove the surface water were in vain, thanks to Brian Skelly and Wellies for their efforts. Now the ref’s focus was on the top pitch. The surface looked bad and was bumpy but the surface was firm and the ref decided it was good enough to play on. I must say that it was a gutsy call by the ref as the easy and safe call would have been to abandon the fixture. As the day panned out we witnessed one of the most exciting games of the season and the surface held up... Well done ref!
Game on!!
Sam Harir returned to the team and started in the middle of the park in place of the injured Stuart Craig. New signing Barry Tulloch replaced young Ali Memedovski on the bench.
Langy were sitting 5th, 4 points ahead of Westgate who were 6th, and both teams had good wins last week, us beating dandy and Westgate beating Port Melbourne. This match had plenty riding on it.
So in the constant rain and air filled with penguin feathers the two teams took to the park. After a quick warm up Chris Jones won the toss and selected to attack the clubrooms end in the first half.
The first 10 minutes was scrappy as both teams adjusted to the park, however the pace was quick and a tone was being set for the day with plenty of strong challenges.
Langy created the first goal with a ball over the top from Sam Harir allowing Caleb Nicholes to chase it down and then lob the ball over the keeper into the empty net. Three in three games for the big man!
Westgate lifted their work rate in response and put Langy under great pressure. Eventually Westgate got their equalizer from a corner kick. As the ball came in from the left, a Westgate midfielder was able to head the ball towards goal from the penalty spot. It fell to a team mate inside the 6 yard box whose first time turn and shot put the ball into the back of the net.
The game was living up to expectations in spite of the cold and miserable weather. It was now Langy’s turn to lift as it went after the lead. Almost straight away they won a free kick on the half way line which saw Sam float the ball to the far post where Carl Cochrane headed it back across the goal into a dangerous spot but Westgate were able to clear.
Both teams created chances as the half time whistle came to leave the score at 1-1 at half time. Chris Quinn was having a great battle with the dangerous No 9 and was playing well against a quality opponent. Tom, Pooley, Sam and Shane were battling hard against an equally hard battling Westgate midfield.
The start of the second half saw Langy now going against the wind up hill and knew they had a hard 45 minutes ahead to take the 3 points off Westgate. The 2nd half started off at the same pace as the first as both teams looked to take the lead. However it was Langy who got the lead after 62 mins when a free kick from Shane found Karl who headed into the path of Caleb and he was able to get a shot on the edge of the box and found the back of the net. 2-1 Langwarrin.
Westgate had a couple of chance to hit back straight away but the Langy defence was able to clear the ball in time with Brian Macnicol rallying the troops from his sweeping position and Dave Breslin standing in a full back once again. Breslin was showing good form that may see him as a permanent fixture in the back line (not if Dave can help it!).
With about 25 minutes to go Gus made a change bringing Barry Tulloch on for his first run and Ben Caffrey to weave some of his magic up front. The hard working Cochrane and Paton making way. Westgate were now putting the Langwarrin goals under siege, pumping the ball into the Langy box and creating a few chances that needed the brilliance of keeper, Chris Jones, to keep out.
Against the run of play Langwarrin broke and Tulloch was played in by a magnificent ball from Caleb, Bazza delivered to the back post for Caffrey who was un-marked after jinking to his left then his right, his header was well saved by the Westgate keeper and was cleared to safety.
Once again the Langy defence was under pressure as Westgate looked for an equalizer and they had a chance when their striker hit a shot that was headed for the bottom left corner only for Jones again to get a hand to it and put it around the post with a brilliant stop.
Another cross into Langy box was cleared a minute later and Langy tried to counter attack with Macnicol storming out of defence showing great speed for a more experienced player, only to be grabbed and held back by a Westgate player. This resulted in the Westgate player’s 2nd yellow and therefore a red card. Westgate now down to 10 men.
Gus made his last change with Vernon coming on for Pooley who again had played his heart out. The loss of their player did not seem to affect Westgate who continued to attack and finally made the breakthrough with a ball from the left was crossed over and the Westgate striker able to head home from short range to level the scores at 2-2. Heart breaking for Langy so late in the game.
With only minutes to go there was still time for a winner as both teams pushed a result. With about two minutes to go, Caffrey picked up the ball in the middle of the park and played Caleb through for a one on one with the keeper but his attempt on goal went wide after a bad bounce just as he was about to shoot.
Westgate had the last chance of the game but their shot went wide. It was a thrilling end to a very competitive game. The game ended 2-2 and a fair result with both teams having their chances to score the winning goal. Langwarrin stay in 5th spot, 3 points clear of Southern Stars in 6th and are 4 points behind Bentleigh Greens and a promotion spot and 7 points off top spot.
With the draw against Westgate Langwarrin is 1 point better off in the second half of the draw. If we perform better in the second half than we did in the first half a top 2 finish is not beyond us.
Next week is a tough game travelling away on Sunday to Bentleigh Greens at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex – Cheltenham K.O. 1pm Reserves – 3pm Seniors.
In the reserve game it ended 4-2 in Langy’s favour after goals from Ali Memedovski, Barry Tulloch, Brenton Smith and Anthony Famularo.
