Langy Triumph in the Big Local Derby
Posted: 24 July, 2007
| Langwarrin | 1 | — | 0 | Frankston Pines |
| Stuart Craig | ||||
Round 15: Langwarrin v Frankston Pines — 21 July, 2007
It was local derby time again as the Langy boys took on league leaders Frankston Pines. It was a must win game for Langy as Pines were sitting on top 6 points clear of second and 7 points in front of Langy in 4th position. Langy had a couple of set backs as Thomas Ahmadzai failed to recover from his injury he picked up against Bentleigh and "goal a game" Caleb was on a work trip. But so is the strength of the Langy team as they were replaced with two very handy players in Barry Tulloch who was starting his first game for Langy after being on the bench for his two previous occasions and Stuart Craig who was returning from a knock he picked up two weeks ago. On the Bench was Matty Hakvoort returning from injury, Ben Caffrey and Ali Memedovski. The Langy faithful had come out in great numbers to support the boys in one of the biggest crowds for the season.
The game started off in typical derby pace, very hectic and with tackles flying in from the start. The Langy boys started off in a determined mood to get the 3 points to close the gap at the top and also seek revenge for the 1–0 loss to Pines in the last time these two teams met. But it was Pines who had the first chance in the first couple of minutes with a great run by Cameron Leopold and a couple of one twos with his team mates, he was able get into the box and get a shot on target, and it took a great save from Chris Jones to prevent the Pines going 1 nil up in the first few minutes. After this start by Pines, Langy managed to gather their composure and assert their authority on the game. Langy produced a fantastic first half display to have the league leaders rattled and on the ropes, and Leopold's effort was Frankston's only chance of the half.
The goal didn't take long to come for Langy and it was from a great run by Tulloch down the right hand side where he was brought down just outside the penalty box, Sam Herir took a great Free kick and Andrew Skledar for Pines jumped up and handled the ball in the box. It just goes to show that in derby games the pressure gets to everyone. Up stepped Shane Tagleffero to take the kick, as regular penalty taker for Langy Caleb Nicholes was away. He struck the ball to the right hand side of the goal and Brad Zealey the Pines goalkeeper made a great save, unfortunately for Pines he couldn't hold on to it and Stuart Craig was the first to react and hit the ball low and hard into the back of the net, 1–0 Langy.
Adam Poole was working hard in the centre of midfield making some great tackles and Barry Tulloch was causing the Pines midfield and defence all sorts of problems with his great lung bursting runs into the heart of the defence, so much so that on one of these runs just as he laid off the ball to Shane Tagliaferro, Billy Armour managed to block his run and winded Tulloch. This upset the Langwarrin bench and especially coach Gus MacLeod who requested a quiet word with the ref over why he didn't take any action against Billy for this and to the refs credit he listened and gave his reason why, saying he didn't see the incident.
Another corner for Langy was only partially cleared by the Pines defence as the ball fell to Shane Tagliaferro who took one touch and smashed the ball goal ward only for Brad Zealy to pull off another great save. The clearance fell for Timmy Paton who tried an overhead bicycle kick but was quickly pulled up by the ref for high feet.
Barry Tulloch also had a good chance as he made a great run into the box but a great diving save at the feet of Tulloch prevented him from getting a shot on target.
So that's how it stayed at half time 1–0 to Langy, in what can only be described as one of the best first half's that Langy has played this season. As they clearly had the Pines team very rattled and the Langy faithful gave them a great ovation as they left the ground at half time.
Into the second half and Langy knew that for all of their domination and with the score only being 1–0 that Pines would come at them and they didn't let the Pines fan down as they came at Langy with all they could give. But to Langy's credit the midfield and defence with Chris Quinn, Dave Breslin and Brian MacNicol, were holding strong and repelling anything that the Pines could throw at them. When they did get through Chris Jones was on hand to pull off some remarkable saves.
One great save came from a quality free kick by Pines as it was met superbly by Cameron Leopold and he nodded the ball to the bottom right hand side of the goal, it had goal written all over it before a fully stretched Jones dived and pushed it round the post and out for a corner. The whole move would not have been out of place in an EPL game, it was such a great move and save.
The tackles were still flying in and a bit of frustration was starting to creep into the Pines play with the yellow card count getting up to the 6–8 mark. That was not to say it was all one way with Tulloch getting a yellow for a late challenge on Billy Armour.
Pines had a couple more chances, with one coming from a corner that was one in the air but Jones was on hand to clean up and another chance the Pines player was through but Jones was there again saving at his feet. As the game went on Langy brought on Caffrey for Stuart Craig, Ali for Cochrane who had worked very hard and non stop all day up front and Barry Tulloch for Matty Hakvoort. Langy were able to see the game out and record a memorable victory winning 1–0 and even more importantly tightening the gap to 4 points. In the changing rooms it was bedlam as players, coaching staff and supporters packed the change rooms out and belted out the club song like it had never been sung before.
Langy now travel to North Geelong and even though they are struggling it will be a tough game and that after the superb effort against the Pines, they wouldn't want to spoil it with a poor display against North Geelong. Hopefully a lot of the Langy supporters can make it and if you contact Jimmy Miller there may be a few spots left on the bus.
