Monash Uni Soccer

MUSC men's senior team won a hard-fought away match against Old Melburnians at Robert Menzies Reserve in Malvern on the week-end, strengthening the club's grip on the second position on the Provisional 1 SE league table after 7 matches, only two points behind leaders Fitzroy City.

Old Melburnians looked dangerous in the first half and broke forward quickly at times, catching the Monash midfield out of shape. However Monash managed to defend well around the box, despite conceding a number of corners and free kicks.

Half way through the first half Wellington Munyar received the ball to feet just over the half-way line, turned sharply and hit a 30-metre pass into the box to the far post.  Nick Mallios made a great run forward in his 200th game and finished with a clinical downward header, which he made look easy in the swirling wind.  1-0 to Monash.

The pattern of the half continued with both teams pushing forward and looking dangerous.  Old Melburnians looked dangerous up front and Chris Vinecombe, Justin Beck and Trevor Lim had their work cut out for them. However, 10 minutes before half-time Monash were awarded a penalty for a clear handball in the box and Wellington Munyar stepped up to take the spot-kick which was saved to prevent a 2-0 lead for the visitors at half-time.

In the second half Old Melburnians pressed hard and Monash defended resolutely, again conceding a number of corners and free kicks around the box.  Old Melburnians looked dangerous with balls coming into the box but the Monash defence stood firm.

Against the run of play, Monash scored when Nick Mallios again journeyed forward and hit a first time ball on the edge of the box which flew into the back of the net. 2-0 to Monash. Ariel Salmon then iced the game minutes later when he scored from close range to make it 3-0 to Monash. Unfortunately Monash did not achieve a clean sheet as they conceded a soft free kick just 20 seconds from time to give Old Melburnians some consolation. Final score - a 3-1 win to Monash.

Monash host Mornington at home this Saturday and need all the support they can get from the club's supporters.  Mornington currently sit third on the table and demolished Monbulk 5-2 on the weekend and feature a number of quality players from higher leagues.  Come down to Clayton campus and support the blues. 3 PM kick-off on Saturday, 23rd May.

Monash men's reserves started their round 7 fixture against tricky opponents Old Melburnians knowing that the trailing pack behind them would pounce if there was any slip up. On what was a small pitch compared to the expanses of Monash Uni, both teams began cautiously and this made for a fairly scrappy first 15 minutes. Old Melburnians opened the scoring when a rash challenge by Thompson in the box left the referee with no option but to award a spot kick. Despite Clague’s best efforts, Old Melburnians went one up. The remainder of the half was a drab affair with both teams limited to occasional counter-attacks, as both defences were on top, and fluent, open football was very difficult on the small pitch.

Robbie Serrano made way for Burris at the start of the second half and Monash came out full of purpose. A couple of good chances fell to Solovyev and Chan as Monash pressed for an equaliser. Further changes were made as Foster came off for Beckman and Wojcik-Mirski replaced Costaras up front. The equaliser came shortly after as a free-kick was awarded to Monash just outside the box on the left hand side. Solovyev stepped up and his low, dipping shot snuck under the goal keeper at the near post. 1-1 and Monash looked to have all the momentum.

However, Old Melburnians were a well-drilled and organised team, and they fought their way back into the game. A spade of corners were won by Old Melburnians as the pressure increased on the Monash defence. From one of these corners, a near post run was not covered and Old Melburnians took the lead with a glancing header from close range.

Try as they might Monash could not find a way to goal, although Solovyev and Wojcik-Mirski came close with a couple of half-chances right at the death. The loss was the first for the reserves since round 15 of last season - when they went down 1-0 to Nunawading City - breaking a 14-game unbeaten streak. There was obvious disappointment amongst the players after the game but also a strong sense of determination to turn things around next week against the new league-leaders Mornington.

On Sunday, the women's seniors suffered their 3rd straight loss of the season - all by a single goal. This time the defeat came at the hands of the visiting Berwick City, who had scored 25 goals in the first 3 rounds. Ana Micsunescu scored for the 2nd game in a row for Monash but that was not enough to prevent a 2-1 loss. 

After two encouraging results in the previous two weeks, the Monash women's reserves team were full of confidence heading into their home game against Dandenong City. Unfortunately their confidence was not on display in a poor first half which saw Monash looking half asleep for the first twenty minutes of the game. The introduction of Marisa seemed to inject some spark into the team but they went in at half-time fortunate to be losing only by a goal.

A strong half-time speech from their coach, Jason Sparrow, saw Monash come out firing in the second half, and they could have drawn level within a minute of the restart. Steph Lim went past 3 players as she made her way into the box, and she rounded the keeper only to put the shot into the side-netting.

Monash continued to dominate the second half with strong performances by Ivana Stopka, Steph Lim, Michelle Grima, Allara Howe-Walsh, Marisa and especially Catherine Tasker. Monash were playing so well that they looked like they would over run Dandenong completely, but as so often happens when you are chasing the game, the opposing team had a quick break away and scored with their first attack of the second half.

From there it was an uphill battle and through a goalkeeping error in the last minute Dandenong sealed a lucky 3-0 victory that didn't truly reflect the extent of how well Monash played in the second half. There were also some excellent saves by the Monash keeper Beattie, who although had a couple of errors, generally played very well.

With men's Thirds having a bye last week-end, it was up to the Colts and Stallions to break the drought and get the club's first Sunday win for 2009. Colts were playing away at FFV's pitches against St Kevins while Stallions travelled to Croydon.

A lacklustre performance from the Monash Uni Colts saw them snatch a draw at the death against a determined St Kevins side at FFV. Despite having all of the possession in the opening half, the Colts were unable to create any real chances and went into the break at 0-0.

A marauding run by Tom Millard at the start of the second period ended as he was brought down illegally in the penalty area, but Tim Swenser-Smith smashed the resultant spot kick against the crossbar. St Kevins then got a penalty of their own after a dubious handball decision against Scott Josey, but for the second time in the match, the penalty was mis-hit and the two sides remained deadlocked.

As the match progressed St Kevins began to press, eventually finding the target after a defensive mix-up. But with their backs against the wall - Monash hit back. A seemingly innocuous ball into the box from Brendan Shone was turned into an assist as the breathtaking pace of Neeraj Chadee saw him beat the keeper and a defender to the ball, finishing sensationally with an off-balance chip to snatch a very fortunate draw for the visitors.

Meanwhile, MUSC Stallions were involved in a game of two halves. Having dominated the proceedings for most of the first half, they fell behind when Croydon City Arrows scored off a free kick from outside the box. Monash hit back when Eddie Abkadir scored off a cross by Arnold Lee. 1-1 at half-time.

As the second half went on, at around the 20th minute mark, Croydon scored another goal from outside the box, and then within 5 minutes they scored their 3rd from close range. The hosts put the icing on the cake with a 4th goal after a one-on-one with Reza. Final score - a 4-1 loss against the league-leaders.