Monash Uni Soccer

Second placed MUSC men's seniors hosted third placed Mornington in the crucial round 8 clash on Saturday 23rd May at Monash University, Clayton Campus. 

[ Video highlights on footballchaos.com ] 

Monash started the game well with Nick Mallios blasting over from the edge of the box and then steering a header from the penalty spot straight at the keeper, however Mornington got on top for the first 25 minutes and dictated play by getting the ball forward early and supporting their three forwards.  Former Frankston Pines, Melbourne Knights and Altona Magic striker Nick Waite created some aerial problems for Monash as a number of dangerous balls were swung into the box. Excellent defending from Justin Beck, Trevor Lim and Miles Rodriquez kept the visitors at bay.

After weathering the early storm, Monash gradually found their passing game and started to get on top, particularly through Liam Johnson and Tonny Masinde who were both able to beat their markers consistently and knock quality balls into the box.  Monash created the only problems for themselves by giving the ball away at times in dangerous areas.  At the other end Julio Serrano almost got on the end of some good passing, hist first-time shot just going over the bar.

Midway through the half Liam Johnson beat his marker and crossed into the danger area where Nick Mallios struck a first time ball straight into a defenders raised arm - it looked like a clear handball not awarded  by the referee. A follow up shot from Wellington Munyar was well saved however the goal seemed to be coming. A great run from the back from Justin Beck created the opening goal for Monash.  Beck won the ball on the half and ran deep into the attacking half before slotting a ball to Wellington Munyar who skipped past his marker and coolly slotted home in characteristic style.  1-0 Monash.  The visitors continued to look dangerous on the break however Monash ended the half clearly the better side and took the 1-0 lead into the half time break against a tiring Mornington.

The second half proved an action packed affair.  It turned into end to end football as both teams pressed forward to break the game open.  Monash created plenty of chances to seal the game with Julio Serrano pulling the strings and setting up Liam Johnson who shot over from inside the box.  Then Wellington Munyar spurned a gilt-edged chance when Ariel Salmon's ball set him up in the clear on the penalty spot but his first touch let him down.  At the other end Mornington also looked dangerous and a poorly timed tackle from substitute Nick Burris resulted in a free kick for Mornington on the edge of the box which resulted in the equaliser.  Tonny Masinde broke the wall and the shot bounced off Rodrigo Becerra's chest and into the net for what could only be described as a very soft goal.  1-1 and game well and truly on.

Monash almost grabbed the winner twice more - firstly when Liam Johson's ball to the far post was met with a great run and header from Tonny Masinde which hit the post.  However Monash got caught on the counter attack with Justin Beck losing the ball in the last third and Chris Vinecombe mistiming a tackle in the penalty box that resulted in Mornington being awarded a clear penalty.  Fortunately for the Blues Nick Waite stepped up and blasted the ball over the cross bar.

With minutes remaining a good run by Wellington Munyar from inside his own half created a 2-on-1 with the Mornington sweeper and the pass to Tonny Masinde was deliberately hand balled outside the box which resulted in the Mornington sweeper being sent off.  Another great chance spurned and 1-1 was the final result.

Monash travel to Warragul next week in what proves to be another tough contest in round 9.

Monash men's reserves claimed back the top spot on the ladder after a thrilling 4-3 win versus Mornington. Goals from Greg Costaras and Max Solovyev early on saw the hosts take a 2-0 lead, which was reduced to 2-1 by half-time after a long-ranged strike from the visitors found the corner of Jarrod Clague's net. 

Monash restored a 2-goal cushion with an opportunistic strike from Costaras for his 2nd of the day, but were pegged back through two clinical finishes from Mornington. With scores level at 3-3 and time seemingly running out, Lachlan Petras played a through ball to Roy Chan, who still had a lot to do. However, he managed to outpace and outmuscle his defender, and calmly placed the ball past the despairing goalkeeper to claim the 3 points for Monash.

In the women's fixtures on Sunday, it was a day of draws. Women's seniors travelled to Albert Park and claimed a 1-1 result with a late goal from Ana Micsunescu - her third goal in as many games for the club.

Meanwhile, women's reserves made the trip to Dandenong to face the Sparrows and produced an amazing 5-5 scoreline! Meili Castaldi got her first and second goals for the club, while Frances Albertyn also scored for Monash for the first time. Allara Walsh-Howe and Marisa Strydom were the other goal-scorers for the Metro team.

It was a full Sunday programme at home for the men's Thirds teams, with all 3 teams still searching for their first victories of season 2009.

Men's Stallions kicked off their 11 AM game against the previous teammates of Mike Jhoomun - Bayside Argonauts "All Stars". In fact MJ's wide-eyed keenness to play this particular game raised suspicions of either a potential traitor in the Stallions midst, or more likely the possibility of settling some old scores.

The Stallions were unimpressively lacklustre in the first half but for a few flashes of Nektar magic. Looking dangerous whenever in possession of the ball, Nektar put the ball into the back of the net before being heartbreakingly ruled offside. The disappointment was quickly dissipated when shortly after (a now on-side) Nektar put the Stallions 1-0 up which they held till half time.

The start of the second half saw Bayside revert to a more thuggishly primitive brand of soccer. With almost zero penetration into a backline held together by an impregnable Jin, their next best tactic appeared to be using their size to physically intimidate and injure their opponents. Several Stallions were sporting impressive bruises after the game. Where in previous games the Stallions have faded towards the end, this week they stepped up in all departments. The highlight of the match (and daresay the year so far) was a delightful goal setup by Eddie threading a pass through the defense for Derrick to take round the goalie. 2-0 Stallions, and their first win for the season.

A stunning second half performance from the Monash University Colts - who kicked off their home fixture at 1 PM - saw them claim their first win of the season. Not wanting to be outdone by the Stallions, who had earlier become the first Sunday team to win a regular season game in 2009, the Colts had a rather even start against their lower placed opponents. A fairly dour first half, including only a number of half chances, ended at 0-0.

However, it was a different side that took the pitch in the second half - Tim Swenser-Smith giving the Colts the lead after five minutes, courtesy of his raw pace and clinical finishing. A second goal soon followed as some outstanding interplay between Pedro Pires and Tom Millard dazzled the Sandringham defence, before Tom Millard's inch perfect cross found Ned Rocke in acres of space for a clinical finish. The Colts were on fire, and it was therefore appropriate that a second half substitute Jonno Buckley was the one to make it 3-0 - dancing around three defenders before applying an excellent toe-poke to finish past the helpless goalkeeper from 20 yards.

Scott Josey made it four goals for Monash shortly afterwards with a cracking volley, unfortunately at the wrong end of the pitch. With the score at 3-1, Sandringham threatened to get back into the game, but Scott Josey atoned for his error ten minutes from time, making it 4-1 after a goalmouth scramble. While Sandringham did find a second goal, it was too little too late, the Colts running away with a 4-2 victory. 

Men's thirds were up next, as they faced their last season's chief rival in Bayside Argonauts "Galacticos". The match started at a slow pace and Monash allowed the visitors to dictate the pace. In the 15th minute a defensive mix-up allowed the Argonauts a sight on goal and they converted after a cut-back from the byline. Monash created a couple of chances after that but had to wait  until Marvin Wojcik-Mirski produced a superb solo goal by cutting in from the left before scoring.

It was tied 1-1 at half time and after a ‘stirring’ team talk from the coach (who threatened to put his boots on and get out on the field himself!) Monash picked up the pace of the game and immediately closed down the opposition. Around the 60th minute mark Esko Karine ran on to a ball that was not cleared by the Argonauts and rounded the goalkeeper to make it 2-1. Soon after Marvin produced another fantastic individual goal this time cutting in from the right to make it 3-1.

With Evan Kokkinos and Jonno Peck making it extremely difficult for the tiring visitors to keep up with their energetic running, Peter Sugija broke through the middle and squared it for Jonno to make it 4-1 late in the second half. Finally, a couple of minutes before the final whistle, David Rosario - who had a fantastic game - turned on the afterburners down the wing from left back (!) to square the ball to Jonno to complete a 5-1 result that kept the coach happy, and completed a hat-trick of home victories for the men's Sunday teams.