All three of the region’s Central Victorian League One men’s teams picked up wins at the weekend.
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It was goals galore in all three games, with Shepparton South picking up a 10-0 win, Tatura winning 4-2 and Shepparton United a last gasp 3-2 victor.
For South, it was another dominant result, cruising to victory against Strathfieldsaye Colts United at McEwen Reserve on Sunday.
Despite the high scoring win, coach Rob Harmeston was critical of his side’s performance.
“In all fairness it wasn’t a very good performance, the first half was our worst half of the year,” Harmeston said.
“It sounds mad, but there was a club function the night before and some of us weren’t in the best shape.”
Will Keenan kicked four goals for South, while Sean Grant kicked three and Glenn Murison, Justin Cirillo and Joel Aitken scored one.
Harmeston said despite the large number of goals scored, the side acknowledged it was not as good a performance as it had hoped, with South lucky it was not playing one of the competition’s top sides.
The convincing win has South make it through the halfway point of the season undefeated and Harmeston said opposition sides would be looking to beat it the second time around.
“You can’t win a race halfway through, obviously we have to knuckle down and keep going, keep our standards high,” Harmeston said.
Tatura remains right on the heels of the league-leading South, picking up a solid 4-2 win against Strathdale at Howley Oval on Sunday.
Zac Ferlauto scored three goals, while Thomas Leech also found the back of the net for the Ibises.
Meanwhile, Shepparton United produced a memorable win against La Trobe University on Saturday night in Bendigo.
United was down a goal at half-time, with a Mohammed Al-Gazaly brace and a La Trobe equaliser having the scores move to 2-2.
Then, in a dramatic turn of events, United coach and club president Lewis Coyle scored a 90th minute goal for the visitor to run out a 3-2 winner.
In the League Two men’s competition, Shepparton Jaguars fell to Swan Hill 6-2.
The Jaguars were level at half-time thanks to a Laz Tuyisabe goal and despite Alhajie Kamara joining his teammate on the score sheet, it was not enough to get the side over the line.
- In the League One Women’s Cup competition, Shepparton United fell to a strong Strathdale 4-2.
The Saturday afternoon contest at Strathdale Park was close early, with scores locked at one apiece at the half-time break.
However, unfortunately for United, Strathdale produced an impressive second half performance to take out the win.
United coach Lucy Ciancio said the side was up against it on the day.
“We were missing a few key players and are now missing Rezwana Baqiri, who is out for the season,” Ciancio said.
Baqiri is a big out for the Shepparton side, with the goal-scoring captain hitting the back of the net 10 times in seven games this season.
Ciancio, who came out of retirement in recent weeks, is also set to miss three weeks through injury, however, the United mentor remained positive.
“To be honest there is not much that can be done,” Ciancio said.
“We are still a very new team and are still learning about each other and our abilities, so we have a long way to go, but I am proud of the team and how far they’ve come.
“Everyone played to their best in the wet conditions, which was definitely different and an experience for us.
“Strathdale came out strong from the start and produced a well-played game, they just came out better than us.”
One positive for United was the performance of Rana Jafari, with the number 16 scoring two goals in the defeat.
In the League Two Women’s Cup, Tatura produced an impressive home win over Swan Hill.
The 8-0 result was a dominant one, with Madison Forte scoring a hat-trick, Chelsea Salmon and Colette Suter scoring two goals each and Nicola Minicozzi also finding the back of the net.
Daniel is a passionate sports fan and proud Tasmanian.