Missed penalty leads to United collapse
Warragul United pushed a red hot Boroondara Eagles outfit hard against the ropes for the first half in Men's State League 1 action on Saturday.
However, a missed penalty kick at a pivotal moment led to a second period collapse and a 0-4 loss.
Boroondara came to Warragul for their round four fixture having won all three games prior. It was always going to be a tough encounter, yet United is always confident they can beat any side on their day.
It has been a difficult spell over recent weeks as United's list continued to suffer through injury and unavailability. It was evident once again that a reshuffled Warragul was not at full strength and was missing some “prime movers” from the starting line up.
Liam Andersen began the game between the sticks, with versatile skipper Nathan Lugton brought back to the centre of defence from his normal midfield position. He was covering for an injured Nick Modaffari who “tweaked” a groin last week.
Mitch Jones came back in alongside Lugton following a couple of weeks out with moto-cross commitments. Cooper Farr and Jobie Heusmann, who both performed well against Malvern, held their spots as fullbacks.
United's three-man midfield was marshalled by gun veteran Thomas Ahmadzai in the middle. He was supported by the tricky and very talented Xavier Nardone. Nardone made his first start for the year and was still not running at full capacity, nursing a pulled quad. Baley “Buzz” Row rounded out, on paper, a quality midfield.
Up front, Matt Maselli spearheaded the attack in the centre forward position, with lightning quick Germaine Otieno and the wiry and surefooted Sammy Gatpan either side.
Warragul made a lively start to the game and through most of the first term had the better of their opponents. Two players especially stood out. Lugton was an absolute beast in the backline, moping up every loose ball and tackling hard. Ahmadzai was the same in the middle of the park, rolling back the years and imposing himself with commanding passing, physicality and surging runs forward.
At half-time, Boroondara regrouped, after not being allowed to play well and being stifled by a buoyant United. The Eagles came out in the second half with a similar “long ball” style of football, which paid dividends against the run of play and allowed them to get in behind United's defence to square a simple opportunity for the Eagle's striker to poke home.
Warragul found themselves with a golden opportunity to equalise midway through the half after Germaine Otieno was tripped in the box. The referee awarded a penalty kick to the home team which a confident Otieno took on the responsibility to convert. A game-changing moment was unfortunately wasted as his rather flaccid strike was easily gobbled up by the towering Boroonadara keeper.
From there, the momentum shifted in the away team's favour, and two more “soft” attempts on goal disappointingly found the net.
Thomas Ahmadzai's afternoon came to an end shortly after. His troublesome hamstring called time at 60 minutes and Oscar Sheehan was introduced for some much-needed energy off the bench, picking up a yellow card within seconds following a typical overzealous challenge that left his opponent reeling.
Liam Antonelli was also brought on for his Warragul debut and played well, with Miles Luders also getting minutes moments later.
At 3-0 down, the scoreline flattered Boroondara as the last seconds ticked away. A “brain fade” in the backline right on fulltime presented the Eagles with one more to rub salt into a wounded United who had deserved better than the scoreline suggested.
If the rest of the league think that Warragul are easy beats, they are mistaken. United will regroup and, with a host of senior players returning, will be a force once again in coming weeks.
Best players: captain Nathan Lugton – workhorse, easily best and heavily relied upon. Thomas Ahmadzai – strong, ferocious and attack minded. Young Jobie Heusmann – a mature, calm and confident display.
Next week United travel to Eltham to hopefully “squish” the Redbacks who need a win.