By Peter Stephenson
Barkers (eighth) travelled to a wet and windy Freeway Reserve to take on Brandon Park (fourth), in round 4 of State 2 South-East. Barkers made three changes to the side that beat Ringwood City 3-0 in the Australia Cup, with Liam Seaye, Ahren Angulo and Steve Nittoli coming in for Eddie Clark, John-Paul Cooper and Geordie Scott. Barkers were hoping to stem a run of two league defeats in a row to move back up the ladder.
The game began quietly as both sides had difficulty creating chances on the greasy pitch. On two minutes, BP’s Tommy Stanisavljevic’s shot flashed across the Barkers goal. Then on 11 minutes, Seaye hit a free kick into the BP box from the right, which a defender sliced awkwardly wide of the BP goal. BP hit back two minutes later when a cross from the left found Masee Namdar in space, but keeper Mark Naumowicz spread himself well to block the shot. Namdar had another chance four minutes later when he beat a defender, took the ball to the touchline and cut back inside, before flicking the ball wide from an acute angle.
Barkers didn’t heed the warning and on 25 minutes failed to clear their lines, leading to a BP shot past the far post. Just after the half hour, Barkers had a throw-in on the right, which was cleared to Nittoli, whose volley went well wide. The deadlock was finally broken on 34 minutes. BP worked the ball in from the left to find Daniel Eksiyan in space, and he curled a beautiful left foot shot over Naumowicz and into the net to give BP the lead. The game now became more open and end-to-end, but there were no further goals before half-time – Brandon Park 1-0 Mooroolbark.
As the second half began, BP continued to look the better side. Three minutes in, a slick passing move on the right was finished off from close range by Harout Kirichian and BP were now 2-0 up. Only now did Barkers look like they were matching the hosts. Within two minutes they had pulled a goal back as Marcus Watson popped up at the far post to score his first Barker goal and halve the deficit to 2-1.
That man Kirichian continued to cause Barkers problems, and on 53 minutes he had a shot which Naumowicz saved one-handed to his left. Then Kirichian turned and hit a curling shot narrowly over. By the hour mark Barkers were finally looking the stronger side. A foul on Paul McEvoy saw a Seaye free-kick hit over, then Sam Klepac turned smartly and shot wide.
Now BP tested Naumowicz once more. First a shot skidded nastily off the wet surface forcing the Barkers man to parry wide. Then a low shot from Stephen Tonios looked to be curling inside the far post before Naumowicz got a hand to it. Barkers replied with Cooper going on a good run but he panicked and blasted over. Then a Barkers corner saw a flicked header go wide. With 9 minutes left a superb double save from Naumowicz kept Barkers in the hunt, but BP held out under the siege. Full time: Brandon Park 2-1 Mooroolbark.
An entertaining game in tough conditions, but Barkers took too long to get going. That’s three league defeats in a row and Barkers need to halt that run soon.
The reserves turned the form book on its head to grab their first win of the season. Lying tenth and facing an unbeaten third-placed BP, they went behind in the 22nd minute to a goal from Steven Kassabian. The second half was a different story as first Jack Buglass scored a lovely solo goal on 54 minutes. Then two minutes later, Barkers had a shot blocked, then hit the bar, then Harry Rushton followed up to score the winner. Full-time (reserves): Brandon Park 1-2 Mooroolbark.
The men’s thirds lost 1-2 at home to Langwarrin Lions, the goal coming from Gareth Somers. The over 35s had a long trip to Baxter, resulting in a feisty 3-3 draw. Goals were scored by Luke De Iulio, Michael Orlando and Victor Inglese, in a game that saw 12 yellow cards and 2 red cards.
Next Saturday, Barkers’ men travel to Monterey Reserve to face Frankston Pines – reserves at 1pm, seniors at 3pm. The Barkers’ women begin their State 3 South campaign at Mornington’s Dallas Brooks Park, on Sunday at 3pm. See you down the Kennel!
