By Peter Stephenson
The Kennel was sunny at kick-off as Barkers (6th) sought to staunch a run of four defeats that had dragged them down to mid-table. They faced 11th-placed Pines, who trailed Barkers by only four points, so if Barkers lost again, they would be sucked into a relegation battle.
Barkers began brightly. In the first minute, a cross from the right saw Jack Buglass put a glancing header over. Indeed, the first quarter hour saw Barkers control the game, with John-Paul Cooper looking very lively. However, as the game approached the 20-minute mark, Pines began to look more confident. They hit a dangerous corner from the right to the near post, but Dylan Waugh’s header skewed wide.
On 25 minutes, Barkers replied with a long ball from Cooper down the left wing to Geordie Scott. His cross was cut out by the Pines defence, and the game quietened down as the lights came on after only 30 minutes. Then, 10 minutes before the break, Barkers won a corner on the right. Sean Perrin hit the ball into a crowded six-yard box, but Dan Higgins had a free header and nodded the ball cleanly into the corner of the net to give Barkers the lead.
The last chance of the half fell to Pines on 39 minutes. A long clearance from keeper Colby Jones found Logan Johnston, who won an aerial duel, turned and shot over. Half-time: Mooroolbark 1-0 Frankston Pines – a fair reflection of play, with Pines threatening only rarely.
As the second half began, the wind was up, and a drizzle soon became heavy rain. Eight minutes in, a long Barkers ball down the right was misjudged by defender Ryan Ratcliffe. This allowed Scott to rob him of the ball. He cut inside and shot towards goal with Jones stranded, but a defender managed to block. Then Dan Burrows got to the byline on the right and crossed for Jack Buglass, whose flicked header went just wide.
As Buglass again threatened to increase Barkers’ lead, the hosts were instead pegged back. On the hour, Pines won a free kick 20 yards out. Nicholas Santhiago stepped up, and curled a beauty over the Barkers’ wall and inside the near corner of the net to give the league’s lowest-scoring side an equaliser.
Within a minute it almost got worse for Barkers. Waugh hit a snapshot which Mark Naumowicz couldn’t hold and the ball fell loose. It was Brett Tronconi who cleared the ball in the nick of time before a forward would surely have scored.
Having survived that scare, Barkers settled and attacked. Cooper, who was almost unplayable, did beautiful work to win a ball on the right wing, before hitting a gorgeous curling ball for Scott to chase. However, Barkers couldn’t quite capitalise on his cross. Then Barkers fired a ball in from the left which just eluded the head of Higgins.
Barkers then got careless again and gave away another free kick. This one was at least 35 yards out, but again Santhiago fancied his chances. To Barkers’ relief, he hit the ball over. Then on 76 minutes, Barkers broke and found Cooper in the clear, but he was brought down by Calum Batey. Paul McEvoy curled the free kick to the far post but the ball was cleared.
With 12 minutes left, Barkers won a corner on the left. The ball was sent to the far post, where Tronconi leapt like a salmon to head wide. However, Barkers conceded yet another free kick on 79 minutes. Santhiago hit this one from 30 yards. It went over the wall and bounded awkwardly in front of Naumowicz, but he was alert enough to claim the ball with little fuss.
Finally! With nine minutes left, McEvoy fed Cooper, who in turn found Scott. He got behind his man and hit a low shot across Jones into the corner of the net to restore Barkers’ lead at 2-1. By now, Maxim Solovyev had been brought on and was causing problems for the Pines defence. With three minutes left he went on a scintillating run down the left wing, and crossed for Scott. He was odds-on to score, but hit the bar. The final minutes were less tense than you might expect as Barkers held on to win 2-1.
This was Barkers’ first win for five games, and was well-earned. There were a number of good individual displays, but Cooper was sublime. Barkers breathe again, for now, and next week travel to Skye United.
In the early game, a very young reserves side went down 0-5 to Pines. The Thirds lost 2-3 to Croydon Ranges, and the Over 35s lost 2-7 to Casey Comets. Junior winners were Boys’ U14 (5-0 v Boroondara Eagles), Girls’ U13 (7-4 v Brighton) and Girls’ U12 (14-0 v Ashburton United).
Next week, the men travel to Skye United (Skye Recreational Reserve, Saturday 1pm and 3pm) while the women visit Mentone (Mentone Grammar Playing Fields, Sunday 1pm). See you down the Kennel!
