By Peter Stephenson
The Kennel was chilly for the only night game of the season as Barkers (fourth) hosted North Caulfield (sixth). After the 0-2 loss to Bentleigh United Cobras, Barkers made five changes. Out went Mark Naumowicz, John-Paul Cooper, Liam Seaye, Ryan Smith and Maxim Solovyev, and in came Chris Marshall (first game for eight years), Ben Cooper, Daniel Aye, Aaron Porcaro and new signing Chris Potter.
On 13 minutes, NC had a corner on the right. It found a forward’s head, but Marshall was down smartly to parry wide. Then at the other end, an error by NC gave B.Cooper a half-chance, but he was tackled before he could get his shot in. Back came NC with a low shot Marshall.
They say that the only certainties in life are death, taxes and Geordie Scott scoring against North Caulfield (he already had six in four games against them). So on 18 minutes it was no surprise when Aye sprayed a long crossfield ball to his captain, who provided his usual calm, crisp finish to make it 1-0 Barkers.
Just before the half hour, Scott squared for Aye, who shot over. Then there was a goalmouth scramble that ended in Ross Clark hitting the bar. Eight minutes before the break, another long ball found A.Porcaro on the right. He put the ball through for Scott to run on to, and Scott hit a lovely shot into the corner of the net for 2-0.
Both sides had chances before half-time, with Steve Nittoli stealing the ball and shooting narrowly wide, then NC hitting a curling shot over. Half-time: Barkers 2-0 North Caulfield.
Eight minutes into the second half, Barkers found Scott out on the left, and he managed to shake off his man and hit a low ball into the box for Clark, who found the net to make it 3-0. This, though, was a very open game, so it wasn’t really a shock when six minutes later, NC broke down the left, crossed, and put the ball in from close range to make it 3-1 Barkers.
Just after the hour, A.Porcaro slid in on the NC keeper and somehow managed to hit the ball against the bar. Then NC started playing some decent football. A corner from the right saw a forward get a touch close to goal. Marshall had no time to react but pure instinct saw him paw the ball away. Then a low NC shot came through a crowd of players. Marshall must have been unsighted but still touched the ball wide.
Having weathered the storm, Barkers went up the other end and produced a stroke of genius. A cross from the right found Aye unmarked, and he hit a superb dipping shot which left the keeper helpless to make it 4-1. We’ve conceded some cracking goals lately and finally we had one of our own.
Still NC tried to play football and created a couple of half chances, but with 10 minutes to go, the seeming inevitable came about. Yet another NC attack broke down, Barkers played the ball through the middle and Scott ran on to the ball. His shot struck the keeper, but had too much power to be stopped and the captain had his hat-trick. Full-time: Barkers 5-1 North Caulfield.
This was entertaining stuff but Barkers now have a problem to solve if they are to make inroads into the top spots – how does the coach keep what is becoming a relatively large squad of experienced players happy?
