In chilly but fine conditions, the Lilydale Eagles made the journey over to Mulgrave to take on the Dandy Casuals.
Despite no rain predicted, wet weather in previous days had softened up the uneven surface and a fairly strong breeze looked set to make both games a scrappy affair.
This would be seen in the go-ahead goal from the Eagles Reserves, coming in the sixth minute as Nick Seeger was able to tuck one home after a scrappy rebounded effort.
The Eagles Reserves were playing in an unfamiliar new formation, looking to make the most of new depth in defence from the bench, but lacked some synergy.
Despite early dominance, the Eagles were cramped in the final third of the small ground due to a combination of too many numbers forward and the Casuals’ low block. The Casuals didn’t have any chances of note, only finding some space in between the Eagles’ high-pressing midfield and defence, but had any of their forays forward snuffed out early.
There was to be at least a humorous early highlight for the Eagles as the returning Chris ‘Westy’ Weston and his dodgy calf tried an ambitious effort from distance, which in trademark Westy fashion flew miles over the bar and ended up crossing Police Road.
With their approach not working, the Eagles made the shift back to a more familiar setup late in the half and looked to extend their lead.
The switch did pay off as striker Byron Loveless found himself in a bit of space to the right side of the goal, cut inside onto his favoured left and buried a fine finish into the bottom left corner on the stroke of halftime.
In the second half and with the wind against them, the Eagles struggled a bit more in general play as the Dandy Casuals managed to put a little bit of pressure on, with keeper Callum Ludwig forced to tip a couple of attempts over the bar.
There was some friendly fire and a bit of a scare when Lilydale’s Fiifi Kwansah-Aidoo collided with the onrushing Ludwig, spilling the ball loose in the box but the Eagles were able to get it clear temporarily before the ball ended up back in the keeper’s hands.
Things got nervier for the Eagles when in the 70th minute Lilydale’s right back Dylan Donovan gave away a free kick and got a yellow card for an incidental right hook to the dome of his opponent on the edge of the box.
Dandy’s Zac Babak stood up to take the resulting free kick and whipped it right into the far corner to make it 2-1 and have the Lilydale Eagles under pressure.
That wouldn’t be helped by mercurial midfielder Mark Vanderkolk deciding that right from kick off was a great time to try and take on three players, losing the ball and resulting in another near miss.
The Dandy Casuals started to desperately push for an equaliser and things got tense, as the Egales hothead Marcus Salvitti got into a bit of an altercation with Dandy’s Georgalli Allegos before goalscorer Babak came in to offer (much) more manpower for his teammate. The resulting push and shove resulted in yellow cards for all three players.
Thankfully for the Eagles, Loveless was played through again down the right in the 87th minute and was able to seal the 3-1 win.
The Firsts were up next, looking to avenge their cup loss from a few weeks prior.
A couple of unavailable players saw some slight changes to the Eagles’ lineup and they looked to lack chemistry early, able to retain the ball well but lacking connection going forward.
The Dandy Casuals had the first big chance when they got the ball into the feet of their striker who was unable to find the goals, hitting the post with his effort, and also the defensive line, as he was offside.
The first half was pretty cagey, with the best chances coming for the Casuals from a couple of back post corners while the Eagles only looked likely once when playing coach Daniel ‘Dicko’ Dickson had the ball smothered at his feet after he looked to be through on goal.
Joshua Wells for Dandy found himself in the book just before halftime but the rest of the half was uneventful.
The Eagles’ hopes to go out in the second half and take control took a hit when a Dandy Casuals corner in the 48th minute was met strongly by George Vergakis to put them 1-0 up and with the Eagles looking down the barrel of another defeat.
The Dandy Casuals were buoyed by their goal and looked to antagonise and frustrate the Eagles’ players with jibes and insults but the Eagles remained mostly calm in their efforts to get back into the game.
Unfortunately for them, it was the Dandy Casuals who continued to have the best of the chances, calling a combination of Lilydale centre back Lachy Hamling’s head and the crossbar into action to keep out a free kick.
The Casuals would find a second goal in the 65th minute, as the Eagles attempted to play the ball out from the back and keeper Ludwig eventually coughed it up. After a few passes, Damian Roushdy was able to fire off a shot which squirmed into the bottom corner and made the task even more difficult for the Eagles.
Other than Lilydale’s Braden Zammit and Dandy’s Damian Walmaggia entering the book, there was little more to add to the game other than some more little comments and insults and the score remained 2-0 at the final whistle.
The Lilydale Eagles will be back at home next week to take on Bayswater.
