The Lilydale Eagles were back at home to welcome Gideon’s Warriors on Saturday 5 July, looking to put some more points on the board ahead of a cup round break.
The Reserves took to the field first in perfect conditions and despite lacking numbers on the bench, looked the better side very early.
The deadlock was broken early by centre back James ‘Becks’ Laine, who volleyed a bouncing ball that had been cleared from the box, with his looping shot beating the keeper to make it 1-0.
Not long after, Joshua Zmegac scored his first goal for the club with a curling finish into the top corner, adding a second later in the half.
Standing in goals, Daniel ‘Dicko’ Dickson stepped up to take a free kick from inside his own half which he sent long for Lilydale forwards to chase but it carried on and a mistake from the keeper saw it register a miraculous goal.
The Eagles weren’t done for the half then either, when a mistake following a goal kick saw Byron Loveless poke home the fifth for the half through the keeper’s legs to cap off a dominant first half display for Lilydale.
Shortly after halftime, the Warriors got one back when their striker curled a delightful finish into the top corner past subbed-in keeper Nick ‘Seegs’ Seeger.
Not long after, the dreaded dodgy legs of some of the old boys for Lilydale combined with the lack of subs saw the inevitable happen when Becks hobbled off with a calf early in the half after trying to be a bit more expansive and play in midfield rather than resting in the backline, followed by Seegs’ pulling a ‘string shortly after he raced out to collect a long ball.
The Eagles continued to remain on top without adding to their lead for a little while until midfielder Mark Vanderkolk waltzed past multiple Gideon’s opponents before tucking home a simple finish into the bottom corner.
Gideon’s picked up another consolation goal when one slipped through the fingers of Dicko who came back on in goal. Dicko looked to have recovered and palmed the ball away before it crossed the line but referee Derek Murray had other ideas and gave the goal.
The last highlight from the game came when Vanderkolk secured his brace with a slightly scuffed finish still found its way into the back of the net and hopefully proving to Mark he can actually take a shot every now and then and it might just go in.
The match finished 7-2 to the Eagles.
The Seniors then took the field looking for redemption after being comfortably beaten in the away fixture earlier in the year.
Things got off to a poor start for the Eagles however when in the 11th minute, a ball was played over the top for the Warriors’ Mark Beshay who flicked the ball over the onrushing Ludwig, and despite the best efforts of Leo Blair to clear the bouncing ball off the line and Lilydale’s pleas for offside, the goal was awarded.
It went from bad to worse soon after when in the 12th minute, it was Beshay played through again who managed to finish for a quickfire brace to have Lilydale on the back foot early.
The pressure didn’t stop there with Ludwig forced into a couple of saves to prevent the lead from being extended before the Eagles started to grow into the game and solidify defensively.
Despite some half chances that were off-target or where Lilydale didn’t get a shot off early enough, the Eagles were unable to peg back the margin before halftime.
However it wasn’t long into the second half when Ethan Emmett fired home into the bottom corner after a lovely little flick around the corner from Kaiden Deany-Smith to make it 1-2 in the 49th minute and the Eagles were up and about.
Gideon’s midfielder David Abdelmalek picked up a yellow card in the 65th minute as the Lilydale Eagles put the pressure on and eventually the dam wall broke in the 73rd minute when Lachy Hamling headed from a corner to make it 2-2.
Things started to get heated, with Lilydale’s Bailey Hone picking up a yellow card shortly after the restart for a rash challenge which started a bit of biffo, got supporters on the sideline riled up and even had referee Derek Murray swearing, an offence that would see any player with a yellow card so it’s hoped he noted his profanity in the book.
Unfortunately for the Eagles it was another quickfire collapse similar to the first half, with the Warriors scoring two goals in as many minutes through Abdelmalek and Beshay to make it 2-4.
The Eagles weren’t prepared to give up yet however and in the 81st minute, Emmett scored again to give the Eagles a sniff.
Lilydale continued to press forward and in the last minute thought they had an equaliser when a long free kick to the back post saw a combination Hamling and Emmett bundle the ball home, only for the linesman to raise his flag and rule it out.
It ended 3-4 and the Eagles will look to try and pick up two wins away against Maroondah United after the week off.
