CASADIO Park played host to a thrilling match on Sunday, as Gambier Centrals made the trip across town to face International for a two-all draw in Round 9 of the Limestone Coast Football Association’s premiership season.
The game started with both sides looking to flex their muscles, but the opening minutes of the clash saw Centrals’ Jordan Milligan suffer a serious knee injury.
This resulted in a 40-minute delay of play while an ambulance was called to the scene, the second such occasion for the day following a similar knee injury in the Under 17’s match.
With players eager to resume play and keep warm, they were finally called back to the pitch and it was the visitors who got off to a flying start.
Centrals was in red-hot form as it quickly made a stake on the match, with Lewis March bagging the first goal for the game.
This goal went unanswered by Inter, as it failed to convert and Centrals continued to apply solid pressure.
Cameron Saint scored the second goal for the visitors and Centrals looked the better of the teams going into the break with a 2-0 lead over the undefeated Inter.
However, the league heavyweights were not about to go down without a fight, with a half-time roasting from coach Tony D’Agostino giving Inter the boost it needed to hit hard in the second term.
Goals from Christian Cella and Lachlan Charlton put the hosts back in contention, but with faltering light and fine defensive work from either end, the scores remained level at the final whistle.
D’Agostino said the end result reflected the contest on the day and remarked on the toughness of the game.
“The two-all result was probably warranted at the end,” he said.
“It was a tough game.
“An injury happened in the first minute and a half, which stopped the play for probably 40 minutes and that made it pretty hard for the players to warm back up.
“I think it probably hurt us a little bit, but when we came back I thought we were playing pretty good.
“We were unlucky, we got scored against on the break both times to go two-nil down.
“I’m pretty sure the boys got the message from me at half time about what we had to do and how we needed to press.
“If we could score one goal, a second would come and then possibly a third.
“We got the two, but were unlucky at the end not to get the third and they were probably unlucky as well.”
In terms of best players for his side, D’Agostino said it was a difficult decision, but he could not disregard his captain’s efforts, with Cella once again demonstrating his consistency.
“I thought probably Christian Cella again and you can’t go past Nick Morony who was superb in the back-line and Josh Grubb that came on early because Tobbei Kennett got hurt,” he said.
Missing some key players, Inter went into the clash understaffed, but pulled it together in the end to claim half the premiership points.
“We went in without our best striker Matt Bueti, our goal keeper Brayden May and then we lost Tobbei Kennett, being one of the better players,” D’Agostino said.
“That was three we lost really early out of the game.
“We are down to our third-string goal keeper, even though he is very good – Gareth Von Duve was brilliant Sunday.
“Matt Bueti is just class, so it’s always hard to replace him.
“And then Tobbei Kennett getting hurt in the first five minutes made it even worse, but we got there.”
Centrals’ coach Robert Nagy said the game was somewhat played in two halves, with the half-time break the tipping point on the see-saw match.
“It was a bit of a struggle in both halves – a game of two halves really,” he said.
“They probably had more their way towards the second half, we had our way in the first half, so it was a bit of a mixed bag.
“It was very tough, we had one of our strikers red carded in 17’s so he couldn’t play and we had probably four players out.
“We probably had our youngest squad that we have played in a while and it was a really scintillating game to watch.”
Nagy said the youngsters in the team held their own against the polished Inter side, but there are still some areas that will be worked on going forward.
“I thought they did pretty well, there are obviously a few things to work on, but defensively I thought they were pretty good,” he said.
“There were a few chances both ways, it probably could have been 3-2 towards the end, but it happens.”
Nagy said losing a player in the first minutes of the game did not have a major impact on his side, with only a few adjustments made to field positions and tactics.
However, he said the delay made conditions towards the end of the match slightly more difficult, with visibility fading fast.
“It was just a long wait,” Nagy said.
“It got a bit hard to see at the end, but it happens.”
In regards to best players on the day, Nagy also mentioned one of his most consistent players.
“Lewis March always scores a goal of late and he scored a cracker, I was really impressed with his performance,” he said.
“And even Craig Wright at the back, he was rock solid.
“It is really good to have someone experienced around the Under 17’s.”
This result will put Centrals in a solid position come finals and Nagy said it has taken the team one step closer to where it was last year.
In other games of the round, Apollo has now claimed the top rung on the ladder, after a convincing 9-0 win over Naracoorte put it two points clear of Inter in the premiership season standings.
With a half-time margin of 7-0, it was all over for the visitors, with Naracoorte remaining scoreless after the break.
Stewart Wallace led the way for Apollo with three goals to his name, while Brody Heenan and Adam Hodge claimed two each and Tom Inglis and Mema Mahungu bagged singles.
Blue Lake also had a win on the weekend, with the Rangers travelling to Portland to take home a 3-1 victory over the Panthers.
Leading by a goal at the break, Blue Lake came out firing in the second term to bag two more for the match, with Hayden Cutting, Bryce Strachan and Yuki Akita all contributors.
Tatiara hosted its second match for the year and this time it was rewarded with a solid 4-1 triumph over Millicent.
With scores level on one-all at half time, Tatiara used the ball effectively to stretch its lead to three goals by the end of the match.
George Matutuva, Andrew Diment and James Duff each recorded a goal for the hosts, while for Millicent it was John O’Connell who put the visitors on the scoreboard.
