Top four battle reaches fever pitch

QUICK THINKER: Apollo’s Stewart Wallace gets head to ball after a rebound off the keeper’s hands, slotting the goal through in an impressive second attempt. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

THE top four is heating up in the Limestone Coast senior soccer competition, with another draw between two teams in finals contention at Webb Street on Sunday.

It was always going to be a hard-fought contest when Apollo hosted Blue Lake for Round 9 of the premiership season, but punters would not have expected a two-all draw.

The clash was the only one in the Blue Lake city on the weekend and it was by far the match of the round.

The game started evenly and both teams demonstrated strong footwork and passing, which continued throughout the match.

Apollo was first to hit the board, with Erike Irakoze shooting for goal, only to be saved by a high leap from Blue Lake keeper Andy Armandi.

However, an impressive second attempt from Stewart Wallace saw him put head to ball on the rebound and slot it through to take the lead.

With captain Tom Inglis absent from the side, Wallace stepped up to the helm and led by example, scoring both goals for his team on the day.

He was backed up by Irakoze and Lungani Emmual, who both provided plenty of run into the goal square, while youngster Adam Richards hit his straps in the first half.

Apollo replied to its first goal by almost scoring two more in quick succession, both of which saw Richards directly involved.

The first saw him pass across the square to Irakoze for a close miss, while soon after Richards had his own shot, which was unlucky to hit the post.

Play went back and forth all day and these attempts were followed by some Blue Lake opportunities.

Jacob Phillips had a shot which went high over the goals, but the next chance saw Si Pler run in from out wide and chip it past fill-in Apollo keeper Wayne Lennon.

The scores remained level going into the break and both teams took to the ground with the same intensity in the second half.

Blue Lake was not pulling punches in the opening minutes and applied plenty of pressure to the Apollo defence line.

However, the work of Under 17 Adam Walker down back turned many of these attacks away.

The young gun had a standout game and filled the hole left by Inglis’ absence, backed up by the likes of Cameron Wallace, who put in another solid effort.

Walker’s performance was crucial in holding back the Blue Lake attack and it was through his and fellow defenders’ efforts Apollo was able to take the lead once more.

The game levelled out again after the Rangers’ initial burst and a fumble in the goal square saw Wallace bang through his second to put Apollo back in front.

However, celebrations were short lived as the young Fraser Howard quickly responded with a Blue Lake goal.

And that was how the scores remained, despite chances at both ends and a raised intensity from Blue Lake.

Apollo coach Bruno Vadori was away on the weekend, so Jamie Stephenson stepped in to fill his place.

Stephenson was pleased with the team’s performance and said the result was fitting for the closeness of the match.

“It was a good hard game from both teams and two-all was probably a good result in the end,” he said.

In addition to Vadori and Inglis’ absences, goal keeper Ben Morris was also away.

However, Stephenson said Lennon was just as strong in goals and that was not an issue on game day.

Stephenson had nothing but praise for the Under 17’s who stepped up and had an impact on the match.

The likes of Walker, Richards, Bailey Musci and Harry Wilson were all in good form as they showed the depth of the Apollo squad.

“Adam Walker absolutely killed it, best on ground in my books,” Stephenson said.

“We have a good junior core from Under 17’s, so it is good to bring them up.

“Nox (Lennon) in goals was also really good and Stewie (Stewart Wallace) was good and kicked a couple of goals.

“Blue Lake played a really hard game and I think everyone (for Apollo) was pretty consistent.”

Stephenson was also pleased with Cameron Wallace’s performance, as he took three youngsters under his wing in the backline.

For Blue Lake, coach Jared Vause played well and led by example until he came off in the second half.

He was happy with how his side played, but said it was a bit disappointing to not take home the full points.

“We played well and we created a lot of opportunities towards the end of the game,” Vause said.

“We felt like we had the run of the game, so we were probably a bit disappointed it held on for a draw because we had a couple of chances to win it.

“But it was a good team effort as always.”

In terms of best players, it was the usual performers who rose to the task at hand.

“I liked Si Pler, he’s always good,” Vause said.

“Bryce (Strachan) up front was also good and Fraser (Howard) was good until he got injured.

“Everyone had a good game.”

Yuki Akita was strong in the forward line again and was unlucky not to hit the scoreboard, while the likes of Tristan Guess and Jacob Phillips played their part.

The result adds further pressure to Blue Lake and taking the half points could prove fatal for the currently third-placed side, as the next two rounds see it face International and Centrals.

However, Vause remains confident in his team and hopes to take some points out of the next two games.

The remaining matches on Sunday saw Centrals share the goals in its 5-2 victory over Portland.

With scores on 2-1 at half time, Centrals banged through three more goals after the break to see Lewis March, Cameron Saint, Henry Shoemark and Craig Wright all make an impact on the board.

For Portland Razvan Atodiresei scored both goals.

Goals were also shared for Naracoorte, with Benjamin Lalhuluai, George Matutuva and Hossian Panahi scoring one each, while Jaime Sneddon scored both for Millicent in its closest game for the season, with a 3-2 final score favouring Naracoorte.

This weekend will see Blue Lake host Inter, while Centrals welcomes Millicent to Bishop Road and Apollo makes the trip to Naracoorte.