LIMESTONE Coast soccer teams entered Sunday’s round five of the premiership cup with fresh legs after the bye for the South Australian Junior Soccer Association state championships last week.
In the A Grade competition a match-of-the-round was hard to come by and the closest encounter saw Apollo claim a 5-0 win over Naracoorte at Webb Street.
The hosts were still riding the high of their victory over International last round and put in another solid team performance.
However, despite the eventual margin it was a two-goal game for most of the contest, with the hosts not breaking away until late in the second half.
“Naracoorte were pretty good in their defence and in the midfield,” Apollo co-coach Bruno Vadori said.
“It is not like the Naracoorte of last year – they have a fair few new players in their squad.
“It was a good challenge and it was good to see them come to town and really try to press us.”
The score was just 2-0 at half time and for much of the second term it remained locked at that margin, with Apollo unable to convert its opportunities.
“We had a lot of chances, but just didn’t have the conversion rate,” Vadori said.
“Then in the second half we put three away in probably the last 15 minutes.
“There were a lot of patches there where we had the chances, but could not convert.”
Vadori gave credit to Naracoorte’s goal keeper, who pulled off some good saves to prevent the scoreline from blowing out.
However, in the end Apollo proved too strong and continued its solid first half of the season.
Another positive to come from the clash saw Patrick Wilondja make his return to the side for the first time since round one of the Steeline Cup on March 31.
He was dealt an eight-week suspension after a registration mix up at the start of the season and Vadori said he showed impressive form on Sunday.
“He looked really impressive and gelled well with the rest of the lads,” he said.
He played out three quarters of the match before heading to the bench, with match fitness still to come after such a long break.
Overall Vadori was impressed by the whole-team performance, but there was one standout on the day.
“Cameron Wallace I thought had an outstanding day,” he said.
“He was just on the ball – his passing and his effectiveness of robbing the ball off the opposition was outstanding.
“He had a really good day out and played most of the game, but unfortunately came off near the end with a blood nose.”
Wallace controlled the ball in the defensive midfield, while also moved forward from defence to score a goal.
The absence of Stewart Wallace saw an even spread of scorers on the day, with all five kicked off a different boot.
Erike Irakoze, Tobbei Kennett, Broc Linden and Bailey Musci joined Cameron Wallace on the scorer’s list.
“The ball was getting pushed around a fair bit,” Vadori said.
“It was good to have multiple scorers and not rely on one person.
“The ability of three or four of the midfielders to be accurate and score goals is a big bonus.”
Vadori said the team has really “clicked” as a group and players have all settled into their positions, which is a positive sign looking ahead to the post season.
It was a similar result over at Millicent, when the hosts claimed a 7-1 win over Blue Lake.
The victory marks Millicent’s third consecutive win and puts it in third position on the ladder.
The solid performance saw Millicent lead 4-0 by half time, before another strong term allowed it to run away on the scoreboard.
Mathew Grgetic led the way with three goals, while Samuel Papini, Brendon Robertson, James Davey and Brendon Bytheway all scored singles.
The final game of the round was a non-contest, but was arguably the most eventful, as Gambier Centrals hosted Portland for a massive 15-0 triumph.
By half time the scoreline was 9-0 and the slaughter continued after the break.
Nathan Fleetwood was a ball magnet and banged through six goals for the match, while Lewis March made his return from injury in style with a four-goal haul.
Rhyleigh Hollands maintained his consistent form to slot two away, while Thomas Holmes, Luke Pitson and captain Cameron Saint all chipped in with singles.
However, the win did not come cheaply, with Adrian Hurst suffering a season-ending injury.
“He has a double break in his leg, which is pretty upsetting,” coach David Beaman said.
Hurst has since been operated on and it appears to have all gone smoothly, but Beaman said it will weigh heavily on the team, as he had become an integral part of the A Grade lineup.
In addition to Hurst, Tom Renzi was absent from Sunday’s clash due to an injury sustained playing football for Mount Burr on Saturday and he will miss a few weeks.
Looking ahead to this weekend, the only game in the Blue Lake city will see Centrals host Millicent, while Blue Lake heads to Naracoorte and Inter travels to Portland.
Apollo has the bye for the round.
