James Murphy
AFTER the close results of the opening games, Round 2 of Limestone Coast men’s soccer went the opposite direction with a couple of convincing victories.
Over at Bishop Road, Gambier Centrals claimed a solid 6-1 win over a visiting Millicent.
Despite the eventual scoreline, it was only a one-goal game at half time.
Sam Shoemark scored in the 11th minute to give the Lions the lead, but from there scoring dried up.
That was not due to lack of supply and Centrals had countless opportunities to extend its lead.
However, Millicent stacked players behind the ball and paired with some wayward kicking from the hosts, the score remained 1-0 at the break.
Regrouping at half time, Centrals came out firing in the second term.
“It was just that inner belief,” Centrals coach Brodey Koop said.
“We had done the work and we knew we were playing well.
“We had plenty of opportunities in the first half that just hit the post or they went wide.
“It was just about maintaining the belief that we do have the skill to kill this game off and put it away quite easily.”
That philosophy seemed to work and Jake Blackwell found the back of the net in the 46th minute to double the score.
Shoemark popped up again with consecutive goals, with all three in the space of 11 minutes.
By then the writing was on the wall and when Blackwell converted again it was a 5-0 game.
To their credit the guests managed to chip one back when Sam Adie scored in the 68th minute, but it was merely a consolation prize in the end.
Shoemark scored again late in the match to wrap things up at 6-1 in a solid outing for the Lions.
Koop was pleased to see his team bounce back from the Round 1 Anzac Day loss to International and hopes it will kickstart a good run from here on.
He was happy with Blackwell’s output, playing a different role on the day, with his two goals a reward for his efforts.
Debutante Alex Obedi also impressed and it sounds like he will find himself as a regular on the senior pitch.
“He stepped in and played his first game of A Grade,” Koop said.
“He did not look out of place at all – I thought he was absolutely unreal for us.”
Centrals will look to back up its win against Apollo under lights tonight, which is expected to be a tougher outing for the Lions.
Another strong win was had over at Casadio Park when Inter hosted Blue Lake for Round 2.
The home team proved too classy on the day and despite holding their own in the first 30 minutes, the Rangers eventually succumbed 6-0.
A flurry of goals late in the first half kickstarted things heading into the break and put Blue Lake on the back foot.
Dan Allright scored in the 30th minute, before two late goals to Federico Pepa and Allright had Inter up 3-0 at the change.
Allright had a solid day out and added his third and final goal in the 58th minute, before Matt Bueti and Tom Weedon put the icing on the cake late in the game to bring the margin out to six.
The closest fixture for the round had Apollo travel to Naracoorte for a 3-1 win.
The guests started well and Gay Nay Say Ler opened the ledger with a goal in the 15th minute, soon followed by a Jack Donehue goal to push it out to 2-0.
An early second-half goal to Say Say Wah gave Apollo its third goal, but from there the game entered somewhat of a deadlock.
Both teams swung some changes throughout the half but it was not until the dying minutes of the game the next goal was scored, with Naracoorte’s Ciaran Shouksmith converting to give the hosts a small reward for their effort.
Looking to Round 3 and Naracoorte will face Blue Lake at Malseed Park, while International visits Millicent and Apollo hosts Centrals under lights at Webb Street for a Friday night game.
