Langy
defeated for the first time this season.......Langy travelled over the Westgate Bridge for the first time in a number of years to take on an underachieving Western Suburbs. Suburbs were languishing perilously close to the relegation zone and had only hit the back of the net on eight occasions prior to this match, while Langy attempted to make ground up on Kingston and Richmond who were both held to draws, by Altona East and Port Melbourne respectively, on Friday night. The ground held fond memories for many of the Langy players and supporters alike, as this was the scene of the penalty shoot-out win against Pasco Vale in the play-offs two years previous.
Langy went into this game still missing leading goal scorer Caleb Nicholes through injury and in this tight game his presence was missed immensely. Even without big Caleb, Langy had the better of the opening exchanges, spurning a number of half chances to take the lead. The best of these chances fell to Ben Caffrey who turned his marker and hit his shot narrowly wide after a smart free kick by Ariel Vallderes. The bumpy pitch hindered Langy’s passing movements and the boys were restricted to knocking hopeful balls up to Ben Caffrey and Simon O’Donnell, who were well held by the big experienced Suburbs defence.
Langy seemed comfortable until the 20th minute when sweeper Darren McClenaghan injured his calf and was withdrawn for Greg Kilner. This meant a reshuffle with Greg Kilner going up front, Ben Caffrey moving back to his now familiar role of holding midfielder, and Paul Salvatore marshalling the defence. Suburbs saw this as an opportune time to attack Langy and this paid dividends almost immediately, with Gerard Brown scoring a hotly disputed goal. Confusion in the Langy defence meant that Salvatore hurried a clearance into the body of the Suburbs attacker (did it hit his hand?????? The referee and linesman seemed to think not, much to the fury of the Langy support who were sure that a hand was used), who was then free on goal and coolly slotted it past the hapless Chris Jones. Langy needed to lift but it was to be a day of frustrations and Langy were unable to find that spark to bring them back into the game before half-time.
Half-time came and went with Langy still down by a single goal. Neither side was playing inspiring football but again it was Langy who almost drew level early in the second half when O’Donnell attempted to catch out the suburbs keeper by taking a quick free kick from the edge of the box, but it was well stopped by the keeper who was able to quickly shuffle back into position. Suburbs were taking control of the game and had the majority of possession, but still didn’t look likely to add to their tally. The game was slowly slipping away from the boys but the introduction of Peter Diorio for a tired Ariel Vallederes looked to give the boys the spark that they needed. From his first touch Diorio looked to get the ball down and play to feet, and it was through this that Langy started to pin the Suburbs defence back. With the close score line came added desperation, with needless free kicks being given away by both sides, resulting in bookings for hard working midfielders Adam Poole and Stuart Craig. The suburbs defence held strong through this period of pressure from Langy and Gus’s final change was to bring on Rados Tomic for Stuart Craig in one final attempt to snatch an unlikely point.
It was from a touch of class from Tomic that Langy created their best and last chance of the second half. Young Rados picked the ball up deep in the corner, turned and nutmegged his defender but was unable to pick out a player in the box. The Suburbs defenders were able to clear the ball in the resulting scramble and this was to be Langy’s last meaningful attack of the game. In the dying moments Suburbs leading scorer Josip Loncaric was able to break free of the Langy defence to seal Langy’s first defeat of the season.
So 2-0 it ended and Langy’s reign as the only undefeated team in Victoria ended. It wasn’t one of the boys better performances but it can be forgiven after the heroics of the past 13 weeks. Langy get a chance to get back on the winning track this week at home to Port Melbourne, and after the tough game that was endured at SS Anderson Reserve earlier in the season, this game is sure to be no pushover. Langy hope to have Caleb Nicholes and Dimos Sevastiadis available for selection this week so get down to Lawton Park this Saturday to support the boys.
BEST PLAYERS
Lirim Rasimi
Chris Jones
Chris Quinn