Comet
loose groundBy Jim Wilson
The Comets lost valuable points to the league leaders of the Vodafone State League Division Two South East Springvale White Eagles after a disappointing result at home to bottom of the table Fitzroy City.
With Captain Dario Simunic and ball winner Troy Williams out with long term injuries Coach Dale White had the added pressure of backline player Anthony Ciccarelli out due to suspension so he had to sacrifice Stefan Rudzki from the midfield to play a central defensive role.
Fitzroy City came to the Stadium full of confidence as they had picked up some new experienced players before the transfer deadline to avoid the drop to Division Three and in the past few weeks they had picked up some good wins and valuable points.
The game started at a furious pace and play was from end to end with Fitzroy looking the better team but at the 27th minute a through ball from Ben Watson was handled by Darko Perazic and Fikret Korkaric put the resultant penalty kick away to take his tally to 17 goals for the season. Five minutes later Frankie Bove put the Comets further ahead when he pounced on a poor clearance from Veljko Jaksic and put it past John Kobiela in the Fitzroy goal with a great volley.
This did not knock the Fitzroy teams confidence and just on the stroke of half-time they pulled one back when Stuart Borgonha misjudged an inswinging corner kick and could only help put it in the net.
The second half proved to be a real mid-field battle with the Comets trying to get the vital third goal and Fitzroy eager to get a result. It was Fitzroy who scored through an excellent volley from Perry Voljovic and the travelling support was in raptures as it was a great strike which gave Comets goalie Borgonha no chance.
With tempers getting frayed referee Ron Sinclair had his hands full and Comets defender Mattie McDermott was lucky to only get a yellow after a challenge on Francesco Vera. Comets mid-fielder Adam Rudzki was not so fortunate as he was red carded for a tackle on Trajce Dimovski that the Fitzroy player should have got an Oscar award for his play acting.
The Comets held out for the last 15 min and got a point which puts them 3 points behind league leaders Springvale White Eagles. Coach Dale White was putting on a confident spin on the result as it could have been a loss. The Comets play White Eagles in a couple of weeks at the Stadium so it is in our own hands so he was keeping things upbeat and with only seven games left anything can happen and it is a week to week game situation and his team have to keep site of top spot and he is adamant that he will not accept anything else than the championship from his playing squad. Luke Venterie had an excellent return and new signing Colin Stuart is available as of next week so competition for a spot in the team is red hot.
The Ressies had a great 4-0 win over an Experienced Fitzroy team goals from Brenton Szabatura,Daniel Castillo and two from Seb Lorenzo helped put the team in the top four.
Next week the Comets are away to arch rivals Stonnington City and as the Comets do not fair well on the paddock that Stonnington call a ground it will be a nail biter for sure.