Monash University v Berwick City

[ http://www.berwickcity.com/ ]

By David Mackie Monash for some reason always seem to lift when playing Berwick and so Coach Saunders had to really get the players up for this one and to their credit Berwick certainly came to play. Berwick dominated this game from the Kick off and played some great attacking football. The ball seemed to be on a string for Saunders who was dictating the play from the middle and with Elvin cutting the Monash defence to pieces every time Berwick went forward it was only a matter of time before Berwick scored. This came from some great individual play from Elvin who beat 2-3 players cut inside and unleashed a great shot which although took a slight deflection was always destined for the net. Kaimon Parker and Simon Mur up front were also creating some great chances and when teWierik found Mackie who slotted the ball to Parker the Monash defender brought him down in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. The referee then seemed to have one of those moments and although there was a bit of push and shove going on he decided to Red card both the Monash Captain and Wayne Schembri. The players and the crowd were all stunned and it was left to Saunders to take the spot kick which he duly converted. The defence of Maggs,Costa and Kranz weren’t giving the Monash forwards a sniff up front and the tackles were getting harder as frustration set in. Half Time Berwick 2 Monash 0. The second half was a repeat of the first with Berwick again dominating the play and when Costa sent a superb through ball to Mur who beat the back marker and crashed the ball into the back of the net from 20 yards the game was all but over. For the rest of the game Berwick were in control of the ball 80% of the time with Mackie and Saunders switching the play left to right at will, but to their credit the Monash players never gave in. The final whistle went and Berwick had certainly given Monash a lesson in possession football. The win also guarantees Berwick promotion into State League 3 which will be the highest league that the club has achieved in its 30 year history. Also with only 3 games to go the club only needs to take a point to win the league which would be a fantastic achievement by the players and coaching staff. Next game Riversdale at home 20th August