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ROUND 2 MATCH REPORT PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 16 March 2007
A bumper crowd was on hand at Chaplin Reserve in Sunshine on Labour Day Monday when Sunshine George Cross hosted rivals and nearby neighbours Green Gully.

SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS 0

GREEN GULLY 2 ( PENA 58', OLLERTON 84')

LINE UP:
John,Zilic,Azzopardi,Napoli,Gauci-Seddon (Conroy 51),Soares,Trpcevski (Simsek 67),Greechan (Addo 75),Magnacca,Opazo,Kalmar SUBS NOT USED: Maher, Husanovic


The day was meant to be a day of celebration for the Georgie fans as on this day in 1947 the George Cross Football Club was born, however as often is the case with so many derbies and with a special occasion to boot, the build up and expectation is often ambushed by what happens on the park.

The Cross was dealt a blow as early as midweek when star A league signing Jonas Salley strained a hamstring at Thursday night training. In order not to risk Salley long term and with only a 4 day turn around to the next fixture against heavyweight Oakleigh away, the decision was made to rest the Ivorian. This allowed Adam Gauci Seddon to slot into the back line from the bench. New signings Nana Addo and Trevor Conroy were elevated into the squad.

The windy conditions and poor pitch made pretty free flowing football non-existent.

The first half was a very flat affair, lacking spark and the mood of the fans was rather subdued as well. However it was the rigid and experienced Gully that adapted to the situation better resulting in three strikes on target in the first half, one that was parried away by Martin John around the post, another that former George Cross captain Manny Muscat thundered on target which John deflected over the bar and a third which struck the post and Gully player Vassallo missing the easy rebound.

Chris Greechan was playing a lone hand up front for the Georgies often supported by Opazo, but the Cross was getting dragged into the Gully's style of long ball and aerial duelling. A reckless tackle by Andy Vargas on Ralph Napoli also signalled the visitors intention of upsetting the home teams rhythm.


The second half started reasonably brightly for the Cross as Nick Kalmar's glancing header from a corner could have so easily made it 1-0. However in the 58th minute a turnover in defence by Colin Azzopardi ultimately led to the Gully's opening goal, when from the resulting passage of play Martin John was unable to clear a cross in a congested 6 yard box and the rebounding ball was knocked in from 12 yards by Marcelo Pena. The second half saw more George Cross players joining the already growing medical casualty list as firstly Gauci Seddon succumbed to a first half leg wound and Chris Greechan twisting an ankle. This allowed Trevor Conroy and Nana Addo to come on as well as Kam Simsek replacing Vasko Trpcevski.

Many drives forward especially down the left initiated by Eddie Soares fell redundant once the ball was crossed into the penalty area as the Cross was unable to manufacture a single strike on target as the Gully defence was able to deal with any threatening situation

The Cross's best chance came on 80 minutes when a long ball was fumbled by the Gully keeper, and with an open net beckoning, it was the Gully defence which made ground quickest to clear the ball to safety. The Georgies for a second time paid the price for lack of finishing at the opposite end as Gully snatched a second goal and ultimately the winner which flattened the Georgies birthday cake before it could be cut. In the 84th minute s well driven corner kick by Andy Vargas found an unmarked Ryan Ollerton on the edge of the box to slam home a goal of quality no Cross fan could deny.

STATISTICS

CORNERS: 5 8
FOULS: 11 13
SHOTS ON TARGET: 0 5
SHOTS OFF TARGET: 4 4
OFFSIDES: 2 0
YELLOW CARDS: 2 0
RED CARDS: 0

0


 
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