The Senior Men hosted Werribee City last night and were left with a sour taste in their mouths after not being able to capitalise on no less than three clear-cut scoring chances late in the second half.
Earlier in the night, Fab Soncin’s Young Lions put the brakes on Werribee‘s winning streak, battering the Bees 5-2 in the undercard. The result making it three wins in a row for the U21s, who knocked the league leaders off their perch and claimed first position, thanks to their goal difference.
The main event kicked off, and Werribee City went straight onto the front foot, Lion’s pivot Mclachlan at one stage caught under pressure facing his own goal, Werribee had a long range effort, but Malliaras palmed away for a corner, which was eventually cleared. Bulleen weren’t without their opportunities at the other end, Dao with some nice work put Xamin through, who’s shot was saved. Then after corner at the other end turned into a counterattack, Stevenson failed to punish Werribee’s lapse in concentration, the ball slipping under a Bee’s defender’s foot into Stevenson’s path, but his shot lacked punch, resulting in an easy take for Bees’ keeper.
As the half wore on, the visitors came into their own, giving the Bulleen goalkeeper a fair bit of work to get through. At the half hour mark Bees’ danger man Minopoulos was allowed through on goal, his initial shot saved, and his rebound effort parried away by Malliaras. Minutes later, a goalmouth scramble saw three smothered shots before Bulleen managed to clear. And with five minutes remaining in the half, a weak Dao challenge on the edge of the box was pulled up by the referee, the resulting Bees free kick deflected off the wall for a corner. The corner whipped in, Radojicic with a header, Malliaras punched the ball away. Werribee going into the rooms with the psychological advantage, but without any scoreboard pressure.
The second half saw Bulleen‘s defence tighten up. The Bees were chasing the ball as Bulleen started to find some rhythm. An overlapping run from Waddell saw the rightback whip in a cross, Jarrod Del Monaco got on the end of it, his header was eventually saved, Dunn in goals for Werribee clutching the ball to his chest on his second effort. The game then descended into a midfield scrap, both teams not able to manage an effort on goal for some time, until the 67th minute, where McGarry was brought to replace Jarrod Del Monaco. His free kick deflected to Dao, who’s tame shot was easily saved.
From here on in, Bulleen looked the goods. Stevenson was put through, his rocket of a shot was acrobatically saved by Dunn. From the corner, Adrian Del Monaco headed just wide. Another attack saw the Werribee players incensed that the referee had not given an offside against Stevenson, the match official waved away protests and allowed the corner to be taken, from which McGarry‘s header was parried away and eventually cleared, City’s keeper racking up the saves to keep his team level.
Vizzari then came on for Ballan and his dynamism gave Werribee more headaches. He was involved in the buildup where Stevenson’s dribble was halted, the ball found it’s way to Xamin who was all alone in the box, but he stabbed his shot well over the top. A real chance wasted. Seconds later Werribee‘s defence was undone, Dao once again involved as Vizzari was played in out wide, his stinging cross met Stevenson’s head and the ball hit the back of the net, the referee whistling for offside, to the dismay of the Bulleen support in attendance. In the dying minutes, another Bulleen set piece wasn’t dealt with, McGarry finding himself with the ball at his feet near the penalty spot, his wicked shot was too central, Dunn wrapping the shot up in his arms to spare Werribee from it’s second defeat of the season.
The match ended all-square, with both teams having had their share of chances, Bulleen probably feeling most aggrieved given their late opportunities.
The Lions travel to Sunshine for their next match against the Georgies on Sunday the 12th of May.
