By Bill Molloy (@Bill_Molloy94)

Goals from Nate Foster and Dominic D’Angelo saw Oakleigh Cannons recover from their first loss of the season last week with a 2-0 win on home soil against Werribee City.

For large parts of the first half, neither team was able to take the upper hand and assert control of the game as the ball was tightly contested in midfield.

Eventually the pressure saw the Werribee City defence collapse late in the first half as Goran Zoric played a through ball into Nate Foster who found himself isolated in the box.

He fired a shot past Tommy Dunn, who managed to get a hand to it but it was too fast for him as it smashed into the back of the net.

The tempo was not lost when the players returned in the second half and a penalty was awarded to Werribee early in the half as the visitors had a chance to equalise.

Daniel Sweeney stepped up to the spot but his effort was poorly taken and Cannons goalkeeper John Honos dropped low to his left as he gratefully collected the ball.

The effort was the best and one of few chances for Werribee as Oakleigh continued to press to extend its lead and the midfield started to dominate.

There was a strong physical presence in the second half and as a result, seven players found themselves in the referee’s book.

In similar fashion to the first half, the Werribee defenders collapsed late in the game and Zoric broke down the right wing before cutting the ball back to a rushing D’Angelo, who hammered the ball past a hapless Dunn to double Oakleigh’s lead and ultimately its winning margin.

Foster was happy to be on a winning side once more after the Cannons’ unbeaten streak was ended by Pascoe Vale in Round 10.

“We lost last week so we knew we had to come out and win this week to put pressure on South Melbourne so it was good that we got the three points,” Foster said.

Foster also increased his goal tally to six this season but passed on the praise to teammate Zoric.

“I’m glad I scored but I think Zoric did all the work...all the praise goes onto him because he did all the work, I just put the ball in the back of the net,” he said.

Werribee City coach Nino Ragusa believed the scoreline wasn’t reflective of either team’s performance.

“Two-nil doesn’t reflect the game, especially the second half. I don’t think they did anything really worthy of a two-nil result at the end of the day...The only reason they get the goal is because we completely opened up pushing for the result,” Ragusa said.

Ragusa also made clear that personnel changes were at the forefront for reviving Werribee’s season.

“The players that I’ve got here I’ve given them the opportunity like I said...The transfer window is my lifeline.”

MATCH DETAILS

OAKLEIGH CANNONS 2 (Foster 37’ , D’Angelo 83’) defeated WERRIBEE CITY 0 at Jack Edwards Reserve [HT: 1-0]

Oakleigh Cannons: 1. John Honos 7. Bonel Obradovic (16. Ariel Ritz 68’) 5. Aron Wilford 18. Adam Le Cornu 22. George Krommidas 20. Jordan Lowdon 23. Dominic D’Aneglo 11. Evan Christodoulou 19. Goran Zoric (15. Omar Ammache 86’) 8. Dusan Bosnjak (17. Dean Piemonte 46’) 14. Nate Foster

Unused subs: 35. Branislav Karaga 21. Andreas Govas

Yellow Cards: 20. Jordan Lowdon (51’), 18. Adam Le Cornu (53’), 16. Ariel Ritz (76’)

Red Cards: None

Werribee City: 1. Tommy Dunn 4. Ryan Filipovic (8. Daniel Sweeney 22’) 5. Nemanja Govedarica 6. Anthony Ragusa 7. Simon Zappia 9. Zois Galanopoulous 13. Milan Savic 14. Bobby Vidanovski (17. Matthew Cundari 46’) 20. Daniel Petrov (11. Domenico Marafioti 72’) 43. Steve Cudrig

Unused subs: 12. Roderick Yousef

Yellow Cards: 13. Milan Savic (46’) 8. Daniel Sweeney (56’) 20. Daniel Petrov (64’) 11. Domenico Marafioti (87’)

Red Cards: None