By Tomasz Ng @tomaszng07

A spirited Brunswick City has secured the double over ten-men Whittlesea Ranges with a 2-0 win at Dunstan Reserve.

Having upset Whittlesea on its home patch earlier in Round 5, Brunswick managed to repeat the dose thanks to goals by Amara Kromah and Sam Mazzolini, while also collecting its first clean sheet of the season. 

The game started at a frenetic pace, and the visitors should’ve taken the lead after 13 minutes when Daniel Peluso rounded Mason Interlandi, but the winger was caught dwindling on the finish, and the chance went begging.

Peluso was in the thick of the action again three minutes later when he was put through by a hard working Kliment Dimitrieski, but this time Interlandi was quickest to the ball, and snuffed out the chance.

While the game was end-to-end in nature, Whittlesea was creating the clearer chances, but even when they hit the target, Interlandi was in the way.

Eventually they paid for their profligacy when Kromah was played into the box by Mazzolini. 

The winger turned his defender, then proceeded to round Gregory Lascaris before slotting a neat finish into the back of an empty net.

Tomislav Trbuhovich had a chance of his own five minutes later to equalise after Brunswick couldn’t clear a corner adequately. 

However, his volley couldn’t pass a sea of bodies in front of the goal, and Lachlan Smale was on hand to clear off the line. 

Brunswick almost completed the half with a second goal, but Giannetta’s snapshot inside the box rocketed just wide of the far post.

Both keepers were called into action almost straight after the break, with Interlandi saving a big chance to Dimitrieski, while Lascaris got down low to palm away Rikiya Kitami’s free kick.

Then the match took a turn when Matthew Iuliano was sent off for punching Kitami in the face.

Aggrieved by the decision, Whittlesea attacked with more intent, but Dimitrieski was prevented from getting on the scoresheet by Smale, who was having an outstanding day at the back. 

Brunswick was still happy to hit Whittlesea on the counter attack, but began to create real chances of their own. 

Eventually a smart move ended up in Kromah returning the favour to Mazzolini, sending a teasing cross for the latter to meet with an emphatic diving header.

With the home fans still rejoicing in the strike, Juan Pablo Zuleta-Arias found himself one-on-one with Lascaris, but the half-time substitute couldn’t put the chance away. 

Whittlesea regained their composure on the ball, and started to mount more pressure on Brunswick, but despite creating promising openings, as well as a goal mouth scramble in the final minute, the hosts’ back line of Seamus Carr, Smale, Kitami and Simon Stankovski stood strong to record their first clean sheet. 

Brunswick City coach Joe De Martino was delighted with the result and praised his side for sticking to the game plan.

“We had a setback last week - due to a number of injuries and illnesses the squad whittled down to nothing, but we managed to get some of those boys back and they rallied together to play against a very tough Whittlesea,” De Martino said.

“I felt that they were constructing quite well in midfield, and were dangerous going forward, but when we went 1-0 up on the break I decided to go to a five-man defence.

“I wanted to be conservative and play on the counter because I knew they would have us on the ropes, and that’s exactly how they continued to play, and I congratulate my boys for sticking to the game plan as well.”

Meanwhile Whittlesea head coach Vinko Buljubasic was left disappointed after the loss, and felt that it just wasn’t their day.

“It does [hurt],” Buljubasic said.

“The first time that we played them we missed two penalties at home, and you got to score them. 

“They’ve got two wins for the whole season and they’re both against us unfortunately but I said to the boys this is a lesson for all of you younger players, that no matter who you face, wherever they are on the table, it’s going to be a battle every week.”

Whittlesea will look to bounce back against an improving Moreland Zebras side, on a high from beating Avondale Heights, while Brunswick City will be looking to continue their winning ways against Springvale White Eagles next week. 

MATCH DETAILS

Brunswick City 2 (Kromah 33’, Mazzolini 73’) defeated Whittlesea Ranges 0 at Dunstan Reserve. [HT: 1-0]

Brunswick City: 1. Mason INTERLANDI, 2. Seamus CARR, 25. Alex GIANNETTA, 55. Lachlan SMALE, 45. George MARKELIS, 24. Sam MAZZOLINI, 16. Rikiya KITAMI, 31. Simon STANKOVSKI, 30. Nick ARGYRAKAKIS (8. Nick TEREZAKIS 86’), 29. Amara KROMAH, 39. Joao CAMARA DE LIMA (35. Juan Pablo ZULETA-ARIAS 46’ (11. Admir KOLAKOVIC 82’))

Unused subs: 44. Rojdar ZENGIN, 95. Patrick MARRA

Yellow Cards:Argyrakakis 79’

Whittlesea Ranges: 1. Gregory LASCARIS, 6. Andrew TAYLOR, 23. Daniel SOTIROPOULOS, 15. John REALE, 13. Adem MUSTEDANAGIC (5. Matthew KONDEVSKI 84’), 14. Daniel PELUSO, 10. Matthew IULIANO, 9. Kliment DIMITRIESKI, 12. Tomislav TRBUHOVIC, 24. Rami MUSTAFOSKI (17. Girolamo CONSTANZA 67’), 25. Daniel GIOGHA (16. Mile RISTOV 23’)

Unused subs: 2. Dianoush RASOULZADEN-SYESAN, 20, Christopher STOJICEVSKI

Yellow Cards: Trbuhovich 80’

Red Cards: Iuliano 59’