By David Manuca (@davidmanuca)

St. Albans Saints left it late but picked up all three points with a dramatic 2-1 win over Moreland Zebras at Churchill Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

Saints skipper Ryan McGuffie opened the scoring after just seven minutes with a sweetly struck hit from just outside the box.

The home side led 1-0 going in to the break but a better second-half performance from Moreland saw it rewarded with an equaliser on 64 minutes through Simon Tolli.

But Sean McIlroy stepped up with only a few minutes left on the clock to score a sensational overhead winner to send the St Albans faithful into raptures.

St. Albans coach Toby Paterson praised the two wonder-strikes from McGuffie and McIlroy.

“I thought the first goal was a terrific strike, he’s kept it low and shown his experience there but that goal (McIlroy’s) is worthy of winning any game,” Paterson said.

“It was an absolutely fantastic goal. I know Sean’s capabilities and that’s why I signed him.”

Moreland Zebras coach Danny Gnjidic admitted his players gave it their all and it was harsh for them to walk away with no points.

“It took two absolutely fantastic strikes to knock us off today. I think our boys did everyone that was asked but unfortunately came up short,” Gnjidic said.

“We can’t seem to take a trick at the moment. Any little mistake we make at the moment seems to be getting punished with the ball in the back of the net.”

Moreland had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring inside the first minute of the game but Mario Piriano hit his shot high and wide.

But St. Albans found itself ahead on seven minutes when McGuffie smashed home a loose ball into the bottom corner of the goal.

The skipper almost had a second on 25 minutes when Brodie Patterson’s perfect cross found him unmarked inside the six-yard box, but he directed his header right into Moreland goalkeeper Alex Stojanovski.

Barry Devlin had a goal disallowed shortly before halftime when the referee had adjudged McIlroy to foul the Moreland keeper.

Tolli was brought on at halftime to add some added flair up front for Moreland and it proved fruitful when the substitute scored the equalising goal after a mix-up in the St. Albans defence.

The game was never one full of opportunities and the next best chance in the contest fell to McIlroy late in the game and the forward expertly dispatched Ryan Baldacchino’s cross into the back of the net via an overhead kick.

St Albans will look to keep its winning form going when it hosts bottom-placed Brunswick City next week, while Moreland hosts Richmond.

MATCH DETAILS

St. Albans Saints 2 (McGuffie 7’, McIlroy 87’) defeated Moreland Zebras 1 (Tolli 64’) at Churchill Reserve [HT: 1-0]

St Albans Saints: 1. Stjepan GAL (GK), 4. Barry DEVLIN, 5. Felix ROSMAN, 2. Ryan McGUFFIE, 17. Adam NAKIC, 13. Nicholas CULLEN, 15. Konrad DOBRASZKIEWICZ, 10. Brodie PATTERSON (6. Martin MASON 77’), 9. Sean McILROY, 7. Juso JULARDZIJA (11. Ryan BALDACCHINO 67’), 16. Ajak DANEK.
 
Unused Subs: 21. Tonio BARESIC (GK), 14. Christopher ROSS

Yellow cards: Nil

Moreland Zebras: 1. Alex STOJANOVSKI, 7. Scott ROBSON, 16. Mile MEDJEDOVIC, 6. Angus MARTIN, 3. Johnny CRIVELLI (18. Adam CENTOFANTI 74’), 5. Nick SYMEOY, 12. Josh MCMONAGLE-ISHAZ (8. Simon TOLLI 46’), 13. Mario PIRIANO, 15. Evan BATSIS (19. Brad MURRAY 81’), 10. Danillo BONILLO, 9. Joel NIKOLIC.

Unused Subs: 4. Liam BRIAN, 21. Francesco GRECO.

Yellow cards: Nil

Image credit: Roberto Filitti