In Round 1 of the Fraternity Cup, Oak Flats Falcons faced newly promoted Coniston FC at Tarrawanna Oval. A match which looked on paper to provide a promising contest, it was always going to be a hard-fought game. Both teams were eager to prove themselves to their respective coaches and to announce themselves as contenders for the upcoming season.

Both teams were showing nerves in the first 10 minutes of the game with neither side able to hold enough possession to build any promising attacks. Oak Flats eventually began to play with more composure, feeding the ball through the midfield with patient build ups.

In the 11^th minute, Oak Flats’ patient build up started to show signs of a promising attack, with the ball spread out into space to the right-hand side. A low, venomous cross whipped into the penalty spot found Oak Flats' unmarked Striker, Joshua DeGoveia, his shot however, being the best opportunity of the game to put Oak Flats ahead, was sent soaring over the cross bar. A quite extraordinary miss from a player who had scored 12 goals in 20 games last season.

A quick counter attack saw Coniston break swiftly into Oak Flats’ half and created a half chance in which Adrian Nikolovski steered directly into the path of the Oak Flats' keeper, Ben Wunsch. The number 20 comfortably saved the ball with his first real touch of the game.

After a 5-minute stint of possession, Oak Flats looked destined to break to deadlock and open the game up, yet a strong display of goalkeeping by Alex Makin protected the Coniston goal. A searching ball along the ground from the Oak Flats' midfield saw DeGoveia use his strength to hold off the incoming defence and manage to fire a shot away, however, he was denied by a brilliant piece of goal keeping by Makin who read the play quickly and smothered the ball effectively. Another opportunity for the Falcons in which had gone begging.

A few more half chances and poor execution saw the teams go into half time at a stalemate. A back and forth half which saw Oak Flats have the better chances of the two sides.

At the start of the second half the heavens opened up and so did Oak Flats' defence. Darting runs into the area by Coniston began to trouble the defence. New signing Dinko Terzic had an early right footed shot from the left side of the 18 yard box but it flashed past the far post. Coniston continued to build up pressure with smart plays and a hunger to win the ball which they lacked in the first half.

The constant pressure of Coniston left the Oak Flats defenders frustrated and sure enough the Oak Flats' defence finally caved in after conceding a soft corner in the 40^th minute. Two players whom started on the bench linked up with a gorgeous right-footed in swinging corner from Sasa Arcaba found the head of James Petreski, who reacted first to send the ball rocketing into the back of the net, beating the keeper with pure pace. A wonderful goal in which deserved to break the deadlock and punish the Falcons for a very poor and sloppy start to the second half.

Oak flats refused to wake up and 10 minutes later another corner whipped in by Arcaba found Matthew Stojanovoski who failed to extend his teams advantage when his close range header smashed against the crossbar.

Yet the game did not open up after Stojanovoski's searching header and began to see Coniston set cruise control on as neither team had any more real chances. Coniston clinical finishing and Oak Flats poor execution was the deciding factor in this tight contest.

Oak Flats Falcons – 0

Coniston- 1 ( Petreski – 40’)

 

Oak Flats Falcons

Ben Wunsch, Brenton Lloyd, Christian Capetta, Daniel Munilla, Jamie Stevenson, Jason Murdevski, Jay Mason, Joshua DeGoveia, Luke Greathhead, Mathew Cesta, Ross Graham

Substitions

Michael Wilson, Chris Jarman, Alan Warbuston, Chad Keating, John Tilden

 

Coniston F.C.

Alex Makin, Matthew Cuda, Vasko Mitkovski, Brad Moreira, Frank Prerro, Dusan Kolonja, Adem Akkoc, Dinko Telzil, Adrian Nikolovski, Matthew Stojanovski, Atanas Simknovski

Substitions

Sasa Arcaba, James Patreski

 

Report by Liam Emerton

Photo by Pedro Garcia