SATURDAY marked the last week before the finals series for men’s first grade soccer.
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Mittagong was defeated by Moss Vale 4-1 in an evenly matched game at Ironmines Oval.
Moss Vale scored the first goal of the match in the first half. Within the next three minutes Mittagong capitalised on a handling error and scored its only goal.
Mittagong coach Tom Simmons said the team lost its chance at victory after Moss Vale scored three goals in a 10 minute period.
“We lost the game there. It was a very even match again after that point but we just couldn’t get it back.”
Simmons said Jonathon Fullerton was a standout player.
He said Fullerton only played a few first grade games this year and put in a strong effort to keep Mittagong in the game.
“He did a really great job and showed off some good handling skills,” Simmons said.
Moss Vale coach Tim Stone said the team had to dig deep and fought hard as they were short on numbers.
“[At the break] we talked about playing faster, one-two football and after that we were able to make some really good plays in the second half.”
“We talked about playing faster, one-two football and after that we were able to make some really good plays in the second half.”
- Moss Vale coach Tim Stone
Mittagong missed out on a semi-final spot, while Moss Vale will play Yerrinbool-Bargo at Boronia Park on September 3.
Stone said the team have a good chance at moving forward in the finals, but would need to work on accurate passing and possession at training this week.
“We are glad to be in the top four, we will just take it match by match and not put too much pressure on ourselves,” he said.
“We have to win every finals game to make it to the grand final.”
Yerrinbool claimed a 2-0 victory over Hill Top on Saturday at Yerrinbool sportsground.
Yerrinbool coach Rob Miller said he was pleased the team was able to keep a clean sheet throughout the match.
”It was good to get a win but we were lucky we gained enough points throughout the year so we didn’t have to worry about losing our spot in the finals,” he said.
Miller said Daniel Bowden, Nigel Tasker and Mark Butler played well which helped keep the Bushrangers in front throughout the match.
Hill Top coach Mark Burke said Yerrinbool kept pressure on the team throughout the entire game.
“They were very strong on Saturday and quite dominant at times,” he said.
Hill Top will play ladder leaders Marulan, on September 3 at Boronia Park.
The team have not won a match against Marulan this year. Burke said he hoped the team would be strong enough to win the game.
“We are going to work really hard on possession this week, we’ve got to make sure we maintain that to give us an edge.”
