By Tervel Atanasov and Thomas Langmaid
Yarra Valley travelled to Croydon for their Round 5 clash with Hornbill, in a must win game.
On paper, the visitors looked the stronger team and had high hopes for a good outcome at the end of the day.
It didn’t start that way, with Hornbill opening the scoring 9 minutes in with a long ball over the top of the Valley back line.
1-0 to the hosts, Valley had to rally together to come up with an answer.
Hornbill were talented, and their close ball control meant they found a way out of tight situations.
Unfortunately, a defensive error saw the Hornbill goalkeeper pick up the ball after a pass back, giving Valley the opportunity they needed to get back on level terms.
A well orchestrated set play between Atanasov and Kinsella saw the latter smash the ball into the back of the net on the half hour mark from the edge of the area to restore equality.
Five minutes later, Valley were ahead.
A move that started from Kerridge in goal saw an attack build down the left hand side, with Litchfield, Eyssens and Atanasov involved in the build up straight from the training ground that put Winjo Williams through one on one against the keeper.
His speed and composure were necessary and he calmly slotted the ball home for a 2-1 lead.
And the party didn’t end there.
A similar move to build up the attack down the right, resulted in Williams being played through against his full back opponent.
Taking them on down the right hand side, he delivered a high quality ball into the middle, which striker Mitch Anderson cleverly let roll behind him for an onrushing Jack Eyssens to grab his second goal of the
campaign and seal the comeback before half time.
3-1 at the break.
The second half was a cagey affair as Valley couldn’t replicate their first half form, but were competitive nonetheless.
Keeper Kerridge won the Player of the Game vote with his spectacular saves to keep his side in it, including a point black dive to his left hand side to keep the ball from going in at a crucial moment around the hour mark.
A new defensive pairing of Ryan and Oscar Lyons came out on top, with both putting in an excellent performance.
To cap the day off, Valley youngster Xavier Veenker made his first senior team appearance at 15-years-old, seeing the game out at right back with calm and composure beyond his years.
Three points and Valley go into next week’s cup round with seven points from the first five fixtures, a tall improvement from last year.
Reserves: The Yarra Valley reserves made the journey down to Croydon to take on Hornbill FC.
Another new challenge much like the Camberwell team so something fresh was a big opportunity to walk away with a win.
The game started with regular captain James Wolff and vice captain Francis De Varga out with injury and sickness so goalkeeper Paddy Gray stepping up to take the captains armband and lead the team.
With high vibes, the game kicked off with hornbill controlling the ball in their defensive third and gradually making their way through the Yarra valley lines and eventually 15 minutes into the half the scored.
Yarra valley bounced back with a quick goal from Jack Rinke off a Paul Healey low cross from the right and sure enough five minutes later a superb volley from coach Aden Kerridge took us to a 2-1 lead at halftime. Amongst the goals Hornbill received a red card and were down to 10 men with 20 minutes to go in the first half which allowed Yarra valley to get back into the game.
The second half started with both teams holding the ball up when they had control and it continued that way for the whole half until, with five minutes to go, a poor challenge from Liam Spicer saw hornbill awarded a penalty and easily converted.
Sure enough, a quick counter attack and Hornbill were once again on to score again and with a chip over the keepers head took the score to a game finishing 3-2.
A very tough day, a hard pill to swallow and no one to blame but ourselves for letting slip a 2-1 lead.
We go again in a few weeks and look to get back onto the winners list.
Thirds match report: By Thomas Langmaid.
The Thirds looked to bounce back from a 4-0 drubbing last week with a trip to Kew to face the Melbourne Deaf team.
While the team started well, getting in the right positions and moving the ball constantly up the pitch, the Thirds couldn’t capitalise, and half an hour in, a calamitous minute of play saw them go behind after failing to clear a ball out of their 18-yard box.
1-0 down at the half, the lads went out there in the 2nd half to try and get back into the game, and while chances did come, they were again not capitalised on, and in the end the lack of legs cost them, with the Melbourne Deaf team counter attacking late on, sealing the game with a second goal with eight minutes left.
A tough loss which will result in some soul searching, but onwards and upwards to the next game.
