Monbulk 3 – 1 Middle Park
The Parkers were soundly beaten for the third time in five outings, away to high flying Monbulk.
The squad were perhaps under-prepared, having not trained on Thursday to ensure sufficient time to arrive at Monbulk in time for the Friday night, 11pm kick-off.
Ally Cook and Eric missed the game, and were replaced by centre half Jamie, and winger Jamie. Sam returned to full back, with skipper Matty reverting back to midfield.
The Parkers started poorly, and found themselves two down within twenty minutes. Firstly, a long ball from the keeper was misread by the defence, allowing the striker to run in behind, and nod the ball over the oncoming Marshall. A brave header from the striker – especially as he took a heavy collision from the keeper. Simple goal, poor defending.
The second came from another error – losing the ball too easily in the midfield, close to the Parkers box, Monbulk broke swiftly down the left and delivered a good cross for a simple tap in.
The momentum was with the home side. The Parkers faced an uphill challenge and a boisterous crowd – the mountain folk were up for this.
The score was 2-1 on about 30 minutes – an excellent ball by Gibbo was put away by Blane, for his third of the season. 2-1 at half time, with the last 15 being far better from the away side.
Monbulk made it 3-1 on 55 minutes – another ball lost too easily in midfield, and the striker outpaced big Kev to run through and score a good goal.
The game started getting a bit edgy as frustrations grew, and this seemed to galvanise the Parkers. The impressive Kenji hit the bar from 25 yards, and from the follow up, Gibbo seemed to be clearly pushed in the back for what should have been a penalty. Not given however, and from there onwards, the Parkers struggled to create any sustained pressure.
The game ended 3-1, and a fair result.