Yoogali Soccer Club 4
Hanwood Football Club 1
WHAT should have been a close contest turned into a walk in the park for Yoogali Soccer Club when they comprehensively beat Hanwood Football Club 4-1 at EW Moore Oval yesterday.
The difference between the two teams was tangible from the first whistle as YSC jumped ahead to an early lead when star mid-fielder Dem Torino slotted their first goal past the Hanwood goalkeeper in the first five minutes.
Hanwood coach Joe Catanzariti admitted both the attitude and determination were missing from his team from the start and it was only after the second goal they really "woke up".
"We were chasing the game from the outset," Catanzariti said.
"They had all the momentum and a lot of confidence. It's hard to get a game back when the other teams gets such an early lead but by the time we mounted all the pressure the game was gone."
Despite the dominate lead by YSC, Hanwood did fight back, camping in front of Yoogali's goal for most of the first-half but no matter how many opportunities the away side created, they were shut down by a strong Yoogali defence and by their own misplaced passes and shots.
"We panicked and lacked a lot of confidence," Catanzariti said.
"We can't afford to be off our game against a team like that. The boys need to have a good look at themselves. We've got to work on our attitude and getting our confidence back."
Going into the second-half leading 1-0 Yoogali kept up the momentum and kept the pressure on, their efforts and solid passing game being rewarded when Luke Santolin headed their second goal into the net on the hour mark.
"We played to our potential," YSC coach Tony Santolin said.
"We're in a happy place at the moment and we just need to continue on and build on our hard work. It all comes down to confidence and the goals we scored were all off a third man on the end of a cross."
Hanwood kept up their efforts in front of the Yoogali goal but with so many passes finding the feet of YSC players it was only a matter of time before the home-team converted possession into goals.
Scott Graham put in a well-placed cross to Ally MacLeod who easily put it in the net.
The score 3-0 with 15 minutes to go and the ball once again in front of the Yoogali goal, Andrew Quarisa finally found a weak spot in the nearly untouchable YSC defence and scored a consolation goal.
Yoogali did not slacken their pace and, taking advantage of a lull in concentration by Hanwood, Paul Darcy repeated MacLeod's soft goal, taking the final score to 4-1.
Santolin said the win was a great team effort and, despite the opposition conceding a late goal, said it was a good win for his side.
"The boys played for each other and worked hard to support their mates," he said.
Email a friend