Ellis strikes in a wee nick of time

 

Damen Francis

May 15 2012

Shepparton News

The poaching instincts of striker Michael Ellis came to the fore as Cobram pinched three points from under the nose of Shepparton United at Central Park on Sunday.

Kevin Moffat’s free kick struck the upright and Ellis pounced on a rebound to give his side a shock lead with 10 minutes remaining.

It may have taken 80 minutes to break the deadlock, but it was a goal conceived, created and concluded in Scotland.

Ellis’ cousin Sean was fouled on the edge of the area and it was fellow Scottish import Moffat, whose free kick led to the chance.

After surviving a barrage of United attacks, Cobram coach Luke Slater conceded his side had stolen the win.

‘‘We didn’t play that well, we defended with a lot of spirit, but we didn’t construct much going forward as we had in previous weeks,’’ Slater said.

‘‘They retained possession very well and we lacked a bit of composure on the ball, but we defended well and managed to nick a goal and that was enough in the end.’’

The Cobram line-up featured new signing Matt Daniels and the return of injured goalkeeper Jamal Muftin, who was only cleared to play an hour before kick-off.

David McGurk and Ivo Madeira put in excellent shifts for the visiting side.

The result was not enough to change Slater’s view that United was the team to beat this season and United coach Aaron Westervelt was remaining positive about the performance.

‘‘We probably had the better of the first half, but our finishing let us down,’’ Westervelt said.

‘‘I thought we knocked the ball around well and it does take time to jell, to be honest we’re probably further ahead than what I expected us to be, we’re just not clinical enough.

‘‘I would be more worried if we weren’t creating chances.’’

In other round five matches, Tatura’s miserable start to the campaign continued with a 4-2 loss at home to the previously winless Yoogali Football Club.

Yoogali Soccer Club inflicted the first blemish on Shepparton South’s season with a 2-0 win in Griffith, Shepparton rolled 10-man Cobram Victory and Hanwood beat West Griffith 4-2.