Points shared as Gully, Werribee fire early
By Katie Lambeski (@katielambeski)
Green Gully and Werribee City have had to settle for a point each after a 1-1 draw at Green Gully Reserve on Monday night.
Rinor Muriqi opened the scoring at the 14th minute to fire Gully into the lead, but Chris Cristaldo earned Werribee its point just after half time.
A bright start for Gully yielded rewards early, as Sanders seized on a rebound following Nikola Markovski’s run and dribble effort.
The ball fell to the veteran striker and he made no mistake, firing a shot low to the bottom right corner of the net and giving his side the lead.
Werribee, despite Gully’s lead and control of the opening minutes, rebounded well to control the majority of the match thereafter. Werribee overran Gully in midfield, with Cristaldo playing not as a true striker, but dropping in to midfield to outnumber the hosts.
Gully stood tall defensively and made chances on the break but could not make full use of it, struggling to find rhythm in the passing game that felled Northcote and Oakleigh in the early rounds.
An encouraged City went into break trailing, but it was not long before they found an equaliser.
Cristaldo was able to make Gully pay for a turnover deep in their defensive area, dribbling past a defender and smashing home past Gully keeper Rani Dowisha.
More of the same continued as Gully couldn’t find its rhythm.
Coach Bob Stojcevski introduced Jem Berkant to try and add some spark to its offence, and the youth product added just that.
But it was to no avail; despite the late flurry from Gully, the home side couldn’t find a winner.
Gully’s season continues with a trip to Kingston Heath this Friday night against Bentleigh Greens, while Werribee will continue the search for their first win of the season when they host Melbourne Knights on Sunday afternoon.
Match Details
Green Gully 1 (Sanders 14’) drew with Werribee City 1 (Cristaldo 51’) at Green Gully Reserve, Keilor Downs
Green Gully SC: 23. Rani DOWISHA, 4. Daniel JONES, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 7. Liam SCOTT (2. Mathew REID 63’), 9. Nikola MARKOVSKI, 10. Rinor MURIQI, 12. Mathew SANDERS, 14. Amadu KOROMA, 16. Nathan FOX (3. Aaron COHEN 59’), 17. Alon BLUMGART, 18. Muhammed UZUMCU (6. Jem BERKANT 79’)
Unused subs: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ (GK), 15. Anthony MARAFIOTI
Yellow cards: Markovski (88’)
Werribee City FC: 1. Frano SARIC, 4. Simon COLOSIMO (12. Rob KILMARTIN 88’), 8. Daniel CHAABANI, 23. Steve CUDRIG, 15. Nicola CARAFIGLIO (5. Arturo YMERI 45’), 3. Ryan FILIPOVIC, 19. Rob NAUMOSKI, 13. Milan SAVIC, 6. Anthony RAGUSA (9. Evan BATSIS 63’), 7. Simon ZAPPIA, 10. Chris CRISTALDO
Unused subs: 16. Angus MARTIN, 25. Julian CRINGASU
Yellow cards: Savic (58’)
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.