Berkeley Sports and Social Club played host to two teams outside of the finals places leading into round 5. Berkeley came into the match on the back of their first win of the season, a 1-0 victory over Wests while their opponents University were beginning to gain some momentum after two wins on the spin.

There was little between the two sides in the opening twenty minutes of the match with the only slight opportunities coming for Berkeley through forward Greg Moon who snatched two half chances in the 11th and 18th minute.

Berkeley was the first side to test the opposition’s goalkeeper come the 25th minute when Jaksen Giraldi moved into space outside 18-yard box to the right of the goal. His snap at goal forcing the Student’s keeper Liam Stevenson into action, pushing the ball past his left post for a corner.

With 5 minutes until the interval Berkeley took the lead through Dylan Evans. Berkeley fullback Ross Prandalos played in a lofted cross from the left wing, Stevenson came for the ball but was unable to catch it cleanly allowing Evans to tap the loose ball into an empty net.

The late goal put the home side 1-0 up at half time which would have delighted the Berkeley faithful. Uni coach Brod Crighton would have been aware his side needed a big half to get three points out of one of the league’s sturdiest defences.

The Students were the more sprightly of the sides at the start of the second half and that bared fruits in the 54th minute when they scored from their first shot on target. Midfield ballplayer Dane Hamilton held off a defender before dinking over the Berkeley backline for Lachlan Ryan to run onto and place across Berkeley shot-stopper Chris Lazarevski into the bottom left corner.

Berkeley responded in under three minutes, regaining their goal advantage through Moon. The home side had a counter on the Uni defence before playing the ball back for Hayden Till. The right fullback knocking in a pinpoint cross for Moon to head home into the top left corner.

The organised Berkeley defence, marshalled by Jarryd King gave little away and University quickly became their own worst enemy with a number of cheap turnovers. In the 74th minute, one such turnover led to Berkeley’s third. Another Berkeley counter attack found Moon to the right of the box, he then played Giraldi towards the corner flag. The attacker flung in a low cross past two stagnant Student defenders for Chris Rowlan to slot into the bottom right corner.

In the 81st minute, Berkeley had a golden opportunity to move three goals up with Ryan giving away a penalty for a handball. Giraldi stepped up to the mark but the former Fernhill man’s strike was saved by Stevenson low to his right. The solid stop buoyed University but they were still unable to make any further inroads into the Berkeley defence with the game finishing 3-1 to the home side.

The healthy win sees Berkeley now within a point of the top 5 and post-match coach Paul Mears spoke of his side's ability to get some goals on the board, “We have been working on it [attack]… trying to get forward and ask a lot of questions of the [opposition] defence.” Next up for his side is a trip to Judy Masters Oval to face a Balgownie side rooted to the bottom of the District League.

As for University, they would have been disappointed with their application today with a handful of mistakes turning a potential point into a comprehensive defeat. They have a double header next weekend, on Saturday they host Warilla and on Sunday they are away to Bellambi.

Post match interview with Berkeley coach Paul Mears - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/berkeley-boss-after-big-win-over-university

 

Berkeley - 3 (Evans 40’, Moon 57’, Rowlan 74’)

University - 1 (Ryan 54’)

 

Saturday April 22nd at Berkeley Sports and Social Club, Berkeley

Berkeley - Chris Lazarevski, Hayden Till, Ross Prandalos, Justin Mears, Jarryd King, Mathew Mears, Dylan Evans Chris Rowlan, Peter Besnard, Jaksen Giraldi and Greg Moon

Subs - Brad McAteer, Dave De Oliviera (on for Moon), John Adams and Mark Jones

Coach - Paul Mears

 

University - Liam Stevenson, Andrew Christie, Anthony Gigliotti, Dane Hamilton, Scott Mawbey, Thomas Shannon, Michael Pitt, Lachlan Ryan, Evan Fitzsimmons, Luis Gonzalez and Luke Vandenburgh

Subs - Liam Daley (on for Gonzalez), Luke McCann (on for Pitt), Ed Sibley (on for Ryan) and Gabriel Murphy

Coach - Brod Crighton

 

Referee - Mick Agim

Assistant Referees - Rob Sindevski and Alexander Rogers

 

Report by Dylan Arvela on Twitter @dylanarvela
Photos by Pedro Garcia