Oak Flats Falcons returned to third position on the Peoplecare District League ladder on Saturday afternoon after the side downed fellow top-five contender Unanderra Hearts 5-2 at Keith Bond Oval. A strong first half performance from the Falcons helped get the side over the line, with Dylan Wray, Hayato Sadamori, Bojan Caric and Justin Potter all finding the back of the net for the hosts in the opening half. Despite a late brace from Unanderra’s Mark Picciolini sparking murmurs of a comeback, a final goal on the stroke of full-time from Oak Flats’ Jarryd Vinton secured the result for the hosts and saw them overtake the Hearts on the ladder.

The Falcons were only one of three teams that lost to Unanderra last season, with the side going down 2-1 to the Hearts back in June 2018 but the hosts were unwilling to drop more points at the hands of Unanderra and the side quickly fired into the lead in the 15^th minute after a scramble in the Unanderra box saw the ball fall to Bojan Caric, who was able to fire past a rushing Jake De Jesus but was unable to beat Stephen Jovanovski on the goal-line, with the Hearts defender blocking the shot from going in.

However, Jovanovski’s block meant the ball was pushed back out to a waiting Dylan Wray who made no mistake of the attempt, firing a powerful shot into the roof of the net to hand the Falcons the opening goal of the match.

Oak Flats doubled their lead seven minutes later after Hayato Sadamori was able to quickly recover a loose ball from the Unanderra backline and slide the ball past a diving De Jesus, burying the ball in the bottom-left corner of the Hearts net and sending Oak Flats two goals up.

Despite the early shock at going two goals down, Unanderra came close to pulling back into the match in the 26^th minute after a chipped free-kick from Matthew Cuda found the head of Mark Picciolini in the box, but the new Hearts signing was unable to add to the scoreboard, nodding his effort just left of the Oak Flats goal.

Picciolini again came dangerously close to pulling a goal back for the Hearts in the 39^th minute when a high ball into the Oak Flats box was met with the head of Picciolini, but his effort was unable to find the back of the net, beating a leaping Chris Jarman but not the crossbar, with the header rocketing off the crossbar and back into the grateful arms of Jarman.

Oak Flats had a golden chance to extend their lead two minutes later when a powerful free-kick from Jamie Stevenson thundered into the crossbar and back into play but the Falcons did not have to wait long before finding the back of the net again, with the side breaking through for their third goal of the afternoon in the 42^nd minute. This time it was Bojan Caric who added his name to the scoresheet, showcasing a smart dummy-shot to force Unanderra’s Matthew Cuda out of position before firing the ball past a sprawling Jake De Jesus and into the bottom-left corner.

But the Falcons were still unfinished with their first half business and the side added a fourth goal in the second minute of first half stoppage time when a fantastic chip ball from Caric found the head of Justin Potter in the Unanderra box, with the Falcons defender able to nod the ball past Hearts shot-stopper De Jesus and hand Oak Flats a handy 4-0 lead at the half-time break.

With the side needing a minor miracle to pull back into the match, Unanderra came out in the second half pushing in search of a goal that could open the floodgates and the side came close to finding their first of the afternoon in the 51^st minute after Dominic Magill was able to show great skill to turn around with the ball and fire a powerful volley towards the Oak Flats goal. However, Magill was unable to direct his effort accurately, with his shot straying just wide of the left post.

As the clock continued to wind down, Oak Flats began to sit back and soak up attacking pressure from Unanderra but the side soon found their four goal lead cut to three after the Hearts pulled a goal back in the 74^th minute when Mark Picciolini was able to get his head to a Michael Potter corner and nod the ball past Falcons custodian Chris Jarman from close range.

Unanderra had a strong chance to pull a second goal back five minutes later after a through ball from Luke Bussoletti found Daniel Saverino pushing into a one-on-one opportunity against Jarman, but Saverino was unable to make the most of his chance, firing into the arms of a rushing Jarman and shutting down the attack entirely.

But the Hearts did not have to wait much longer for their second goal of the afternoon, with Unanderra reducing the lead to two goals in the 82^nd minute after a quick break out of the Hearts midfield found Mark Picciolini unmarked deep in Oak Flats territory. Picciolini was able to quickly round a rushing Chris Jarman and fire into an empty net, pulling the score to 4-2 and sparking claims of a potential Hearts comeback.

However, Unanderra’s aggressive search for a third goal led to the side conceding once more on the stroke of full-time, with a quick break from Jarryd Vinton in the third minute of stoppage time seeing the Falcons lead restored to three after Vinton’s initial shot was denied by a great save from Jake De Jesus only for Vinton to tap home a quick pass from Jamie Stevenson in the immediate aftermath and secure a 5-2 win for the Falcons.

The win means Oak Flats overtake the Hearts and move into third place on the District League ladder, with the side five points off Helensburgh in second place. The Falcons will seek to build on their victory over the Hearts next round when they host fellow top-five side University at Keith Bond Oval.

Meanwhile the defeat sees the Hearts drop to fourth on the ladder, overtaken by their conquerors but the side remains four points ahead of University after the Students failed to nab all three points against Thirroul. Unanderra will reach the halfway point in their campaign next round when they host a Picton Rangers side who went down 2-0 to Shell Cove on Saturday.

Saturday 25 May 2019 at Keith Bond Oval, Oak Flats

Oak Flats Falcons – 5 (Wray 15’, Sadamori 22’, Caric 42’, Potter 45+2’, Vinton 90+3’)

Unanderra Hearts – 2 (Picciolini 74’, 82’)

Oak Flats Falcons: Chris JARMAN, Alan WARBURTON, John TILDEN, Jamie STEVENSON, Justin POTTER, Christian CAPPETTA, Jarryd VINTON, Hayato SADAMORI, Daniel MUNILLA, Bojan CARIC, Dylan WRAY

Subs: Joshua EAGLETON (WRAY 84’), Ross GRAHAM (SADAMORI 88’), Chad FERNANDEZ (MUNILLA 90+1’), Brenton BURKE

Unanderra Hearts: Jake DE JESUS, Stephen JOVANOVSKI, Ben SALLABANK, Matthew CUDA, Michael POTTER, Stephen DRAPER, David POLIDORO, Christian PLAKIAS, Daniel SAVERINO, Dominic MAGILL, Mark PICCIOLINI

Subs: Save TRENESKI (DRAPER 45’), Nathan PULJIC (TRENESKI 77’), Luke BUSSOLETTI (POLIDORO 77’), Christopher MURDZEVSKI

Referee – Steven BOZIC

Assistant Referees – B. BARCLAY and J. RUSSELL

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Noel Wynn