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QUARRIERS ON TOP AGAINST BARBARIANS
Last Saturday the Kiama Quarriers Soccer Club were at home to the Shellharbour United Barbarians. In a very scrappy performance compared to their recent form the Quarriers ran out winners 3 – 2.
Kiama had a re-shuffled team that was quite a bit different in appearance from last week and they were without striker Luke Bedford and midfielders Mick Gillespie and Jason Lockhart. Defender Jody Beringer was also missing from the starting line-up and returned to the field in Reserve Grade after succumbing to a virus the week before. Barbarians are a tough nut to crack for any team and have a knack of upsetting Kiama, as they have shown in recent seasons. They have shown indifferent form so far this year but the Quarriers were still wary of them.
The start of the game was a fairly ordinary display of soccer and the standard never really got any higher during the entire match, save for some short periods when the Kiama attack really shone. In a fairly bland first half the first incident of the game never arrived until the 30th minute when Dave Jovanov, playing in the unaccustomed striker’s role, got on to a long ball through the middle of the Barbarians defence. As he sprinted towards goal he was hacked down from behind be a defender. This never really gave the referee any option but to send the defender off.
Four minutes later the Barbarians opened the scoring with a penalty amongst a howl of Kiama protests. It doesn’t matter how much you complain, the referee never changes his mind and Kiama were left fuming, and a goal down. The goal was completely against the run of play and you could not but help get the feeling that this game may slide away from the Quarriers, no matter what they did. They were well on top but things were going wrong at crucial times in front of goal.
Kiama opened their account right on the 40th minute and it was a scintillating effort from sweeper Mike Merriman that near burst the back of the net. The Quarriers were awarded a free kick about 25 metres out from goal. Barbarians set up a defensive wall and seemed to have things under control. Merriman did the unexpected and rather than chip the ball up to his forwards he hit a murderous drive that bent around the outside of the wall and sliced into the goal after clipping the inside of the post. You don’t see better on television. Three minutes later Kiama went two up when Paul Woodcock made a good run down the right flank. He beat his player and looking up saw Jovanov on the far post. He hit a long pinpoint cross and Jovanov rose above his marker and hammered a header into the roof of the net.
Although the goals were good, the play left a bit to be desired and Kiama looked like they were stuck in low gear. With a man up they should have pushed the ball around and made Barbarians work hard to cover up but instead the Quarriers tried to battle their way through the midfield. This is exactly what any team, being a man down, wants and it made it easier for the Barbarians to stay in the game. The second half was a repeat of the first and things never really changed. Kiama had all the play and the Barbarians were content to sit back and look for a counter strike. But attacks were few and far between for Shellharbour as Kiama mounted the pressure.
The third goal for the Quarriers in the 70th minute was an ugly piece of football, but they all count and pretty goals don’t get you any more points than ugly ones. Kiama played the ball into Shellharbour’s goalmouth and the defence was unable to clear it. The ball bounced around like a pinball before Jovanov popped up again and got on the end of a scrambled shot. At this stage Kiama were cruising at 3 – 1 and were threatening to open the floodgates without playing up to their form. The rhythm from the previous weeks game was missing but this could be put down to Shellharbour’s tactics, which were pretty negative in the first place. The home side looked the better of the two but must really improve on this performance if they are to knock over the bigger sides in the next few weeks.
Shellharbour showed up a deficiency in the Kiama attack but this may be a result of normal striker Bedford missing the game. Jovanov played a strong match as a makeshift striker, but at times missed out on scoring because of his defensive instincts needing an extra touch or just making wrong decisions. After saying that, Jovanov had an all round strong match and was one of the better players on the park. The Barbarians had the last say in this game five minutes from time and the goal was an indication of how they played. From a nothing situation the ball was knocked into the Kiama penalty box and deflected off midfielder Mark Price into the goal giving a final score of 3 – 2 to the home side.
Although not one of the teams best performances there were some very positive aspects to come out of the game. Sweeper Mike Merriman was the Kiama Leagues Club Man of the Match and he showed that he is back to his best form since suffering a major injury eighteen months ago. On his form Merriman must be one of the classiest player in this competition and his good form augers well for his team. Jovanov and midfielder Mark Price also stood out in a fairly average match. But the important thing is that the side won and if you can win when not playing well valuable points soon start to add up and can mean a lot at seasons end.
Next Saturday the Club is away to Warilla Wanderers at King Micky Park, Warilla. The Wanderers have had a good start to the season and will give the Quarriers a stern test. All supporters are welcome with the First Grade match kicking off at 3.00pm. The Quarriers would also like to remind all soccer lovers that their annual F.A. Cup Night is fast approaching and will be held at the Kiama Leagues Club on Saturday 12 May, televised at 11.30pm live from the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Liverpool and Arsenal will battle out the Cup and a great night is guaranteed to all soccer fanatics who roll up for the fun.