Mornington AFCs first two rounds of senior football has been completed.
Div 4 Misfits.
The Misfits won 10-3 in their first round. The Misfits shocked themselves and the competition in the first round, with their huge winning margin at Mornington Park. Knoxy pulled the coveted player of the day with a box-to-box performance, whilst scoring a hat-trick.
They followed up that scintillating performance with a plucky 6-2 loss to Dunedin Technical at Mornington Park. Gethin earned player of the day for his performance on the pitch. Gethin was ferocious in his play, with hard tackling, and fast and decisive defensive play, regularly putting his body on the line.
The results from that division suggest a gulf in class between half the field, with strong performances from Dunedin Tech, and Roslyn.
The Misfits next round is a bye.
Div 2 Lions.
The Lions draw 2-2 in their first round. The Lions, who were runners-up in Division 3, had a fixture against Caversham, who had won Division 3 (without dropping a competition point). In windy conditions at Tonga Park, the Lions opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Young Josh Malcom opening his account for the season with some well worked skill outside the opposition penalty area. Caversham leveled the score 10 minutes later, with some sustained pressure outside the penalty area forcing a desperate intercept by Ik Chang, who had unfortunately diverted the ball into the back of his own goal. The scores stayed level at halftime. Caversham took the lead late in the second half through some nervous defending by the Lions. The Caversham winger was holding off defenders looking to pass in field, but ended up scoring a rocket to the top right of the goal. The Lions, who had played well until that point, increased their game tempo to chase back the game. This lead to the scores being leveled through Nick Brown, who had come in from midfield to score a close-in tap for a goal following some pin-ball action in the Caversham goal mouth. Ik Chang earned himself player of the day for his positive response to the first half own goal.
In the second round, the Lions had drawn with Green Island. Green Island were coming off of a big loss, and anticipated a tough match with the Lions. It was made tough by a Lions team who seemed timid in attack after Green island took a shock 1-nil lead in the first half. Green Island unexpectedly dominated the middle of the field, and the Lions played that tho their disadvantage. The Lions had two disallowed goals for offside offenses, before the equalizer came from wide play into a crowded penalty area. Valentino Tatu accepted a short pass from Sobhan Akhavan, and slotted the ball past the Green Island keeper. The scores didn't change and stayed level at 1-1 with Green Island eventually celebrating the competition point, whilst the Lions could only look back at what should have been.
For the second week in a row, Ik Chang earned himself player of the day for his positive approach to the game.
The two rounds mean the Lions occupy the lower middle of the table with 2 competition points, trailing the early leaders, University, by 4 competition points. The Lions are lamenting dropping four points, feeling they could have beaten Caversham in Round 1, and should have beaten Green Island in Round 2. The next round for the Lions is against a strong starting Roslyn, at the Kensington Oval.