The Mornington Lions have not been able to win a game in Division 2 so far this season, starting the season with a few draws several close losses.
On the other hand, the University Premier team have had a couple of impressive wins in their seasons campaign, including a 2-3 win over Roslyn Wakari.
The Lions went into the match heavy underdogs to get a win and advance to Round 2 of the Chatham Cup.
The opening exchanges showed the differences between the two sides as 2nd division Mornington outfit were trying to get used to playing against a Premier University team of higher technical skill. It was all University in the first 15 minutes, as Mornington hardly managed to get hold of the ball.
The much more fancied University dominated the possession statistics throughout the game.
However, Mornington continued to frustrate University with scrambling defense, and had their own occasional foray into the attacking third but the last touches would often let them down. University, on the other hand, were their own worst enemy by appearing to look for the perfect shot, rather than pressure Nat Lim in goal.
University eventually opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Mornington attacked down their right flank with some quick moves between Dan Benny and Valentin Tatu, where the play eventually broke down in the University penalty area. University quickly countered down the opposite flank, taking advantage of a slow responding Mornington, where Elliot Martin scored the first goal.
University appeared to relax a little after that.
That relaxation turned into nerves again after Mornington won a corner through some high pressing on the University defense, and scored via a powerful header from right back Adam Rahimi just before halftime. Both teams stayed tied going into the break.
As the game wore on, University weren't capitalising on their possession advantage to put Mornington away.
The Lions were doing enough to hold on, until the 69th minute, after some nice build up play by University put Truthus Toheriri in space with a clean strike into the Mornington net.
Mornington tried to chase the game after that, but with University still able to hold the ball consistently, it was very difficult. Continued pressure from University resulted in free kicks being awarded against Mornington as the game progressed.
There was some controversy as a goal was disallowed to University after an offside call saved Mornington's goal. Chances were created by Mornington by winning the odd corner, but an equaliser never came. University put the game to rest in the 88th minute with a quick attacking move down the right, to allow Chris Kessel to score a neat goal past the near post.
HT 1-1
FT 3-1