Goalkeeper Aleks Vrteski says Inglewood United were unlucky to come out of this evening’s game at Cockburn City empty-handed. Inglewood out-played the Cockerels for much of the 90 minutes at Dalmatinac Park but had nothing to show for their efforts after Liam Murray netted late to inflict a 1-0 loss.
“We had them on the ropes – especially in the second half – but couldn’t put the ball in the net,” Vrteski commented. “There were three or four clear-cut chances and we also hit the post … a fairer result would have been a draw. It was one of our better performances since (coach) Michael Garcia called us all together late last year.”
A goal line clearance denied Jarrod McNally before Scott Witschge almost hit the target. It looked as though Kenny Keogh would show them how it’s done but he placed narrowly wide when faced by only the goalkeeper. Substitute David Sesay was felled inside the area but the referee waved away appeals for a penalty.
Down the other Rikki Smith and debutant Jovo Pavlovic underpinned a defensive lined that allowed Cockburn very few opportunities on goal. But with just minutes to spare, Murray found a way through to steal the lead. The final action saw John Thornley hit the frame of the goal from a dead ball move.
Although the outcome wasn’t what he’d hoped for, Vrteski said there were plenty of encouraging signs. “The defence was extremely resilient and the work ethic of the team as a whole was fantastic,” he said. “Michael was pleased with the application shown and is optimistic we can continue forward from here.”
Match stats
Cockburn City 1 (Murray 82)
Inglewood United 0
Cockburn City: Dejan Aleksic, Blake Adams, Euen Grant, Eamon McNelis, Devon Gibson, Monty Grigo (Jonathan Corness 86), Connor Kavanagh, Alan Carroll, Feisal Zaw, Craig Tone (Julian Teles 80), Rory Paterson (Liam Murray 74)
Inglewood United: Aleks Vrteski, Jason Colli, Jovo Pavlovic, Rikki Smith, Michael Lui (Daniel Dols 72), Jarrad McNally (David Sesay 52), Scott Blackmore, Greg Sharland, Scott Witschge, John Thornley, Kenny Keogh (Abdul Sesay 46)
Bookings: Kavanagh (56), Sharland (61)
Dismissals: Nil
