Borough's late blitz sinks Scorpions; Gully's missed opporunity

The Borough looked in danger of suffering a shock loss to the Scorpions when Epsom led 2-1 in the 78th minute.

However, the Hawks turned the game on its head in the blink of an eye, thanks largely to Jesse Parker.

Parker tied the scores with a 78th minute and two minutes later gave the Hawks the lead with his second goal.

A stunned Epsom then conceded a third goal in five minutes when Caden Meeks scored his first goal for the season.

From 2-1 down, the Hawks led 4-2 before Matt Breeze put icing on the Borough cake with an injury time goal to make the final score 5-2.

Earlier in the match, Cooper Arkinstall gave the Scorpions the lead in the 28th minute before Borough veteran Brent Hamblin found the back of the net just before half-time.

Epsom's Kyle Smith scored from the penalty spot to regain the lead for the Scorpions, but for the second week in a row the home side was unable to convert a lead against a quality opponent into three points.

"We only 30 minutes of good football - the final 10 minutes of the first half and the final 20 minutes of the second half,'' Eaglehawk coach Keegan Smyth said.

"It was a funny game. Epsom played some decent football and frustrated us and we looked good at times, but we just didn't string it together for as long as wanted to or we should have.

"When we pressed them as a unit we were far more effective."

Shepparton South holds a three-point advantage over Tatura, Shepparton United and Eaglehawk at the top of the ladder.

South moved clear on top thanks to its 12-0 drubbing of Golden City and Tatura's 1-0 win over the previously undefeated Shepparton United.

William Keenan's four-goal haul was the highlight of South's comfortable win over the Rams.

Tatura's 1-0 win came via a second-half goal from in-form Tom Leech, who scored for the seventh time in four games.

It was a crucial three points for the Ibises, who were coming off a 3-2 loss to South the week prior and couldn't afford to fall six points behind the leaders.

Strathdale outclassed bottom side La Trobe Uni 9-2 on Saturday night at Beischer Park.

La Trobe kept the Blues at bay for the first 17 minutes before the home side put the result to bed with a breathtaking 20-minute surge.

Between the 17th minute and 37th minute Strathdale scored six times, starting with a goal from defender Nick Watson.

Matthew Miller and Keian Tramm scored a brace each during that period, while Lachlan Kelly added the sixth goal.

Muhammad Alshammari scored a first-half goal for the Eagles to make the scoreline 6-1 at the break.

Kyle Minicozzi scored twice for the Blues in the second-half and Jordan Suter scored for the first time this season to give the home side a bag of nine goals for the match.

Daniel Bish scored La Trobe's second goal. The Eagles' cause wasn't helped by a red card for Ben Dreschler with 20 minutes remaining.

In the final game of the round, Spring Gully scored its second win of the season thanks to its 5-0 win over Strathfieldsaye Colts United.

All eyes in the League One Women's competition were on Sunday's top-of-the-table clash between La Trobe Uni and Spring Gully.

The normally free-scoring rivals couldn't find the back of the net in an enthralling 0-0 draw.

"We had a bin load of chances, including a one-on-one with the keeper in the 85th minute, but couldn't score,'' Spring Gully coach Simon Smith said.

"La Trobe is a very good team and they defended very well. We didn't pass the ball well and we didn't have that cutting edge.

"We had enough chances to score, but we just didn't make the most of those chances."

The result left the Eagles and Reds with 10 points each through four rounds.

"Both sides were missing key players and both sides could play better, so it's going to be a great tussle for the rest of the season,'' Smith said.

Strathfieldsaye Colts United is alone in third place with six points on the back of an 8-3 win over Strathdale.

Three players scored hat-tricks in the 12-goal match.

Rebecca Berry and Maddie Ridsdale scored three times each for Colts, while all of the Blues' goals were kicked by Lucy Teale.

In the final match of the round, Shepparton United thumped Eaglehawk 16-0, with Rezwana Baqiri scoring seven times and Rebekah Lawson five.

Strathdale 9 (K. Tramm, K. Minicozzi, M. Miller 2, L. Kelly, N. Watson, J. Suter) d La Trobe Uni 2 (M. Alshamarri, D. Bish).

Epsom 2 (C. Arkinstall, K. Smith) lt Eaglehawk 5 (J. Parker 2, B. Hamblin, C. Meeks, M. Breeze).

Shepparton United 0 lt Tatura 1 (T. Leech).

Golden City 0 lt Shepparton South 12 (W. Keenan 4, S. Grant, J. De Smit 2, B. Barassi, S. Kane, N. Mori, G. Murison).

Strathfieldsaye Colts United 0 lt Spring Gully 5 (no details supplied).

Strathdale 5 (L. Roberts, J. Clayton 2, P. Lyristakis) d La Trobe Uni 1 (F. Gjonej).

Epsom 2 (T. Mulry (OG), N. Collins) d Eaglehawk 0.

Shepparton United 0 lt Tatura 3 (N. Khtaf, B. De Cicco, A. Tshaka).

Golden City 1 (L. Hogan) lt Shepparton South 8 (R. Harmeston 4, M. Sozan, B. Barton, N. Mountney, M. Graham).

Strathfieldsaye Colts United v Spring Gully

Strathdale 3 (L. Teale 3) lt Strathfieldsaye Colts United 8 (R. Berry, M. Ridsdale 3, L. White, S. Mayes).

Shepparton United 16 (R. Baqiri 7, R. Lawson 5, Rai Baqiri, R. Jafari 2) d Eaglehawk 0. Spring Gully 0 dr La Trobe Uni 0.

Deniliquin 1 (J. Lavars) d Moama-Echuca 0. Swan Hill v Shepparton Jaguars N/A.

Swan Hill 0 dr Epsom 0.

La Trobe Uni 0 lt Castlemaine 3 on forfeit.

Kyneton 1 (S. Hooppell) lt Tatura 2 (J. Posteraro, A. Rosella).

Strathdale 0 lt Shepparton South 7 (N. Mori, A. Al Gazaly 2, T. Rachele, S. Abbasi, Q. Emami).

Epsom 1 (L. Hromenko) lt Spring Gully 8 (L. Wight 3, C. Draaisma, H. Gautam, E. Harrison, N. Kheradyar, H. Woolridge).

Kyneton 1 (S. Hanna) lt Tatura 11 (J. Ashburner-Hill, A. Niglia 3, N. De Palma 2, A. Dempster, A. Giffin, M. Hamilton).

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