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VICTORIAN PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH REPORT |
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Lions surrender lead and points to Magic
Tuesday 02
June 2009
(FFV) - Altona tested and probed the inexperienced young
Lions outfit, but apart from some early jitters the Lions
gave the Magic as good as they received.
Preston was the much better team early on, as Filipovic
and Arsovski controlled the middle of the park with
determination, and young forwards Hana and Micovski were
more than just a nuisance to the Magic defence with their
running and harassing. But apart from some half-hearted,
half-chances from both sides, the majority of the first
half saw each team cancelling the other out.
Thirty-seven minutes into the first half, big Magic
defender Anthopoulos was outsmarted by the diminutive
Preston forward Micovski, which ended in Laurie pulling
him down to the ground earning the Lions a penalty.
Filipovic made no mistake when he sent Roganovic the wrong
way to put the Lions up one goal to nil.
The half got even better for Preston when in the 44th
minute debutant Hana out ran the Magic defence to the ball
to easily slot it past a dismayed Roganovic in the Altona
goal. This gave the Lion’s a two goal lead with the
interval only seconds away.
Preston should have gone up three goals to nil in the 47th
minute when Micovski broke clear from a static Magic
defence, but his shot on goal was well deflected by Magic
keeper Roganovic for a corner which was wasted by the
Lions.
This was as good as it would get for the inexperienced
Lions, which were not used to be in a leading position,
and Magic made them pay dearly in the 62nd minute when
their defence was breached. Damir Salcin was a lucky man
as he brought down the Altona forward, giving a penalty
away but only receiving a yellow for the misdemeanour.
Curcija made no mistake from the spot kick to give Altona
a lifeline with 28 minutes to go.
Altona could so easily have been on level terms when they
took a 22 metre free kick which Salcin could not hold, and
the resultant shot by Magic saw the ball blasted well over
the bar from less than six metres out. But this was a stay
in execution only and Magic got what their efforts
deserved. The equalizer came on 71 minutes through captain
Recchia, who rose unchallenged from a corner.
Preston coach Gagula was having kittens on the bench as he
saw his charges completely stop and hand over the three
points to Altona. Curcija and then Recchia scored in the
final minutes to give Magic what looked like a
comprehensive victory. However, in reality, Preston simply
imploded when they should have consolidated and should
have taken something from this game.
Preston Lions FC goal scorers: Filipovic (1) Hana
(1)
Altona Magic goal scorers: Recchia (2) Curcija (2)
Crowd: 600 (unofficial) at BT Connor Reserve |
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