3rds 1-3
It was a great day to play football, weather-wise, but sadly our side could not get any more points out of the final regular season game against Frankston Pines FC.
We started out well, and nearly went up in the opening five minutes as Drew Dickson saw his shot go past the onrushing goale, but just wide. In truth, we had the better of the chances on the day and dominated posession, but could not come up with the goals we needed. The first half showed the great counter attacking football we know, only to be undermined by the referee (at least we had one this time!) and our desire to play centrally instead of using our pace on the wings.
Shots rained in from Richard Bates and Rodney Wilson, both forcing amazing saves from Frankston's #1, much to our anger and admiration. Before the end of the first half Frankston took the lead after some miscommunication in our box which a Pine striker poached off of Richie Garnett for their first.
Paul Mitchinson, made a statement at halftime that he was going to score, which no one took seriously as it was a threat everyone had made during the season.
In the second half, a switch of formation resulted in more posession in the midfield as the backline continued to thwart the Pines strikers. We would conceed a goal from a corner kick midway through the second half as an unmarked man drifted in at the back post.
Mitchinson would make good on his threat and latched on to a rebound just outside the box which snaked its way into the goal for our only goal on the day. Frankston would cement their win with a cheeky chip shot that got over the outstretched gloves of Garnett to end the day with three points for the host.
On to the playoffs!
