Miroslav Karac’s Springvale White Eagles went down to Western Suburbs 3-2 at White Eagles Stadium. 20418 By Stuart Teather
THE State League soccer competition kicked off on the weekend, but it was a tough round for the local teams with losses and draws all too common.
Springvale White Eagles took on Western Suburbs in the opening round and it was a goal bonanza at White Eagles Stadium.
Unfortunately for the home side the scorecard read 2-3 in Western Suburbs’ favour at the final whistle.
It was a case of opening-round jitters for the White Eagles, with the side being completely outclassed in the opening half.
The Western Suburbs found the back of the net within the first five minutes and registered another before the 15-minute mark to take a 2-0 lead.
A third before the break left a shell-shocked White Eagles squad trekking back to the rooms at half-time.
White Eagles coach Stan Webster said he thought they’d got stage fright in the first half.
“We just started poorly, our defence was pretty poor,” he said.
“It’s hard to really say (what went wrong), we just never played well at all and never really got going.
“We changed things around at half-time and we came out and played a lot better in the second half.”
The White Eagles completely reversed the game in the second half and two goals put the side back in contention with less than 10 minutes to go.
But the final whistle beat them and the White Eagles left their home stadium disappointed with the first-round hit-out.
“I was happy with the second half, obviously with 3-0 you have to go for it, but the first half really killed us,” Webster said.
The Southern Stars have to wait an extra week to kick off their 2009 campaign after the round-one match against St Albans was postponed until Saturday, 6 June.
State League Two South East action saw more poor results for local teams with Dandenong City and South Springvale recording losses.
Dandenong City received a 3-0 belting at the hands of Malvern City, with a double to Juan Sestre-Tejedor and another to Thomas Williams doing the damage.
South Springvale had the half-time lead in its clash with Port Melbourne, but conceded twice in the second half to go down 2-1.
Newly promoted Heatherton United did not get on the park against Casey Comets, with the game cancelled at the last minute.
Heatherton United’s coach Michael Kupinic said he had no idea why the game did not go ahead.
“They said the City of Casey Council said they weren’t allowed to play on the ground,” he said.
“The week before the Casey Comets played against Faulkner, I’ve spoken to people at Faulkner who reckon the ground was in beautiful condition – I don’t know what’s going on.
“There’s a mystery here.”
In State League Three South East, Springvale City recorded a 0-0 draw with Croydon City Arrows, while Noble Park United went 2-2 with Boroondara Eagles.
