O35B’s back to winning ways! 3-1 win vs Coogee A’s

Dunbar quickly settled on what was a surprisingly good track for Heffron 46, with good possession and neat play out of the back with Chris, Nick, Nathan and Todd all comfortable on the ball and linking well with the midfield five.

It wasn’t long before Dunbar tested the Coogee defenders with Marko sniffing out a couple of half chances, including a one on one from wide right that the keeper did well to keep out. As expected Coogee are no mugs and they strung together some decent moves, but without troubling Taggy or getting in behind the back four.

With Dunbar remaining on top, Owen found himself in space on the left and a delightful through ball sent Marko away. Holding off the centre half, he neatly slotted home Dunbar’s opener. However, a defensive lapse ten minutes later saw Coogee level. With their height advantage they got a far post header on target from a deep corner. It looked like Chris had it covered, but a poor first touch gifted the Coogee striker who must have thought it was Christmas to easily slot home the equaliser from six yards.

Despite that disappointment, Dunbar lifted and continued to press Coogee with neat one and two touch passes. A second for Dunbar before the interval looked odds on when Smithy was one on one with the keeper, but the man between the sticks guessed right to make a crucial save, ensuring it was all square at the break.

With Gauty arriving at half time from his Mother’s Day duties, his fresh legs gave the Dunbar midfield more bite and momentum, with Gauty himself having a couple of long range efforts, with one whistling over the bar. Playing with more intensity and pressing Coogee again, Killender won the ball and sent Smithy one on one, who this time made no mistake with a neat side foot finish. That was Killender’s last contribution of the game pulling up with what looked like a hammy.

At 2-1, Dunbar looked comfortable but a third goal was needed to kill the game, which duly came with about 20 mins remaining. Giggsy wrestled space with some neat foot work and then clipped a beautiful through ball to split the Coogee defence for Alex Gomez’s to race clear. Picking up the ball about 25 yards out Gomez composed himself with a couple of good touches to pick his spot again with a neat side foot finish.

At 3-1, it was important for Dunbar to keep things tight. Coogee huffed and puffed but other than a few shots from distance they couldn’t break down Dunbar, with Nick dominant at centre half winning most contested headers and keeping his head when in possession to find the midfield outlet. In fact, it was a good day at the office for everyone, with plenty of effort, focus and composure across the park. Although it would be wrong of me to not mention a moment of magic from Boris, who when trying to kill time in the final few minutes, somehow sent himself down the right flank without one important thing – the ball! Despite that bit of skill, we closed out the match 3-1.

After two poor results this was a much better defensive performance from Dunbar with Todd, Chris, Nick, and Nathan all putting in excellent defensive performances that will bring much needed confidence. Taggy also had a composed game in goal and played the role of a deep sweeper as well to provide more defensive cover.

This should be a result to build on in the coming weeks. Next up is Easts and we should be confident of another three points.

Scorers