Friday night saw the start of the Monbulk Rangers FV State League 3 South-East 2023 campaign, as they faced off against Brighton SC down at Monbulk Regional Soccer Facility.
The proceedings started off well for the home side as they took all 3 points in the Reserves fixture, taking out a comfortable 3-0 victory, with young 16-year-old Brayden Jones scoring two, one of which was a delightful chip from some 27m out, and the other tapped in from close range by debutant Daniel Biondo.
The Senior match was a whole other story. The home side was caught on the back foot early and, after being denied what was a clear penalty, Brighton was reduced to 10 men, yet found themselves walking into the halftime break down 2-0 after 2 sloppy pieces of defending caught them out and was safely tucked away. Coach Steve McRae had some calming words at halftime to the lads and they made a profound impact as Monbulk came out after halftime and scored 2 goals in 15 minutes to even the scores back up at 2-2 with a fair portion of the second half remaining.
Brighton then threw caution into the wind and scored another 2 goals to find themselves 4-2 up with 10 minutes to play, however, young Oliver Grujic came on as a late substitute and with his first touch of the match, scored a glancing headed goal in at the back post in the 89th minute. Despite the late shift in momentum, it was Brighton who held on to take the match with a final scoreline of 4-3.
Monbulk’s next home game is this coming Saturday where it is also the return of the classic Dutchy v Pommy game, which will kick off as the curtain-raiser at 3.45pm with the Reserves at 5pm and Seniors at 7pm. The Women’s VPLW campaign also begins this Sunday with kick off’s at 1pm and 3pm.
