It was a weekend of many lessons when on Saturday the Murray United Senior and Under 20 teams took to the road to take on the Goulburn Valley Suns in Shepparton. A fixture that promises to develop into a true local derby between the neighbouring regional NPL clubs Murray Untied and GVS, results were mixed for Murray United.
The Under 20’s started the evening off by securing their third win in a row and remaining unbeaten for the season with a 1-2 win over the home team. With what was described as an ‘absolutely clinical’ goal, Murray United’s Lionel Masudi, gave his team the early advantage they were looking for. Despite being on top of GVS for much of the first half, some frustration was felt by the boys at the half time break. There were moments of brilliance, but the team unanimously felt they weren’t playing at the level they want to be at. A true sign of the maturity and expectation these young men place on themselves, both individually and as a team.
With the second half underway, it was GVS that were first able to make the most of an opportunity to see the ball reach the back of the net, the first goal scored against the Murray United team in three games. Not the start the boys were after, a clearly more focused Murray United team once again began to take control of the game and the rewards soon came. A quality header from Melkie Woldemichael once again gave Murray United the lead, a lead that they were to hold onto until the final whistle. GVS 1 – MU 2.
Under 20 coach James Coutts said “In terms of getting another win, we are happy. It’s another positive result for the boys. Three from three is a great start to the season.”
“What is particularly positive is the group isn’t just satisfied with winning games. They’re very self-aware, and recognise there is further development required before they are at the standard they want to be at.”
“There was some sloppy pressing and passing on the weekend, but the guys know what work needs to be done, and to be honest, their committed to improvement is outstanding.”
With the Under 20 team not scheduled to play this weekend, rest from training is certainly not on the cards. “We’ll be putting some hard work into their legs this week, it won’t be easy. And with the seniors playing in their FFA Cup match, and the Under 18’s kicking their season off, some of the guys will probably get some game time. Those who don’t though won’t be getting a holiday, that’s for sure.”
Following the positive result of the Under 20’s, hopes were high for the senior team also. Heading-off against a GVS team who had recently beaten Richmond by six goals, it was time for Murray United to test themselves against what looked like a team in very good form.
With the first 30 minutes of the game evenly matched, it looked like the hopes of a high quality local derby were being delivered on. Chances for Murray United to take the lead came agonisingly close, including a Waters strike hitting the post in the 22nd minute. However, from the 30th minute mark, an avalanche of goals from GVS was going to well and truly tip the game their way. Scoring in the 30th, 35th, 42nd and 45th, the Murray United boys headed to the change rooms with the mammoth task of fighting back from the 4-0 deficit.
With the second half well underway, the still 4-0 score line was far from representative of the overall competitiveness of play between the two teams. With both teams unable to convert, it took until the 70th minute, when once more, GVS managed to extend their lead, taking the score to 5-0.
Five minutes later it was finally Murray United’s turn, with Zac Walker getting one around the GVS keeper in style, bringing the gap back to four goals. But unfortunately for Murray United, the score line was not going to improve, with another two goals to GVS, after 90 minutes, the end result GVS 7 – MU 1.
Despite the six goal loss, the result by no means spells doom and gloom for Murray United. For those that watched the game, the vast majority of it saw two evenly matched teams play what was a highly entertaining and competitive game of football.
Senior coach Mick Richards said “The result hurts. We wanted to take it to GVS so we tried quite an attacking game plan this week. It didn’t work out for us.”
“Although it is hard to accept losses like this one, we cannot ignore the positives, and there were plenty. We as a group will take away really valuable lessons from this game, all very important stuff as we continue to develop as a group.”
“Every week, we are creating a good 10-12 chances to score. This is excellent. But as an entire group, and this includes us coaches, we are going to work incredibly hard on finding the perfect balance of defensive and attacking play. We didn’t have the balance right this week.”
The senior team now focus on the coming weekends (Saturday) round four FFA Cup match against Morwell Pegasus. With the game being played at Savoy Club, Myrtleford (kick-off 4pm), Murray United are calling out to all MUFC fans to get over and really support the boys.
