Beaumaris v Mornington

COPLEY CRACKER SEALS MORNINGTON VICTORY

Beaumaris 0, Mornington 1 (Copley).

Mornington faced off against old rivals Beaumaris last Saturday and it was clear from the outset that there was no love lost between the two.

Both teams pushed from the start with both teams trying to gain ascendency. It was Beaumaris who had an early glimpse of goal although a weak shot resulted in an easy save.

It was Mornington who had the next opportunity when Dan Waite was felled on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick saw Copley beating the wall, however the ball sailed just over the crossbar.

Coach Andrew Brophy then got in on the action when he latched onto a loose corner only to see his shot fly over the crossbar.

Beaumaris countered and took control in the midfield with a number of nice moves that were well cut out by the Mornington defence.

Copley had the only other chance of the half when he shot from a tight angle only to be denied by a brilliant save from the Beaumaris keeper.

Mornington came out in the second half firing on all cylinders and it wasn’t long before a chance fell to Brophy inside the box. His swivelling shot was well directed but lacked the power to beat the keeper.

Mornington continued to push forward but couldn’t find the break they were looking for and the first yellow of the game was handed out when a frustrated Thomas Morris-Thomas lashed out at the Beaumaris forward.

The favour was returned less than five minutes later with Morris-Thomas sent sprawling over the touch-line as the game heated up.

Copley then found teWierik free on the edge of the 18 yard box who blasted his left foot shot towards the bottom corner only to see the Beaumaris keeper save it with his leg.

It took the simplest of build-up plays to produce Mornington’s goal when new keeper Daniel cleared the defence with his goal kick and it was Copley who was first to react latching onto the bouncing ball in rifling it in to the top corner.

With only ten minutes left Mornington closed ranks with defenders Wright and Van Zanden clearing everything that came their way and when the Beaumaris forward broke free down the left only to run into the brick wall of Van Zanden it was clear that this was to be Mornington’s day.

This Saturday Mornington face Mitcham away followed by a home game against promoted Dandenong Sparrows on Monday.