Murray United suffered a heartbreaking loss in the dying stages of its derby clash with Goulburn Valley Suns (GVS) on Saturday.
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A stunning finish from Rob Hughes inside the final five minutes sunk the Border outfit, who, incredibly, has just one win to its name at La Trobe all season.
Murray had the better of the opening exchanges with captain Ashley Dunn and striker Chad Bugeja’s early shots blocked by the Suns’ defence.
There was plenty of feeling between the rivals which reached boiling point midway through the half when the referees were forced to step in and separate the two sides.
Three yellow cards were handed out in the space of four minutes to GVS players, before Murray coach James Coutts was given the same treatment shortly after.
It was the Suns who had all the run in the second half and peppered Murray’s goals in the final 15 minutes, before a poor cross saw them open the home side up on the counter, with Hughes finding the top left corner with a superb strike.
Coutts was pleased with the start from his side, but admitted they didn’t have enough cutting edge higher up the pitch without Archie Thompson and Lewis Greenwood, who both missed through suspension.
“The second half they got on top in terms of energy, we were certainly nursing quite a few niggles, there was a few injuries and illnesses, but that’s not an excuse,” Coutts said.
“Myself and Dunny couldn’t get on the ball as much in the second half and that affected how we played and we were countering a bit more.
“Fair play to the Suns, they’ve got players who can do certain things.
“We know all about Rob Hughes and what he can do and we spoke about not letting him come in on his left foot and having an effort at goal.”
Coutts said the heat in the contest was to be expected.
“It’s always going to happen in a derby, especially with the characters you’ve got in the middle of the park,” he said.
“It would be a hard one to referee because we’re all calling for decisions, we’re all going in hard, we all want to win, but that’s a derby.
“It’s a horrible feeling at the end, especially when I’ve been in ones where we’ve won at an opponents ground and it feels good.
“We’re still fourth, we’re still ahead of them in the comp on goal difference, so we’ll regroup and go again next week.”
The biggest challenge Murray faces in the final two months of the season is the ability to manage its small squad.
“We’re nursing a lot of players through, there’s a lot of players that have played a lot of games,” Coutts said.
“Fingers crossed there’s no fresh injuries and we’ll go down to Ballarat for another test next weekend.”
They’ll be more competition for places in the side with Thompson and Greenwood likely to return, while Nick Teichmann will also be in the mix depending on how well he has recovered from his hamstring complaint.