Despite entering only its fourth season, Murray United has become somewhat of a bogey side for Moreland City.
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The Border outfit has finished lower on the table than Moreland each year in their respective leagues, but have beaten them in two of their three home and away meetings, as well as round five of the 2016 FFA Cup.
However, Murray’s round two opponents have crossed from NPL 2 west to east this season, meaning they will face them twice in 2018, starting at La Trobe on Saturday.
Utility Sean Pye has been at Murray for them all.
“We’re confident, the last three years we’ve done really well against Moreland,” Pye said.
“We try to keep the ball and press up and they try to keep the ball and sit off us a little bit, which helps us.”
Pye admitted last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Eastern Lions to open the season was a frustrating result for the playing group.
“We obviously took a draw, but it kind of felt like a loss at the end of the game,” he said.
“A lot of boys were really frustrated with how we performed, but I know we’ve got a lot of upside left to go.
“No-one really stood out for us in terms of performances, so we’d all like to have a better output this week.”
Centre back Halil Gur will miss this weekend’s clash, which could open the door for Pye to return to a familiar position in defence, after spending last week in a new role in the middle.
“It was a lot more running (last week), which I enjoy and it gets me on the ball a little bit higher up the park,” Pye said.
“I enjoyed my time playing in the back line for the last three years with little cameos moving forward every now and then, but I’m comfortable in my role a little bit higher up the park now.
“I know at various stages through the year I’ll have to drop back, which I’m fine with.
“I trained there (centre back) last (Tuesday) night, so potentially that’s an indication I’ll step back there and someone can shuffle to where am I.
“If not, I’ll stay where I am and we’ve got Harry Drummond to come in who’s a quality left back and we could shuffle Alex (West) over to the middle, so we’ve got a couple of options.”
Pye added the main goal for the side is to be a bit calmer after a nervy start and finish against Eastern Lions last week.
Argentinian striker Gonzalo Freddi was Murray’s best last week, despite finding himself heavily manned by the Lions’ defence without the likes of Archie Thompson and James Coutts at the club this season.
“It was a bit different, but we started the first 10 to 15 minutes under pressure,” Freddi said.
“We couldn’t play our game and maybe I was a bit isolated at first.
“I know our attacking players are great and if we start combining well, we can hurt teams.”
Kick-off against Moreland City is at 5pm for the seniors and 3pm for the under 20s.