MURRAY United failed to deliver the fairytale start to caretaker coach James Coutts’s tenure when they were outmuscled 3-0 by Dandenong City at a wet and wintry La Trobe on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The team that beat Melbourne Victory 5-0 a couple of weeks ago were stronger on the ball, more ruthless in defence and went forward in waves.
The visitors dominated the first half with eight corners to zero.
But it was an outstanding cross from City’s Chris Antoniadis that broke the deadlock on the half-hour when he found Ashley Cattermole with a free header in the box.
City took a 1-0 advantage into half-time, but it was the home team that dominated the opening exchanges in the second stanza.
United controlled possession, with left back Ben Chaffey continuing to get forward with purpose, and his combination with Darcy Pawlik continued to tease the City defenders.
Zac Walker buried a free kick into the wall after just five minutes and then a well-rehearsed corner came in to the feet of the striker and looked goal bound before being cleared by the solid City defence.
United were left to rue their missed opportunities when Keegan Ziada pounced on a goalmouth scramble with less than five minutes remaining to kill the contest.
Two minutes later it was a diving header from substitute Alex Rojas that added the third and ended the contest and his day with a dislocated shoulder.
Coutts, who stepped up into the senior role mid-week, was far from disappointed.
“We just need to be better at either end of the park, we need to be more ruthless in defence and that final ball into the box needs to have more purpose,” he said.
“For 30 to 35 minutes in that second half we had a lot of the ball, moved it really well.
“But today it was a tale of the two boxes, I thought we were great in the middle of the park.
“Big wrap on Chaffey — he doesn’t leave anything out there, a beautiful passer of the ball, a good footballer — he copped a knock just before half-time and pushed through it to be among our better players, but I thought the back four were all good today.”
Dandenong City coach Aaron Healey was full of praise for his opponents.
“In the first half we had the better of the chances, but then in the second half, in that first 25 minutes, they really came at us,” he said.
“At this level you need to wear teams down.
“Once we got the second (goal) it was game over and credit to our boys that we pushed for a third.
“They are a good young side, still developing and they will go ahead in leaps and bounds in the coming years.
“I think it is great for the league that Murray United has joined the competition and good for the game up here on the Border.”
