Murray United brought an end to its poor start at La Trobe with its first home win of the season against Box Hill United on Saturday.
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After a nervy opening, the hosts worked their way into the contest and found the back of the net twice in the second half to grab a 2-0 victory.
The Border outfit survived a scare early when Andrew Le Page’s penalty attempt clattered into the left post and went wide.
It seemed to be the stroke of luck they needed as Murray started to match Box Hill across the park and create scoring opportunities.
The contest swung in Murray’s favour after half-time and they began to dominate possession, with Tom Morrison breaking the deadlock following an excellent strike in the 77th minute.
Box Hill tried gallantly for an equaliser, before Zac Walker managed to find some space in the dying stages and bury the one-on-one to double the advantage and ensure the hosts grabbed the three points in front of the faithful.
Murray coach Elliot Jones was relieved to get the monkey off the back.
“I’d like to think it’s been building for a while, but it’s just great for us to get a win in front of our home crowd,” Jones said.
“It means so much to us.
“As much as a lot was made of it in the media, we certainly felt the pressure too.
“Box Hill moved the ball around really well, so we had a game plan going in that we wanted to stay nice and compact and sweat on their mistakes.
“We just had to hang in there and we knew our fitness would shine through in the second half, thankfully it went to plan.”
Jones admitted Morrison was again rewarded for his effort, while goalkeeper Matt Mildren impressed in just his second appearance for club to cover for the suspended Abdulkerim Koc.
“He’s (Mildren) been training really well and we were really confident he would come in and do a shift for us,” Jones said.
“He was outstanding and we gave him best on ground because he was great in the way he applied himself and especially with the talk at the back.
“You never want to change keepers, but to bring Matty in and have him perform is really pleasing.”
Walker admitted the goal felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“I think that was the first time we’ve beaten them, so the hard work off the field has paid off and we got the three points against these boys at home where we’ve had a not so good record,” Walker added.
The only cause for concern for Murray was Fletcher Caponecchia, who copped a knock in the second half and was substituted late in the game.
Striker Gonzalo Freddi was rested again after tweaking his injured knee at training on Thursday night.
The ladder after round nine is: Dandenong City 22, Moreland City 19, Melbourne City 16, Springvale 16, Langwarrin 14, Murray United 13, Goulburn Valley Suns 10, Eastern Lions 10, Box Hill United 9, Nunawading City 6.