Murray United suffered its third straight league defeat with a 3-0 loss to Springvale at La Trobe on Saturday.
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The home side was without five of its regular starters and was forced to play a different setup, which went out the window when Springvale found the back of the net just nine minutes in through Andrija Kecojevic.
Murray continued to press for an equaliser, but a stunning 35-yard strike from Slaven Vranesevic beat the outstretched right hand of Matt Mildren in goals to double the visitors’ advantage after 27 minutes.
The Border outfit didn’t rule out a second half comeback, but it became a formality in the 57th minute when a long-range shot was unable to be reeled in by Mildren, putting the contest beyond doubt at 3-0.
Murray coach Elliot Jones said a lot will be made of the players that were out, but he still felt the side he started with was good enough to get the points.
“We lost Nashy (Josh Mulcahy) on Thursday night because his back flared up,” Jones said.
“That changed the way we were setting up and we had to go in with a different game plan.
“Certainly part of the game plan wasn’t copping a goal in the first 10 minutes.
“Once that happens, you have to reset again and it’s very hard to get messages out onto the park when you’ve set up a certain way and cop an early goal.
“I thought some battled hard, but probably the underlining message from the game was that fundamental errors cost us.
“Down on personnel, it makes it hard to chase a game.
“The one thing in the second half was we came out and really tried to play some football and get our way back into it, which probably cost us our third goal.
“If we’re going to lose, we want lose trying to play some football and we’ll always have a crack to get back into the game.”
It was the youngest lineup Murray had fielded all season, with under 20s players Azia Feltrin and Isaac Read coming on late in the game as substitutes.
“It’s hard to expect the younger guys, a lot of them are playing 20s as well, to come in and have an immediate impact,” Jones said.
“You really like to bring your younger guys through when you have a strong side and your leaders are out on the park.
“To go on at 2-0 or 3-0 down is a tough gig for a young player, ideally you’d like to be bringing them on 2-0 up and letting them play with some freedom and express themselves.”
Murray now sits 13 points behind league leaders Moreland City and Dandenong City and has a tough road trip to come against North Geelong Warriors.
Zac Walker will be available next weekend after serving a two-match suspension, while Mulcahy’s fitness will be assessed at training.
The ladder after round 13 is: Moreland City 29, Dandenong City 29, Melbourne City 22, Springvale 21, Langwarrin 20, Goulburn Valley Suns 19, Eastern Lions 17, Murray United 16, Box Hill United 10, Nunawading City 8.