A late rampage from Melbourne City handed Murray United a 6-2 defeat at La Trobe Bundoora on Saturday.
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The Border side trailed twice and equalised on both occasions, before the floodgates opened in the final 25 minutes with four classy goals from the hosts.
Zac Walker scored in his return to the side with a perfectly placed lob to make it 1-1 after 10 minutes, while Ashley Dunn cleaned up a missed penalty attempt from Tom Youngs to level it at 2-2 early in the second half.
Murray coach Elliot Jones took more from this weekend than the 4-0 loss to Eastern Lions in week one.
"We came up against a slick side, they had six under-19s Socceroos and a couple of guys with A-League experience," he said.
"I thought we defended really well for large periods, we went behind and responded twice to get back to 2-2 and hit the post, but 10 minutes later they went up 3-2 up.
"Against a side that keeps the ball for so long, it becomes a real drain.
"Although we were gallant, in the end they wore us down."
Murray hosts Langwarrin next weekend.
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