By Lance Jenkinson
When Hoppers Crossing coach Shaun Barbara arrived at Grange Reserve on Saturday, he had a vision of the kind of bold play he wanted his players to serve up against Westgate.
They delivered, notching up a 4-1 victory in Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 2 north-west.
It did not all go to plan for the Reds, who had to withstand an early onslaught and a one-goal deficit.
But once they got rolling, they produced an attacking brand that has become easily identifiable under Barbara.
“That’s our style of play,” the coach said. “I like our team to be very pro-active and put teams on the back foot.
“Apart from last year, which was a little bit difficult when you step up a division, from when I first got to the club that’s sort of my style and how I like to go about it.
“The boys have adopted that, they really absorb it and they like it … it’s a style they implement really well.”
There were some worrying signs for Hoppers Crossing early in the game.
The first 20 minutes saw the Reds on the back foot and taking some significant punishment.
“We came out of the blocks a little bit slowly and got punished for it with an early goal,” Barbara said. “They were definitely on top, but the boys steadied the ship.
“We adjusted a few things as we were going along in the first half and started to get on top.”
The turning point came late in the first half when Jason Hayne scored for Hoppers Crossing.
It was the first of four unanswered goals from the Reds, including three in the second half.
Hayne was the lead protagonist for the Reds with a hat-trick.
Hard-working strike partner Liam McDermott scored the fourth.
While Hoppers Crossing had all the momentum, the confidence had long seeped away from Westgate.
PHOTO GALLERY: Hoppers Crossing vs Westgate
Westgate would end up frustrated with 10 men after Vedran Stojanovic was brandished a second yellow card.
“We’re finding a really good balance at the moment with our defence, which coincides with the last two results,” Barbara said.
Scott Robson and Brian Chesson were praised for their work in central defence.
Hoppers Crossing heads into the Queen’s Birthday break in fourth place and two points off top spot. The Reds will feature in a top-four blockbuster against Albion Rovers when they return on June 15.
In men’s state league 3, Point Cook has leapt out of the bottom two with a shock 4-2 victory over top-of-the-table Lalor United. Ilias Fagridas, Kyle Caruana, Ashley Lymn and Chris Sutera scored on a great day for the Jets.
In men’s state league 4, Truganina Hornets were thrashed 4-0 by Altona North in a week when coach Rasheed Sheikh-Omar handed in his resignation.
West Point was trounced 5-0 by Balmoral in men’s state league 5.
In women’s state league 1, Hoppers Crossing is in a world of pain, going down 20-0 to Moreland Zebras. The rock bottom Reds have one point from seven games and a goal difference of -55.
Incredibly, it was the opposite scoreline for Point Cook in women’s state league 3 after it obliterated Maribyrnong Swifts Lightning 20-0. Melissa Naumovski scored eight goals for the Jets, Madison Filer added five and Regina Mariel scored four off the bench.
West Point won 5-2 over Sunbury United with Mya Moran scoring a hat-trick.
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www.starweekly.com.au/sports/westgates-campaign-plan-falters/
