Northern Roosters suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 defeat to Essendon United on Friday night as its quest for promotion from FFV state league 4 north-west fell at the penultimate hurdle. Two goals in the last 10 minutes of play reversed a 1-0 deficit for Essendon to take it through to a play-off against Sporting Whittlesea this weekend.
Northern Roosters entered the contest unbeaten in 10 games, with United unbeaten in seven. And it was the Roosters who had the better of the early stages, controlling the wide areas of the pitch but failing to turn possessions into shots on goal.
With Essendon United hitting the bar and Roosters unable to hit as hard on the counter-attack, the game appeared to be meandering towards a 0-0 draw at the hour mark. But the lull proved to be the calm before the storm, as Taner Altanhan opened the scoring to put Roosters in the box seat in the 61st minute.
Essendon United’s response was instant, reversing the trend of the game to take over in midfield. But Roosters goalkeeper Enes Fazlioglu was equal to some of the best attacks of the night, saving a shot from Robert Carchedi from close range and parrying over a dipping long shot from Christian Bellomo.
Rather than a moment of brilliance, it was a moment of madness that put Essendon back on level terms. Roosters had had a scare when Essendon almost scored directly from a corner – a low shot to the near post almost squirming in without another touch from an Essendon player after a mis-hit clearance.
And it was a similar situation from the opposite corner in the 83rd minute when the man on the front post was unable to clear what initially looked a harmless, low-hit cross.
Instead the ball found a gap in the defence and was bundled into the goal mouth to gift Essendon parity. Rather than sit back and settle for 30 minutes of extra time, Essendon went for the kill within regulation.
And Northern Roosters, having sat back on its 1-0 lead for the best part of 25 minutes, had no choice but to keep defending.
Another corner would prove the team’s downfall, with a 91st-minute scramble ending with Essendon’s match-winning goal being poked in from close range.
Essendon United will now play Sporting Whittlesea for a spot in state league 3 north-west this weekend. Sporting finished 10th, third last, in SL3 north-west this season.
The match at Paisley Park in Altona kicks off at 3pm on Saturday.
