Sebastian Cofre’s Doveton went down to Southern Suburbs on Saturday. 19803 By Stuart Teather
DOVETON gave up a half-time lead to lose 3-2 to the Southern Suburbs in round 13 of the Men’s State League Division Three South East on Saturday.
It was a match that had everything, with two red cards, several lead changes and a nail-biting finish.
After conceding an early goal, Doveton bounced back through Leon Buhic, who beat a defender in the box, turned and put the ball in the back of the net to draw 1-1 midway through the first half.
Nearing half-time, Hugo Reyes earned a free kick 35 metres out and fired a beautiful shot that beat the goalkeeper, putting the Doves up 2-1 at the main break.
Both goals were scored with 10 men after Tom Ingham was red-carded 15 minutes into the match.
After half-time it was a different story, however, as the Southerners attacked the goals and levelled through Peter Psarros.
Nearing the end the game seemed destined for a 2-2 draw, and the Southerners were down to 10 men as well, but a poor tackle in the defensive box with less than five minutes remaining saw the Doves concede a penalty, which Kosta Olabuntu duly converted to give Southern Suburbs an unlikely win.
Doveton coach Michael Kupinic said his side was let down by a lack of concentration.
“They sort of had a bit of a dip at us (in the second half). We had a chance to go 3-1 but we missed it,” he aid.
“The best way to describe it is it was poor defensive play. We’ve been conceding far too many goals.
“We make sure that we do the team thing, and we do mostly, but we seem to lose concentration occasionally.”
The Doves face a tough couple of weeks, playing third-placed Springvale City this weekend before facing ladder leader Morwell Pegasus.
Pegasus showed why it’s leading the pack with a comfortable 4-1 defeat of Berwick City, with a hat-trick to the in-form Frank Albanese putting the game beyond reach.
Morwell was hot all day and a 2-0 half-time lead was always going to extend, but Nikolaos Papadopoulos snuck one past the Morwell goalkeeper to give the scoreline some respectability.
The upset of the round went to bottom side Endeavour United, which pulled off a shock defeat of fifth-placed Croydon City, 1-0.
Muhammed Kirmaci scored an early goal for United, and the side held on after the break to claim the win.
Meanwhile, the Casey Comets gave up a half-time lead to tie 1-1 with the Doncaster Rovers in round 14 of the Men’s State League Division Two South East.
Picture: Meagan Rogers
