THE fifth round of the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League division one Championship season saw Colts United move to the top of the ladder with victory over Eaglehawk.
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Colts won 3-1 in an entertaining game at Truscott Reserve on Sunday.
Eaglehawk had the better of the opening, but failed to find the back of the net, as it attacked with pace.
Colts to their credit were solid in defence, with Dane Butler and Tim Lee doing well to keep the Borough at bay.
Colts were first on the scoreboard when a penalty was awarded against Eaglehawk's Colin Samuel, which saw Jamie Brown convert at the 20-minute mark.
Shortly after half-time, the Borough went a man down with talented young midfielder Keegan Smyth given his marching orders by the referee.
From there, the home side was under the pump, with Colts' coach Alf Longano roaming the midfield with authority.
A long clearance sent Colts' midfielder Paul Steward away and he easily knocked it past Borough goalkeeper Chris Samuel, doubling the lead for Colts.
With its hopes dashed, the Borough pushed players forward, but Butler and Lee led by example in defence, with another fine through ball from Steward giving an unmarked Sam Gower the sealer for Colts.
Eaglehawk's Sam McCloud gave some consolation to Eaglehawk supporters with a fine long-range strike to complete the scoring at 3-1.
The win sees Colts leapfrog Spring Gully to take over top spot on the ladder.
* Epsom, missing a string of key players, showed enormous courage to defeat Strathdale 1-0, getting the monkey off the back with its first win of the season.
Both sides went at the play with fierce determination, with hard nuts Troy Miles for Strathdale and Epsom's Hamish Gladstone involved in a heavy clash, which stopped play for several minutes as players were treated for injuries.
Strathdale's forwards, Stuart Gough and Rhys Clayton, looked dangerous, both receiving balls in the penalty box, but tight marking by Epsom's defenders snuffed out their shots.
Nathan Sartori had two chances before half-time for Strathdale, firing a free-kick high over the goal, before collecting a throw-in and firing over again.
Strathdale had early chances in the second half, when, at first, Gough's turn and shot was blocked by Gladstone, before Sartori headed over a corner.
It was Epsom who scored the only goal of the game, when Chris Lyons delivered a corner for Nigel Anderson to power a header past Blues' goalkeeper Andrew Wills and into the net to give the Scorpions the lead.
Both sides were creating half chances, and when Damien Kelly fed Aaron Hall, it looked like Epsom would wrap up the game, only for Wills to pull off a diving save to keep Strathdale in the contest.
With time running out, a foul on Gough by Anderson saw Strathdale's last chance being a free-kick on the edge of the penalty box, but it was wasted once again.
Epsom's defenders Anderson, Gladstone and Trevor Harvey held sway in the frantic final minutes as the Scorpions got their first win off the season.
The Blues' inconsistent season continues and they will feel this one got away from them.
* Castlemaine emerged 3-1 winners over arch-rival Kyneton in a physical encounter at Chewton, and in the process, recorded its first victory of the season.
Castlemaine dominated the midfield tussle from the outset,
with Tim Richardson, Jack Barker and Nick Burris, who was playing in an attacking midfield position, maintaining possession and providing quality ball to Jean Lucchesi and John Gunter up front.
Kyneton, as is so often the case, sat back, but looked dangerous on the counter, a style of play it is renowned for, particularly through midfielders Callan Field and Sheldon Crook.
Crook's swift movements were regularly shut down by the Castlemaine defence, which proved a stern wall all day.
Burris opened Castlemaine's account following a beautiful piece of football that saw Gunter back heal a neat ball to Lucchesi who, after turning, sent a through ball into the path of Maine's top scorer.
Burris had no trouble placing the ball past the out-stretched Chris Billinghurst in goal to make it 1-0.
Castlemaine continued to press, but was caught out when a challenge on Crook, that appeared to be at least a metre outside the box, was awarded a penalty.
Kevin McIntyre stepped up and calmly slotted the ball past 15-year-old Castlemaine goalkeeper Tristan Evans, who looked at home in the senior competition, despite his age.
The goal lifted Kyneton, which began using its width.
A lot of its play was coming through striker Simon Harman, who continually held the ball, but had little support.
Shortly before the interval, a sweeping move from Castlemaine resulted in a cross from Burris.
The ball was perfectly met by Tim Richardson, who hit a sublime first-time volley into the back of the net.
The second half quickly became a physical affair.
Richardson brothers, Dave and Tim, exerted their strength in the midfield for Castlemaine, while the Rangers' Nathan Sims laid numerous strong tackles on the opposition.
Castlemaine finished its rivals off with Burris' fourth goal of the Championship campaign.
A deep attacking throw for Castlemaine was met by the head of defender Andre Grimaux, who forced a fine save from Billinghurst, but Burris was first to pounce on the rebound to end the game at 3-1.
* Golden City won a close League Cup match against Moama at Shadforth Park by a solitary goal.
After a lacklustre start from both teams, City's Santiago Larrouet scored for Golden City at the 15-minute mark.
Larrouet's goal was the only one kicked of the match. However, Moama put in an aggressive final 15 minutes of the game and only some inspired goalkeeping from Keeley Edwards saved City from conceding an equalising goal.