A first half hat-trick was the stand out from an intense match as the Reds continued their quest for top spot against a lowly-placed Strikeforce for Round 7.
Match Summary
Havoc anticipated a comfortable win against the current 7th-placed Strikeforce but were met with some late scares which almost jeopardised their victory.
Havoc were dominant early on and hit the ground running in the opening minutes. Quick thinking from a side ball saw J. Henderson set up J. Tamvakis in the middle of the attacking third with an easy one-touch finish.
In an instance of déjà vu, only minutes later, the pair combined once again. This time in open play, Tamvakis took two touches on the right wing off J. Henderson pass and duly extended the lead to 2-0.
A third goal followed soon after as A. Ratnagandhi set up Tamvakis for his hat-trick. Another neat finish from the in-form forward gave Havoc a 3-0 lead in less than 10 minutes. A fourth was then added by Henderson, assisted by Ratnagandhi, on the counter as Havoc looked to be running away with the result.
A small lapse in concentration, however, brought Strikeforce back into the game before half-time who scored leave a 3-goal deficit at the break (4-1 in favour of Oakleigh).
A sense of overconfidence seemed to overcome the Reds in the second half. Their opponents fought back well and managed to score two more goals to make it 4-3 with minutes to go. With the pressure on Havoc, a quick counter attack bailed them out. A full-court, slaloming dribble by J. Winn had defenders tripping over themselves and ended with a calm left-foot finish into the bottom corner to give Havoc some breathing space.
A tragic own-goal from Strikeforce would ensure three points for the Oakleigh boys after a high-pressure half.
Squad
6. Jake Winn
9. Avinassh Ratnagandhi
13. Dohwon Kim
21. Michael Watkins
23. Joshua Henderson
64. Jon Tamvakis
Goals
J. Tamvakis (3)
J. Henderson (1)
J. Winn (1)
Strikeforce OG (1)
Assists
A. Ratnagandhi (3)
J. Henderson (2)
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