Soccer: Melville City falls to 2-0 loss at Gwelup Croatia

MELVILLE City went down 2-0 to league leaders Gwelup Croatia at the Croatian Sporting Complex in round 4 of State League Division 2.

Despite the score, Melville competed well for large periods of the game, with the main difference being the host’s finishing.

After a cagey opening, Aldaine Van Dyk came closest to opening the scoring for the visitors when his shot rolled wide.

After some sustained pressure, Gwelup took the lead through Jake Verini, who smashed home emphatically from a cut back.

James Sammut then forced Daniel Agudelo into a superb one-handed save from close range, before Dejan Andric thought he had doubled Gwelup’s lead, only to be flagged offside.

The second half was a closely contested affair, as both sides enjoyed long spells of possession but were unable to seriously test either goalkeeper.

Gavin Knight came closest when Agudelo tipped his header on to the bar, but the linesman again came to Melville’s rescue, having judged him offside.

With a quarter of an hour left, Sebastian Munoz doubled the home side’s lead when his instinctive snapshot from the edge of the box found the net via the post.

City pressed late with a flurry of crosses which troubled goalkeeper Thomas Dixon, but the closest they came to scoring was a Denaudo Murray free kick, which was tipped over the bar.

In the other games, Melville’s reserves fell 5-2 to Gwelup, while the under-18’s triumphed 10-0.