James Murphy
ROUND 5 of Limestone Coast men’s soccer was a goal-fest with a mammoth total of 36 goals across the three senior matches.
International dealt the bulk of the damage with a stinging 21-0 victory over Naracoorte.
The writing was on the wall early and when Caleb Casey scored in the fifth minute, the floodgates opened wide.
Within the next 10 minutes Inter had added four more goals and by half time the margin was 11-0.
The trend continued after the break and by the final whistle the boys in black and blue had pushed out to an unprecedented 21 goals.
They remain yet to concede a goal and after five games have an impressive goal difference of 53 to reside securely on top of the premiership table.
Sam Bueti topped the scoresheet on the day with six goals, while Matt Bueti and Dan Allwright had four each and Tom Weedon scored three.
Over at MGA Park Gambier Centrals hosted Blue Lake for a 7-4 win.
The visitors hit the ground running and looked dangerous in the opening minutes with the first goal of the match coming from Shar Nay Than.
“Full credit to Blue Lake they came out pretty hot and playing a better standard than what we probably did for the first 10 minutes,” Centrals coach Brodey Coop said.
“That early goal was utterly deserved on their behalf.
“It took us a little while to settle in, but that goal might have been a bit of a wake up for the boys.”
After the goal the home team settled and just seven minutes later Jake Blackwell scored the equaliser.
From there the Lions found their groove and both Cam Saint and Sam Shoemark were in on the action.
They Saint put his team in front, while Shoemark scored his first of three for the day off a penalty, shortly followed by his second before half time.
Heading into the break Centrals held a 4-1 lead and they wasted no time extending the margin in the second term.
Saint found the back of the net again early and eventually Shoemark completed his hat trick to put the Lions in a stable position midway through the half.
However, the Rangers rallied after this and took advantage of a lapse from their hosts to score three goals in quick succession and bring it back to a two-goal game.
Time was against a comeback and Centrals regained control, with Blackwell bookending the game with his second goal for the final 7-4 margin.
Coop was pleased with his team’s effort and credited three of his leaders for their standout performances.
“Sam Shoemark for sure (was our best),” he said.
“His past three games I’d say he has been better than anyone.
“It’s not just his goals, they are a reward for the effort he is putting in around the ground as well.”
Blackwell’s leadership was also credited, while Saint impressed as well.
“It is no surprise those three are always around our best players when we are playing well,” Koop said.
Centrals sits in third position, with another home game against Naracoorte this week.
“Overall I think we are building quite nicely,” Koop said.
“We are nowhere near our finished product yet.
“We haven’t actually put the same 11 out on the park two games in a row so far.
“I still have great belief in this squad that we are building something special here.”
The final match of the round had Apollo visit Millicent for a 3-1 win.
Jack Donehue was the main culprit up front and he scored two goals for the guests, while Pah Ni also found the middle of the posts.
Millicent managed a consolation goal late in the second half from Juan Ignacio Fernandez, but by then the deal was already sealed.
The win was Apollo’s third for the year and paired with a draw in Round 1, the club sits a point clear in second position.
A rematch with Inter looms this weekend and will provide a test after their 7-0 loss just two rounds ago.
The game will be played at Webb Street, while the other two fixtures will also be played in Mount Gambier.
Centrals hosts Naracoorte, while Blue Lake will look for its third win of the year at home against Millicent.