FFV: Melton Phoenix rises from the doldrums

Melton secured a vital away win in state league 4 soccer on Saturday night.

After back-to-back losses, the Phoenix returned to its best with an impressive 3-1 victory against Truganina.

Melton coach Peter Schwellinger said it was a great rebound performance from his squad.

“We’re absolutely rapt to get the result,” he said.

“We were playing away against a good team and it was the first time that we’ve played on a synthetic surface.

“We came out strongly and had a couple of good chances. Truganina came back and had two big chances of their own that they missed.

“We kept the pressure on them and then that first goal really got us going.”

While both teams had their chances to hit the lead early, it was Melton that prevailed.

Nicholas Vunderl and his Phoenix teammates had a convincing win on Saturday. Photo: Damian Visentini

The Phoenix took the 1-0 advantage through some brilliant play from Jason Moody, who stole the ball from a Truganina defender and, with pinpoint accuracy,
kicked it over the head of the advancing keeper.

After maintaining its 1-0 lead to half-time, Melton continued the pressure when play resumed.

The Phoenix booted another two goals to put an exclamation point on their dominance.

“There wasn’t much of a difference from the last couple of weeks,” Schwellinger said.

“We still went about it the same way; we kept our composure and tried to play a nice passing game.

“The only difference was the finishing. In the previous games, we had our chances but weren’t able to take advantage of them. This time, it happened for us.”

Melton will look to continue its winning run when it takes on the Maribyrnong Greens this weekend.

Maribyrnong goes into the match in strong form after beating one of the competition favourites, Melbourne City, 2-1 on Saturday.

“Hopefully, we can carry on this momentum,” Schwellinger said.

“Maribyrnong had a good win this week against one of the favourites of the competition.

“They’re only a point ahead of us. It’s a home game for us, so we just need to go into it strongly. We can’t underestimate them,” Schwellinger said.