Tatura climbs to CVL summit after derby win over Shepparton South

The Ibises overcame a 1-0 deficit at the half-hour mark, with Zito’s equaliser and Russo’s eventual winner bringing back memories of Tat’s grand final triumph over South in September.

Tatura is now two points clear on top of the table, the first time the Ibises have sat at the competition’s summit this season.

To make things even sweeter, it is South that the Ibises have supplanted after dealing the black-and-whites their second defeat of the campaign.

South coach Rob Harmeston said his side simply didn’t make the most of its chances in front of goal, while also praising Tatura for the way it disrupted South’s game style.

“From our perspective, I think that we didn’t really get going,” Harmeston said.

“I also think that Tat managed to prevent us from playing at times, they took us off our game.

“I also think that we failed to take chances, and when you do that, you are going to get punished. We had a lot of chances and we put them wide or took too many touches when we needed to execute.

“I don’t feel that we played the way we have been training and the way we have been building up to. We just didn’t really get going. I think half is on us and half is down to the way Tat set up, I don’t feel that we managed to get flowing.”

With top spot on the line, the scores remained deadlocked through the first half of the opening stanza, before a three-minute flurry had both sides hit the scoreboard.

Sean Grant gave South the lead from the penalty spot before Zito – a player who has a knack for scoring equalisers against South – drew Tatura level.

It was Zito who scored the dramatic equaliser in the dying stages of extra time in last year’s grand final, sending the encounter to a shootout which the Ibises went on to win.

His goal this time around – a neat finish into the bottom corner following a deflected clearance – wasn’t quite as theatrical, but sent Tatura into the sheds level all the same.

Just over 15 minutes into the second half Russo then gave the Ibises the decisive lead, tapping the ball home across the line after an initial shot on goal was saved.

South had chances to draw level – a Nick Mori effort on goal rattled the crossbar and a late penalty shout for a handball was waved away – but Tatura’s defence held firm as the side earned the imporant three points.

Harmeston said he thought his side was unlucky not to come away with a point as reward for its effort.

“I can honestly say that we didn’t play well enough to win, but I think a draw would have been fair,” he said.

“I think the fact that we went 1-0 up was good, I think we deserved it at the time. Over the course of the game, even though we played poorly, I don’t necessarily think we looked the worse side out of the two.

“I think both teams had their moments and I think both teams looked good, it was quite competitive. I just feel like we let ourselves down by not taking the chances that we did get.”

After going the entire 2022 home and away season without defeat, South has seen its commanding grip on the competition loosen.

The black-and-whites have now lost two games in the opening eight rounds, with their air of invincibility gone.

“I think the competition has realised it has got to step up. I think everyone is trying to catch up with us,” Harmeston said.

“I don’t think we have been as intense as we were last year in games and I think that has caught us out a couple of times.

“I think Tat had a plan and I think they executed it really well. When we had the chances to react we didn’t. I think there are lessons to be learned.”

Elsewhere, Shepparton United has suffered its second league defeat in a row after a surprise loss to Eaglehawk away in Bendigo.

Neither side found a breakthrough in the first half, but Eaglehawk eventually struck first – and struck hard – in the second stanza with three goals in the final half-hour of the contest.

Eaglehawk has now styled a reputation as the giant-killer in the competition – despite having just three wins on the board, two of those victories have come against heavyweight teams United and South.

The defeat means United is now five points adrift of Tatura and three points behind South, however, the Blues still hold a game in hand over their local rivals.

Meanwhile in division two, Shepparton has moved into top spot after a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Golden City Rams.

Golden City had one win to its name heading into the contest, but an upset seemed like it was on the cards when the Rams took a surprise lead at the 23-minute mark.

But two goals either side of half-time from Omran Al-Hamzah had Shepparton turn its deficit around and surge to victory.

With seven wins, one loss and a draw on the board, Shepparton now sits on top of division two with 22 out of a possible 27 points.

Shepparton moved one point ahead of Golden City, a side that had last weekend off with the bye and now has a game in hand.

In the division one women’s competition, Shepparton United earned its first victory of the month after toppling Eaglehawk 3-1.

Zahra Jafari, Maria Villani and Rebekah Lawson were the goal-scorers for the fourth-placed Blues.

Tatura and Shepparton South meanwhile were forced to split the points after playing out a 1-1 draw.

Samantha Comline gave South the lead in the first half, but her breakthrough was cancelled out by Ava Rosella’s second-half equaliser.