ISAROOS secured their second consecutive Mount Isa men’s soccer B grade soccer title, defeating the previously unbeaten International in the final.
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Undefeated all season, Inter was firm favourite, but the fourth-placed Isaroos kept their momentum going from the past two weeks, winning 3-0 on Saturday.
Isaroos coach Brad Crossingham said the team executed its match plan perfectly and deserved to win the match.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the way the boys played on Saturday, with everyone playing their role perfectly,” he said.
“In particular, our back five were sensational and to keep a clean sheet against the grade’s best side is an awesome effort.”
“Our defence had been an area of concern in recent weeks, but the hard work at training recently paid off.”
Isaroos opened the scoring early when form midfielder Morris Massetti calmly finished in front of goal.
Massetti doubled his total in the dying moments of the first half, superbly hitting a Ben Robins pass past Inter goalkeeper Johlian Glindon.
Not wanting to let another cup slip from their grasp, after losing the mid-season cup to Bulls, Inter came out firing in the second half.
Shaun Sloan forced Isaroos goalkeeper Phillip Vandeplassche to tip the ball over the crossbar, hitting the ball from outside the box.
Inter’s strikers Allan Major and Glen Major started to get their mojo’s back and were unlucky to not find the back of the net on multiple occasions.
Against the run of play, Massetti crossed the ball to the far post and Robins headed the ball in from close range to seal the three-nil result.
Allan Major was red-carded late in the match, ending any chance of Inter mounting a comeback, for a dangerous tackle.
“We learnt from last week’s match against Bulls that once we score a goal, we can’t clock off and, if anything, raise our play to another level.’’
Crossingham, also the club president, was ecstatic the way his side handle the adversity it received throughout the final month and said it was a credit to his side.
“We were written off by our sceptics a couple of weeks ago, but used that to motivate to win the title for the second straight year,” he said.
“I’d also like to thank Inter and the rest of the competition for a fantastic season and look forward to doing it all again next season.”