Scorelines of 1-0 or 2-1 are typical, with something like 4-2 indicative of a particularly action-packed match.
What you would almost certainly not anticipate is a game in which a whopping 13 goals hit the back of the net. But that is exactly what happened in Tatura’s Australia Cup clash in Melbourne on Saturday.
Taking on State League 3 side Chisholm United, the Ibises’ cup run came to an end after they lost 8-5, a result that knocks them out of the competition.
“It was crazy. I don’t think anyone in our side has played in a game with that many goals both ways, it was quite ridiculous,” Tatura coach Tristan Zito said.
“They came out pretty quick and fast, they shocked us and got a couple of goals early.
“We worked ourselves back into it, unfortunately we missed a penalty so we probably could have snagged a couple more in the end, but they just stayed a couple of goals ahead of us the whole day and we couldn’t rope them in.”
In a game that saw a goal averaged every seven minutes, it did not take long for the first ball to hit the back of the net.
United opened the scoring just three minutes in, adding a second goal at the nine-minute mark.
There were a further five goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half, with Aaron Niglia and Cody Sellwood getting Tatura on the board as the visitors trailed United 5-2 at the break.
The goals kept coming in the second half with four goals in the opening six minutes.
Jordan Leocata scored twice for Tatura and Niglia netted his second as well, but United was able to keep its nose in front.
With the score at 7-5, Chisholm added an eighth and final goal to finally ice the game with 10 minutes left to play.
Zito said he was proud of the way his side gave it their all, especially with some of the regular starting team not on the park.
“I suppose that is the nature of those cup games. You have to go for it, there is no point losing 5-0, you might as well try and chase them down,” he said.
“We tried our best but just couldn’t get over the line in the end.
“Obviously being away from home it is a bit harder, we were missing five or six out of the previous 11 we started with. We had a few boys step up and they did really well, so I was proud of those boys.”
Niglia was one of the standouts once again for Tatura. The youngster netted two more goals, bringing his total to six across the three Australia Cup games.
“Aaron is a superstar. He has just come up through the under-18s so he is still young,” Zito said.
“He has found his feet really quickly at the senior level, which we knew he would. He is going to play a massive part for us this year.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the way he has played, hopefully he has the same impact this year in the BASL (Bendigo Amatuer Soccer League).”
Elsewhere, Shepparton South’s Australia Cup campaign also came to an end after it was defeated 5-1 by Geelong Rangers on Friday night.
It was always going to be a tough task for South against the Rangers, but the BASL side — which like Tatura was missing a handful of key starters — more than held its own against its State League 2 opponents.
The scoreline doesn’t accurately represent the closeness of the encounter, with Geelong only managing to pull away late.
Playing in Geelong, the home side netted two goals in the opening half hour before Nicholas Mori’s strike had South behind by just one at half-time.
A red card early in the second half had South on the back foot, but the visitors showed immense resolve as they bravely stayed in the contest.
But Geelong was just too strong in the end, adding three goals in the final 10 minutes of the match to clinch a 5-1 victory.
Both South and Tatura are now knocked out of the tournament, while Geelong and Chisholm United will advance through to the fourth round of the preliminary stages.
All the BASL teams participating in the Australia Cup have now been knocked out, with Epsom losing 3-0 to Glenroy Lions.
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