Last week it hovered above 0c with snow falling on the outskirts of Melbourne and numerous hail storms to boot. This week: 31c in a humid gymnasium. That’s Melbourne for you! The cool change came through during the end of the first game, as the temperature dropped to a balmy 24c. But despite the humidity and the Mustangs being short of two key players, they still beat the Pirates 6-4, albeit in an entertaining game.

The Mustangs created a patient 2-0 goal lead before Pirates Pivot Adam Ricciuti blasted in a shot from the left flank to make it 2-1. One of the goals of the game came from Central Defender, Chris Gospel, who was the Pirates’ in form player on the night. He had three good shots on goal before his fourth shot went in. Beating two players on the flank he hit the ball with his powerful left foot, for a scorcher of a shot to the bottom corner of the goal. 2-2 at half time. Pirates Keeper’ Martin van Elst was making some great saves again, but when the Pirates changed to a 2-2 formation, no one was marking the middle and the experienced Mustangs easily exploited the gaps.

Same thing happened in the second half as the Mustangs pulled away to a 4-2 lead after some silly defensive errors from the boys in blue. Serapiglia was at his usual best scoring some ggood goals for the Mustangs. But Captain Chas scored their best goal of the night from the left flank. It was a ripper of a shot, that left van Elst with no chance. The Pirates started to get back into the game after Gospel scored two goals with that powerful left boot of his. The big Central Defender from England was the in form player on the night, scoring three goals. He has recently recovered from a broken toe and is starting to make his presence felt in the team.

At 4-3 the Pirates had a chance to secure a draw, with Captain Sam Mlynarz creating space to take a shot, but it went wide of the mark. From there the Mustangs pushed on in the last two minutes which included a goal at the death. Playmaker Adam Fridman put in another good shift, but was a tad below his normal clinical best. However, this is a new team who is getting better by the week. It was a good game and the Ashburton Mustangs deserved the three points.

Pirates Squad: Sam Mlynarz (C) Martin van Elst (GK) Adam Fridman, Chris Gospel, Adam Ricciuti, Brad Smith, Joseph Luciano, Riccardo Spano. Suspended: Paul Iliopoulos. No yellow or red cards issued.

In the other matches Nino’s Futsal Plus went down to a much improved Knox Flames 4-1. The Vic Lions overcame the Cobras 5-3.