HE moves him left, he moves him right, but on Saturday night Green Gully coach Ian Dobson moved Jason Hayne into position to score the winning goal.
Dobson’s belated decision to move Hayne from the right wing to behind the strikers allowed Hayne to be in the box when a late ball was crossed in.
He controlled the ball and then shot low to the right for an 89th minute goal and a 1-0 win over Southern Stars at Kingston Heath.
Dobson said he thought his strikers needed extra help against the deeply positioned and desperate Stars defence and his hunch proved correct as Hayne’s strike was only the Cavaliers’ second shot on goal for the night.
“Stars are well organised and were difficult to break down,” he said.
“The goal came late but most importantly we got it and took the points.”
Gully’s only other real chance came midway through the second half when Eduardo Esagie turned a low cross goalwards only for it to hit the crossbar.
“If we score earlier then I think we may have scored two or three goals but instead we were in that dangerous 0-0 scoreline,” Dobson said.
Stars coach Dean Hennessy applauded his players who have faced South Melbourne, Oakleigh and Gully in the past three matches.
“It’s devastating, I thought we were deserving of a point,” he said.
“Our defender lost the ball in the lights and it fell to Hayne then his shot hit one of our defenders on the way in, it’s devastating.
“But this is a tough league and one play can cost you the game.”
In a dogged first half neither side managed a clear shot on goal as both defences found ways to deflect or block the few forays into either box.
Gully had the better of the possession but was unable to turn any attacks into anything decisive as Eduaro Edsagie and the rest of its attack getting no closer to goal than the edge of the box.
Indeed one of the few highlights of the half was the skills of Gully coach Ian Dobson who cleanly headed an errant cross which went towards the Gully dugout.
Dobson’s header went straight to a Gully player who duly threw the ball back into play.
