On the ball … Green Gully’s Cameron Drake fights for the ball with a Hume City opponent on Saturday. 52124
By Luke D’Anello
GREEN Gully moved a step closer to a berth in this season’s Victorian Premier League (VPL) grand final, with a clinical 3-1 win against Hume City on Saturday.
The Cavaliers, who have won eight of their past 10 matches, scored two late goals in the qualifying final at Epping Soccer Stadium to set up a meeting with Richmond this weekend.
“It was very pleasing. It has given us a little bit of momentum, as well, moving forward. The performance was good and the goals came at the right time for us. We’re over the moon, really,” Green Gully coach Paul Harris said in summary.
After the teams traded blows in the opening-half for no result, Green Gully’s Brent Fisher wasted no time in giving his team the lead when he scored just three minutes after the resumption.
The Cavaliers seemingly had control of the match up until the 71-minute mark. That was until Hume City’s Richard Cardozo pounced to level the scores.
But, not unlike previous matches this season, Green Gully managed to hit the back of the net in a timely fashion.
First, Brent Fisher finished off his good work from a tight angle to restore the lead with just 15 minutes remaining in the contest. Then Steve Burton converted a penalty kick in the 86th minute to confirm victory.
Harris reserved plaudits for Fisher and said his second goal proved crucial.
“Brent Fisher’s fantastic finish took it to 2-1 and it just brought the ascendency back in our favour. We finished quite strongly. It was a pleasing performance all over.
“We were reasonably strong defensively. We probably set up a bit too much in the first 20 or 30 minutes.
“But once we pushed forward and got the midfielders in to support the strikers a little bit better, it started to sway our way a little bit.”
Mile Medjedovic marshalled the defensive half, while Daniel Jones and Burton were other strong performers.
But Englishman Tim Gould played his last game for the Cavaliers and will be missed as they march towards a possible VPL title.
Harris is aware his team faces its litmus test this weekend when it faces Richmond.
In round 13, Richmond eclipsed the Cavaliers, 2-1. But Green Gully was successful, 3-1, in round two.
“I don’t think there is a great deal between the sides. We’ll go into there with momentum and looking forward to it. Everybody is quite positive.
“But Richmond is a very, very good side. We’ll give it a crack and there is always that element of luck and fortune that you get in finals football as well. We’ll go there full of confidence.
“Defensively, they are quite strong and they can score goals. It’s all a question of, not necessarily a secret formula to beat them, but us playing as well as we can play and doing the right things and the hard yards.
“If we can do that, we give ourselves half a chance.”
