By Luke Sheehan
ALTONA Magic surrendered its lead in the dying minutes to share the points with South Melbourne in the opening round of the Victorian Premier League at Paisley Park Soccer Complex on Sunday, the final score 1-1.
Magic led 1-0 at the half-time break and looked to have the three points wrapped up before a long ball from the Hellas goalkeeper split the Magic defence in two, and Fernando de Moreas was able to skip around the keeper and send the visiting south fans into delirium.
Magic skipper Pece Siveski said the result was disappointing given his side’s lead, but naturally being the first game of the year for points, there were positive signs for the defending champions.
“We pretty much had the lead for the majority of the game,” he said. “South Melbourne pressured us in the second half but we could have put the game beyond doubt in the second half if we had capitalised on two or three of our counter attacks. Overall I think the draw was a fair result.”
Siveski said the battle for supremacy in the middle of the park was an even one.
“I think it was (even), they probably had the initiative for most of the game.
“We knew what we wanted and we knew how we were going to play, we pretty much stuck to our task all day, apart from a minor error towards the end, and we paid the price for that.”
Siveski praised his side’s defensive pressure on all corners of Paisley Park.
The Magic captain was happy with the crowd size, which made for a great atmosphere in spite of overcast and typically windy conditions at Altona.
