By ADEM SARICAOGLU
SUNSHINE George Cross is confident it has a strong case going into Wednesday evening’s appeal hearing.
The Georgies were automatically relegated to State League Two after they got caught up in a melee incident against Heidelberg United in August.
After lodging its intention to appeal Football Federation Victoria’s finding on 1 October, the club was made aware of the appeal date on Friday.
The appeal is largely based on the harshness of the penalty, but it is understood the club’s legal team will argue Heidelberg United officials instigated the melee.
Sunshine George Cross officials have also confirmed the club board voted against pulling a club-backed consortium out of the proposed National Premier League after the FFV’s punishment was handed down.
Club president Darren Farrugia said “anger and frustration” at the FFV’s ruling were the main factors in the club’s intentions of potentially pulling out of the NPL process.
“We were really serious about pulling out, but we’re too far in it now,” Farrugia told Star.
The club’s recent troubles marked what was quite an eventful year for Sunshine George Cross both on and off the pitch.
Coach Tony Ciantar found himself in hot water on numerous occasions with the FFV after twice receiving suspensions for separate incidents throughout the season.
Then, during August’s crucial away fixture against eventual champion Heidelberg United, the Georgies managed to snatch a come-from-behind 2-2 draw after equalising during a lengthy seven-minute period of injury time that allegedly sparked the post-match melee.
“The second goal felt like a grand final for us,” Ciantar said.
“We were celebrating, they were the ones upset and all of a sudden we’re dragged into this melee.
“It just put a big dampener on the whole season – a great season that we’ve had.”
Ciantar believes he and his club have been “harshly dealt with” off the pitch but despite narrowly missing promotion into the Victorian Premier League, the coach looks back on 2013 as a great success for his team.
“It’s been a great season for the club on the field,” Ciantar said.
“(There were) a lot of personnel changes that worked out for the better of the club on the field, which has been a huge positive.
“If we had have been a little better at home we could’ve won this league by a country mile.
“I don’t think we were the best team going around but we were a well-groomed side, we were a very close-knit side and that made a huge difference for the playing staff.”
