Cairnlea has ushered in a new era with its 6-0 drubbing of Diamond Valley United in the second round of the FFA Cup at Keilor Park Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
First-year coach Kevin Theuma and a revamped Reds’ squad totally dismantled United in one of the most eye-catching performances of the cup competition so far.
“We pretty much dominated the game,” Theuma said. “It was one-nil at half-time, but that was just because we didn’t put our chances away in the first half.
“It was just a matter of maintaining the intensity, and the goals would come.
“Slowly, slowly we broke them down – the boys played well.”
Habib Fleifel made a stunning debut for Cairnlea. The striker brought in from Preston Lions fired four goals in his first game in front of new fans.
Daniel Paunkoski, who arrived with Theuma from Sporting Whittlesea over the summer, scored the other two goals.
Theuma was reluctant to single out any player for praise as he felt all 11 positions had been won by his side on the day.
“As a team, I couldn’t really fault anyone, the lads did really well,” he said.
“They were solid in defence and we scored six goals, so we were pretty lethal in the front half.
“We kept possession really well, we moved the ball around.”
Cairnlea was able to replicate what Theuma had instructed the team in pre-season and apply it in a game situation.
For a new coach, it’s always a bit of the unknown whether the message is getting across until the real action comes around.
“I was quite happy to see what we’ve been working on this pre-season starting to click,” Theuma said.
“We’ve pretty much got no players left from last year we’ve rebuilt the squad and brought a lot of fresh blood in, so it’s always going to take a bit of time to hit our straps.
“We’ve still got a load of improvement in the boys, but we’ve made some progress.”
Cairnlea is hoping for a deep FFA Cup run.
The Reds want to come face to face with one of the NPL clubs down the line.
“It’s a different feeling to a pre-season game, where you sort of show up and can go through the motions a bit,” Theuma said.
“You can definitely feel the buzz through the week and this morning with the lads.
“When there’s something to play for, it gives you that little bit of an incentive.
“Hopefully, we’ll get through the next couple of rounds and have an opportunity to play one of the NPL clubs, if we’re lucky.”
In other FFA Cup first round games, Westvale fired four second half goals to romp to a 5-0 win over the Irymple Knights at McKechnie Reserve, while Brimbank Stallions bowed out with a 2-0 loss to Peninsula Strikers away at Centenary Park.
