It was no masterpiece, but cashing in all three points was all that mattered for the St Albans Saints.
After entering the match on the back of consecutive losses, there was heightened urgency for the Saints to find a way back on to the winners’ list and they did so with a scrappy and somewhat lucky 1-0 win over Sunshine George Cross at Knights Stadium on Saturday.
Saints coach Kruni Razov was breathing a sigh of relief after a frustrating day at the office.
“We made it very hard for ourselves, but in the end it was a job well done,” Razov said.
“We didn’t want to make it three straight losses, that’s for sure, so that was pleasing … the win gets ourselves back in the mixer there.”
Take the first half in isolation and Razov has little to be downcast about. All that was lacking for St Albans in the opening 45 was finishing as they dominated possession and created a host of scoring opportunities.
Rodrigo Covarrubias missed from the penalty spot, but made amends with a goal two minutes before half-time, which turned out to be the winner.
Amid the goal celebrations, Sunshine’s Brandon Scerri was brandished a red card.
With the Georgies down to 10 men, you would have thought St Albans would maintain its dominance, but that was far from the case.
Sunshine played its best soccer a man down and had a chance from the penalty spot in second half stoppage time to find an equaliser, but failed to convert.
“I was very happy with the first half, not happy with the second half,” Razov said. “We went into cruise control and made it hard for ourselves. I don’t know what it is, even about five or six weeks ago against Eastern Lions, the same thing happened, they got a red card late in the first half and we just took our foot off.”
The keys to the victory for St Albans were Matthew Cundari, who excited with his enterprising runs and caused headaches with his pinpoint crosses from the wing, Covarrubias, who worked tirelessly up front and was always in dangerous positions, and Dom Falla and Stefan Baricevic, who pulled the strings in the midfield.
St Albans moved into third place on the ladder ahead of a showdown with fourth-placed North Geelong Warriors at Churchill Reserve on Sunday. Sunshine remains on the bottom ahead of a trip to Werribee City on Sunday.
In the top tier NPL, Green Gully fell out of the top six after a 1-0 loss to Northcote City at Green Gully Reserve.
The Cavaliers face a massive game against Melbourne Knights at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday night. The Knights will go into the contest on the back of an entertaining 2-2 draw with Heidelberg United.
