Sydenham Park has thrust its name back into the mix of Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1 contenders.
The Reds showed their potential with an eye-catching 1-0 win over North Sunshine Eagles at Keilor Lodge Reserve on Saturday.
Not only did the Reds move up to fourth on the ladder and back among the leading teams, they shook up the title race by becoming the first team to take points off the Eagles this season.
Sydenham Park coach John Markovski was delighted by the outcome after what he described as an “up and down” start to the season.
“Today’s performance by every single player was excellent,” he said. “They were on-song, they knew what it was all about, the game-plan was followed to a tee and we got the result.” Sydenham Park took command of the game in the second half, but it took brilliant build-up play for the Reds to finally break down the North Sunshine defensive resolve.
With 15 minutes to go, substitute Angel Taravillo found the back of the net with his first touch off the bench.
“The build-up to the goal was from the back all the way through,” Markovski said.
“It’s gone to Chris Davies and he’s had a touch like he was going to have a shot, they tried to close him down and he knocked it to ‘Ziggy’ [Zoran Petrevski] and he squared it across the goal for Angel to tap it in. It was a great passage of play by all the boys.”
It was Sydenham Park’s first home game of the season. The Reds had spent the first five weeks on the road because their main ground was being re-surfaced.
On top of the extra travel, the Reds had gone deep in the FFA Cup before they were eliminated by Oakleigh Cannons, so the work load was starting to take its toll. Perhaps now the Reds will settle down and focus solely on the league and bridging the six-point gap between themselves and ladder North Sunshine.
“The boys wanted to get a result today at home,” Markovski said. “To have our first game at home against the guys that are leading the pack and beat them was excellent.”
Sydenham Park will be back on the road this Saturday to make the short trip to Keilor Park.
It promises to be a cracking game between and sides in fourth and fifth at Keilor Park Recreation Reserve.
Keilor Park enters on the back of a 1-1 draw with Preston Lions away at BT Connor Reserve. Reuben Agyie-Danso scored for Keilor Park.
Western Suburbs played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with FC Clifton Hill at Ralph Reserve on Sunday. Goran Petrovski, Ajak Panek and Oner Kucuk were the goalscorers for Suburbs.
In men’s state league 2, Cairnlea edged out Geelong 2-1 at Cairnlea Park.
Just down the road at the Club Italia Sporting Club, Brimbank Stallions had a 2-2 draw with Corio thanks to goals to Ridvan Saglam and Ashley Webster.
Westgate played out a 0-0 draw with Fitzroy City at Fairfield Park.
In men’s state league 4, Western Eagles romped to a 4-0 victory over Balmoral at Balmoral Park. Robert Chelchowski was the star of the show for the Eagles with a hat-trick.
In women’s state league 3, St Albans Saints had a goal feast in a 5-2 win over Altona City at Churchill Reserve.
Natasha Razov scored a double for the Saints, while Christina Bulic, Natalie Grgic and Melissa Saliba-Baric joined in the scoring fun.
