THE Western Eagles were the latest club to surrender to lower-league opponents in what has becoming an increasingly unpredictable FFV State Knockout Cup.
The Eagles were beaten 3-2 by metropolitan league Altona North in a shock result at the Polish Sports and Recreation Complex on Saturday.
Eagles president Wojtek Laskowski told the Weekly it was a “disappointing” performance and one that did not reflect the players’ strong preseason campaign.
“We were a bit unfortunate,” he said.
“All three goals we conceded were due to goalkeeping mistakes.
“We’ve played much better games during the Brimbank Cup.”
Altona North showed it will be no pushover, surprising by scoring the opening goal of the game.
The Eagles cancelled it out with a nifty side-footed goal to Adrian Pugaric from a corner cross to make it 1-1 at half-time.
The home side built further momentum when it took the lead through defensive midfielder Maciek Slodyczka, who finished with aplomb after nice build-up play from his midfield partner Johnny Strycharski.
The Eagles seemed to put the cue in the rack at 2-1.
They gave Altona North a sniff and before they knew it they had scored equalising and winning goals.
The more desperate side on the day won.
“We had two or three first teamers missing,” Laskowski said.
“That’s no excuse, we should’ve won this game and we have to learn from our mistakes.”
The Eagles are a team in transition this season.
Their top five players from last winter are on trials with state league clubs and unlikely to return.
“We’ve lost our backbone,” Laskowski said.
“I told them it’s disappointing because I would have liked them to stay and get our club into a higher division.
“Good luck to them, it’s their decision, they have the capabilities and we will always welcome them back.”
The Eagles will be driven by youth.
The man at the helm, new coach Zoran Todorovski, was hand-picked to fast-track their progress.
Todorovski arrives in the Eagles’ nest with a huge reputation, having played with Morwell Falcons in the old National Soccer League and been a star with Bentleigh Greens and Altona Magic in the Victorian Premier League.
“He’s a really good role model for the players,” Laskowski said.
“He leads by example, shows the players where they need to run and draws on his experience.
“He’s calm, he doesn’t lose his cool and he’s a real teaching coach.”
The Eagles’ first game of the provisional league 2 north-west season will be on March 31 against West Preston.
