KEILOR Park’s cup run will continue after it bullied lower-league Hoppers Crossing Reds 3-1 on the road at Grange Reserve in the Football Federation Victoria State Knockout Cup on Saturday.
The Parkers understand the task will get tougher from here on with the likelihood of top-tier Victorian Premier League clubs being opponents in the coming rounds.
Parkers secretary Paul Portelli told the Weekly that his players enjoyed the cup competition because of the varying standards of opposition teams that they faced and welcomed the challenge of a higher division team.
“The Premier League clubs are in it now so next round we’ll probably cop one of the bigger clubs,” he said.
“We’ll be raring to go for it.”
The Parkers were desperate to get back into the winners’ ring after two consecutive losses in the league.
They named a weakened line-up due to injuries but it mattered little as they scored a long-range go-ahead goal from Reno Damianou in the seventh minute and never looked back.
“We scored a goal early on and had the game under control,” Portelli said.
The Reds’ best chances came late in the first half but they failed to find the back of the net.
Their inability to do so meant two goals in 10 minutes after the break from Parkers forwards Matthew Dragovic and Martin Mintoff put the game beyond reach.
A scare for the Parkers came in the form of an ankle injury to right-back Adam Adamidis.
The club fears scans this week could reveal ligament damage and a lengthy period on the sidelines.
Shortly after Adamidis was stretchered off, the Reds scored their one and only goal, but it was too little too late.
The Parkers were content with the two-goal win but Portelli is adamant that it could have been more.
“We were constantly beating their defence with our speed up front,” he said.
“We looked dangerous every time we went forward.
“We just probably weren’t as clinical as we’d like to be.”
In other FFV Cup games, Green Gully Cavaliers threw the gates open to the public for their local derby with St Albans Saints and the fans were treated to a high quality affair.
The big league Cavs were too strong for the state league Saints in a 3-1 win capped with a goal from striker Brent Fisher.
Last year’s finalist Melbourne Knights showed their intentions to go a long way again with a whopping 8-2 win over Geelong Rangers at Knights Stadium.
Giantkillers Sunshine George Cross are also through to the next round after becoming the first state league side this season to knock out a VPL outfit when they toppled Richmond Eagles 2-0 at Chaplin Reserve.
