Gully Shock High-Flying Avondale in Seven-Goal Thriller
Football has a habit of defying expectations, and on a lively Friday night at Green Gully Reserve, it delivered once more. Green Gully handed Avondale- arguably the competition’s best – a remarkable 5-2 reality check, in a performance packed with flair, passion, and ruthless finishing.
The visitors started brightly, with Kur Kur testing Liam Driscoll early on, but it was Gully who struck first. In the 18th minute, Josh Hope calmly finished a neat team move from close range, giving the home side a vital early boost.
Avondale responded and levelled from the spot through the prolific Manyluak Aguek on 35 minutes, after Kur Kur was fouled. It seemed like the match was delicately poised, but Gully had other ideas.
The final minutes of the first half belonged entirely to Aamir Abdallah. First, he converted a penalty of his own on 43 minutes, sending the keeper the wrong way, before moments later, unleashing a fierce near-post strike to make it 3-1 just before halftime.
If Avondale expected a breather after the break, they didn’t get one. Abdallah completed a memorable hat-trick just four minutes into the second half after brilliant interplay with Kasper Hallam, before Hallam himself got in on the act, rounding keeper Thomas Manos to slot home for an extraordinary 5-1 lead in the 50th minute.
Avondale, shell-shocked but proud, pulled one back through Aguek’s tidy footwork and finish, but it was too little, too late. Despite late pressure and a goal-line clearance by Gully’s Judd Macdougall, the Cavaliers stood firm.
Gully coach David Chick would’ve surely been delighted not just with the result, but with the manner of victory- sharp, decisive, and clinical against the league’s benchmark.
The Cavaliers now look ahead with renewed confidence, knowing that on their day, they can topple anyone.
