Last Friday night we welcomed Bentleigh Greens to Green Gully Reserve in our elimination final fixture. In the previous two outings during the regular season Bentleigh has won both fixtures 4-0 and 3-0. In our last game of the season against Dandenong Thunder we saw a young Gully side lose 3-0.
Bentleigh started off the game pressing well and creating numerous chances against the run of play with Goalkeeper Liam Driscoll making crucial key saves to keep the game level. It wasn’t until the 35th minute in what was a brilliant long ball from Luc Jeggo found Alex Salmon who made no mistake to place it in the back of the net. The boys were then able to take the momentum of that goal into the last ten minutes to go into the half ahead.
The second half began much as the first had started, with Bentleigh committing many numbers forward which Gully had a tough job keeping them out with Liam Driscoll being the name yet again in the second half with many key saves to keep Gullys lead and finals hopes alive. It wasn’t until the 83rd minute when winger Mamadi Kamara blistered down the right flank as he was determined for the second chance to play the ball into the area which found Nahuel Bonada at the back post which was then deflected into the path of Luc Jeggo who rifled the ball into the back of the net to seal our finals hope.
This week sees us travel to South Melbourne, who had a week off due to finishing top of the table in the regular season. Our boys will need to be at their best in this important semi-final fixture.
Report by Michael Gennaccaro
Photo by Mark Avellino Photography
