In round 16 we welcomed Port Melbourne to Green Gully Reserve on a cold Friday night. Match day 3 had seen us go down 2-0 and was firmly in our minds during the week. We welcomed back into the squad and the XI Captain Jeremy Walker and Yarad Abetew from suspension and Nick Georgopoulos earned a start.
The game began with us on the front foot however, that momentum was halted when Duggan turned sharply in the box to make it 1-0 to Port in the 6th minute. Nearly as quickly as we had gone down, the scores were level again when Bonada popped up at the back post with a towering header after some great work down the right-hand side between Walker and Ianucci. Whilst the first half remained a tussle it did take our boys some time to settle and find their feet, with Port Melbournes’ movement unsettling our boys. Halftime gave us a chance to re-group and enforce a couple of key messages to the group and going out for the second half we were confident that we could come home strong in the second 45.
The second half began much as the first had started, with Port scoring six minutes into the half. Firstly, Tevere popped up after some poor pressure and tracking and tapping in unmarked on the 6-yard box. Three minutes later, Courtney-Perkins headed home from a corner, again unmarked on the six-yard box. Two really disappointing goals to concede. Whilst our lads pushed right to the end and had a number of chances to draw level, we were unable to convert and will need to show far greater desperation and desire in our opposition box in the coming weeks if we are to maximise our chances in front of goal.
This week sees us travel to Dandenong City, who had a good result beating Hume 2-1. Our boys will need to be at their best in what can be a tricky fixture.
Report by: Tim Paton
Photography by Mark Avellino Photography.
