Green Gully SC will face one of their biggest tests of the season to date when they head to the Olympic Village to take on undefeated Heidelberg United on Friday night in their Round 4 of the 2024 NPL Victoria season.
Gully bounced back from their Round 2 defeat to Hume City, with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Manningham United at home, claiming their second victory of the campaign.
Stephen Downes’ side were on the back foot early, before captain Taylor Schrijvers opened the scoring.
Gully put the foot down after half-time, with goals from Lucas Derrick and Josh Hope extending their advantage to 3-0, before Christos Theodorokapoulos pulled one back.
Minutes later, Luca Tevere wrapped up the win with a lovely finish, opening up his Gully account in the process.
Now, the focus turns to the high-flying Bergers, who have started the season well under new boss John Anastasiadis.
The Victorian powerhouses – who missed the finals last year – have started the season strongly, defeating Altona Magic in the opening round 1-0, before claiming a 1-1 draw with Oakleigh Cannons at home in Round 2.
Heidelberg claimed their second win of the season when they defeated Dandenong Thunder 2-0 at George Andrews Reserve, with both Jamal Ali and Eoin Ashton hitting the scoreboard on Saturday night.
Gully will need to be at their absolute best to knock off one of the early season pacesetters and they will be bolstered by the return of Adolph Koudakpo from suspension, while Mohamed Adam may come into consideration for a start after an impressive cameo off the bench against the Blues.
U23 CLASH: LOOKING TO CONTINUE PERFECT START
The U23’s will be in action the following night at Olympic Village, with the match getting underway at 6 PM. Gully continued their perfect start to the season with a 2-1 win over Manningham on Saturday afternoon, with both Shifa Ahmed and Phillip Pannunzio finding the net. They now sit two points clear atop the standings and are the only side yet to drop a point in the league. Meanwhile, Heidelberg came away with a 4-2 win over Thunder last week, and sit just behind Gully with two wins and a draw to their name.
