Green Gully SC take the field for the final time in 2024, when they host Melbourne Knights at Green Gully Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
Gully lost their fifth straight game on the weekend, going down 5-0 on the road to St Albans Dinamo which means Ramon Falzon’s side have fallen into third-last on the ladder heading into the final round.
However, there is no threat to their status in NPL Victoria after Manningham lost 2-1 to Heidelberg United last week at Petty’s Reserve ensured Gully would avoid the drop and secure their place in the top flight for another year.
They can, however, potentially play kingmaker in the final round as they take on a Knights side looking to sneak into the finals.
Knights are currently five points behind sixth-placed Dandenong City, but have a game-in-hand on Hajduk due to their clash with Dandenong Thunder being called-off on Friday night due to a kit-clash.
It means they will face Thunder on Monday night at home, and need to win that to give themselves a chance to jump Dandy City on the final day who are in action against the fifth-placed Heidelberg – who are looking to secure a home final – at Olympic Village.
Ivan Franjic’s side will then need to beat Gully and rely on Heidelberg getting a result against Hajduk to secure back-to-back appearances in the finals.
If they do miss finals, it will be the final game of Franjic’s illustrious playing career after he announced his retirement.
The former Socceroo has been acting as player-coach for most of the second-half of the season following Ben Surey’s dismissal.
Gully and Knights played out a six-goal thriller earlier this year at Knights Stadium which ended in a 3-3 draw. Mo Adam, Shifa Ahmed and Josh Hope all found the back of the net for Gully as they came back from 3-1 down to rescue a point on the road.
Kick-off is at 3 PM, along with the rest of the fixtures in NPL Victoria on the final day.
The Under 23s will take the field at 12:30 PM as they look to finish the home-and-away season on a high note after wrapping up the Premiership.
Knights are currently in seventh on the ladder after a 2-0 win over Thunder and can jump above both fifth-placed St Albans and sixth-placed Port Melbourne with a win on the final day, and results going in their favour.
