Despite a defeat to the league leaders in Round 22, the door remains ajar for Green Gully to make their charge for the playoffs as they host near-neighbours St Albans on Friday night.
Gully were more than competitive for 70 scoreless minutes against Heidelberg, before the Warriors ran away with it in the last 20. Aamir Aballah looked certain to open the scoring in the 54th minute with a point-blank range header, only to be denied by a miraculous save from the sprawling Yaren Sozer.
Bergers captain Ben Collins finally broke the deadlock with a glancing header from a Chok Dau corner, before Asahi Yokokawa won and converted a spot-kick in the 81st minute. Marauding fullback Jamal Ali wrapped up the win late as Gully threw numbers forward in search of a comeback.
New signing Josh Heaton made his debut in the heart of defence alongside Jacob Eliopoulos, while Gianluca Iannucci made a welcome return from injury as a late substitute.
Hume City’s 4-0 defeat away at Oakleigh and Dandenong City’s 1-1 draw with Avondale leaves the Cavaliers in practically the same position as they were a week ago – two points off sixth, with a still-superior goal difference to Hume.
Friday night’s local derby sees Gully face an in-form opponent. St Albans have won their last four games, and are undefeated in seven. The mid-season transfer window has transformed Dinamo’s fortunes: defenders Nick Ansell and Lachie Weier have reinforced a leaky backline, while English attacking midfielder Shaun Ruzvidzo has come off the bench to score a sealing goal in successive games.
Gully will also need to shut down 17-year-old playmaker Oli Dragicevic, who curled in a spectacular opener in Sunday’s comfortable 3-1 dispatching of Melbourne Victory – his second goal in as many games.
Gully will miss holding midfielder Karl Imanzi through suspension after he received his fifth booking of the campaign.
There was no love lost between the two sides in their last meeting, as evidenced by the 15 cards dished out, including a red shown to Matty Crooks. The 10 men of Gully, however, pulled off a memorable 2-1 win thanks to a wonder goal from Josh Hope, who produced a Zidane-style roulette to roll his marker, before curling a spectacular strike into the top-right corner.
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm on Friday night, with the Gully Bistro open for your pre-match meal, while the U23s play on Saturday at 2pm. Get down to Green Gully Reserve and cheer on the Gully boys as they chase a finals berth!
