Gully’s Finals Dream Ends in Narrow Defeat to Preston
Sometimes football delivers in cruel, quiet ways – not with a hammering or a collapse, but with a single moment that shifts the course of a season.
For Green Gully, that moment came just past the hour on Friday night, as Jonas Markovski’s close-range finish handed Preston Lions a 1-0 win at Green Gully Reserve and extinguished the Cavaliers’ hopes of a late push into the finals.
It had been a night full of effort and spirit but starved of reward. The first half saw both sides locked in an arm wrestle, with chances at a premium.
Luke Francis had Preston’s first real sight of goal only for Josh Heaton to stand firm with a crucial block, while at the other end, Kasper Hallam attempted an audacious overhead in stoppage time that drew applause but not panic from Ryan Scott in the Preston goal.
After the break, Gully lifted. Gianluca Iannucci stung the palms of Scott with a near-post drive, and Matthew Crooks let fly from distance, forcing another strong stop. For a spell, it felt like the breakthrough was coming in green and white.
But football can be unforgiving. A blocked shot ricocheted kindly for Markovski in the 60th minute, and the Preston striker needed no second invitation, tucking the ball past Liam Driscoll to give the visitors the edge.
Gully threw themselves forward in response, and their best chance arrived midway through the half. Hallam met a Josh Hope lay-off sweetly on the volley, only to see it cannon off the crossbar—a strike that deserved more than the cruel thud it produced.
The closing stages were a blur of half-chances and near misses, with Hallam again heading just over, but Preston held firm. At the final whistle, the scoreboard told a brutal truth: Gully’s fight was not enough, and their path to the finals is closed.
For David Chick’s men, it was not for lack of effort or desire.
They matched one of the league’s form sides stride for stride, but on this night, fortune favoured the Lions.
For Gully, the task now is to finish the campaign with pride, showing the same resilience that’s defined much of their season.
