Don’t check the table until Round 5 – or so the received wisdom goes.
But if you make the mistake of casting your eyes down the NPL Victoria ladder this week, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was upside down.
Few observers would’ve picked Avondale and Green Gully to meet as cellar-dwellers in Round 3. But barring a Dandenong City side still suffering a 4-point deduction from last season, that’s the brutal reality both highly-fancied squads must face.
Green Gully were gallant in defeat away to reigning champions Heidelberg in Round 1, but a chastening home loss in the Maltese Derby will demand a reaction. Still missing defensive leader Matt Crooks, the Cavaliers will have to find an answer in the problematic right-back spot ahead of their visit to Avenger Park. Gully will be hopeful that their late arrivals, Kiwi duo Nathan Simes and Wan Gatkek, are now fit enough to play a larger role.
Avondale, meanwhile, have looked disjointed after the raft of offseason departures and new signings from interstate. A disappointing showing away to newly-promoted Bentleigh Greens shone a spotlight on the lack of fluency between strikers Bruno Fornaroli and George Ott.
Can head coach Jonathan Germano get the best out of his twin target men, or will one have to make way to the bench? And will Japanese playmaker Seita Murai begin to replicate his Australian Championship form?
The talent in both squads is too strong for either to be in this position, but until the table proves otherwise, this is a dogfight. With both sides desperate for three points to ease the pressure, Saturday shapes as an early test of their mettle.
