Bentleigh coach John Anastasiadis has expressed his delight with his side’s extra time victory over Northcote City, and is looking forward to the Grand Final at AAMI Park in just under two weeks time.
The Greens edged an extra time thriller thanks to Ryan De Vries’ header, after the Bentleigh winger had seen a James Khalifatidis penalty cancel out his impressive volleyed opener in regulation time.
It was a tense affair, as neither side really carved out many clear cut chances but Anastasiadis was confident that his side would come out on top if they stuck to the game plan.
“It was just going to be one goal in it and we were lucky enough to get it,” Anastasiadis said.
“I thought we just had a edge over them, fitness was a bit better. We just want to keep playing the ball. And as long as we keep playing our game, I have no fear.”
With a spot in the Grand Final up for grabs, there were understandably some tackles flying around, but it was all fine for the Bentleigh coach, who saw it as just part and parcel of the occasion.
“We had about two or three boys come off with injuries. Not just necessarily being tired, they were actually injured because they’re putting their bodies on the line and the game was depicted on what we’re all about,” he said.
“[David] Stirton got hit here, flattened there, he thought he was on another day but he did wonderful today and Wally (Wayne Wallace) our captain was carrying a calf muscle, a really bad sore calf muscle, so he was on one leg in a sense. But he never gave in, he just wanted to stay on the park and take the boys through which was he did.”
With the Grand Final being held at AAMI Park, Anastasiadis was delighted that his players would now have a chance to strut their stuff on one of the premier footballing venues in the country.
“We’re going to grace the field of AAMI Park, and some of these boys I’m hoping in their career they get a chance to play on great grounds and this is a fantastic football arena to play on, now they’re getting their opportunity,” he said.
The grand occasion looms but for Anastasiadis, it was all about just qualifying for the finals and then seeing how far they could go.
“You got to understand a club like Bentleigh, they’re a small club. They’ve always been a small club, they have a course to dream. Why not? Every club should be dreaming of playing in the final and that’s to be for every club not only for Bentleigh, for every club,” he said.
“When you start a season, first things first, you don’t get relegated. That’s the first thing, and that was ok. I thought we were in with that no problem. But the second thing we just wanted to be in the finals and obviously when you’re in the finals you give yourself that chance to get into the grand final and that’s what we did today.”
Anastasidis has Grand Final coaching credentials, having led South Melbourne to the 2006 title. Still, he plays down his own personal achievement, preferring to give the credit to his players.
“I’ve done it before in 2006 with South Melbourne and it’s been seven years since I’ve been in the final so look, I’m happy for the boys. I’m only as good as the players,” he said.
“I’m a coach, I sit on the other side of the white line. Once these boys cross the white line they’re on their own in a sense. We can only man manage them throughout the year but apart from that for me I’m just happy for them, I’m happy for the club that we got a chance for a grand final.”
While they now await to see who they face in the final, the focus has already turned towards the preparation for the big occasion.
“I think we’ll enjoy it in the next two weeks. We’ll have a week rest in the sense, we’ll still have our normal program but a lot of the boys are really tired, and really battered and bruised. We’ll recover and get ready for the final,” he said.
Bentleigh Greens will play either South Melbourne or Northcote, who face off against each other on Sunday at JL Murphy Reserve. Kickoff is at 3pm.