Julius Davies is swiftly ushered down the player’s race by his teammates as he exchanges some choice words with his Pascoe Vale opponents.
The former Bayern Munich youth and Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar signing has just been involved in post match verbals after a heated clash, where he received his own yellow card in the 85th minute for an incident near the sideline.
By then, the contest was done and dusted with Port Melbourne cruising to a 2-0 victory, but the match was a real tale of two halves, with Davies’ half time introduction playing a key role in the narrative.
“First, we made a substitution. We brought Jules [Julius Davies] on, because I just felt we weren’t proactive enough in the first half,” Port Melbourne coach Eric Vassiliadis explains.
“We kept giving the ball away and making it harder for us to defend, so I wanted us to be more proactive, be more comfortable, more composed on the ball and try control the tempo a bit, and it was important for us to get through that half unscathed.”
Whilst Davies wasn’t directly involved in the goals – those duties were left predominantly to Kamal Ibrahim, who scored a belter from distance and teed up Ryan Opperman for the sealer – his presence troubled Pascoe Vale’s backline and played a part in Port Melbourne’s second half turnaround.
Up until the break, the visitors had the hosts pinned in their own half, but the decisive opening goal fatally eluded them.
“In fairness to Pascoe Vale, they turned up with some real desire, they huffed and puffed for 45 minutes, and I think it probably hurt them that they didn’t get the one they deserved,” Vassiliadis admits.
The deadlock remained unbroken due both to the visitors’ profligacy in front of goal, and Stjepan Gal’s effort between the sticks. The former St. Albans man denied both Nakic brothers on separate occasions, but his real highlight came in the 33rd minute when he pulled off a wonder save to keep out Michael Ferrante’s free kick, with the former Victory player then rattling the woodwork from another set-piece minutes later.
Port Melbourne’s second half revival is comparable to the club’s contrasting 2014 and 2015 NPL campaigns. After narrowly avoiding relegation in 2014, they’re now developing into a solid outfit that, at the early stages of the season, can find ways to dig themselves out of tough situations and grind out results while not playing at their peak.
It was a similar situation at Broadmeadows Valley Park, where Port’s 3-1 away victory over Hume City prompted coach Lou Acevski to claim, “I think they had four opportunities and scored three goals… we created a lot of opportunities but couldn’t score.”
In all that, signs are emerging that Port Melbourne already have a mental toughness engrained in their psyche, a steely determination to avoid the kind of soft defeats that plagued their 2014 campaign.
“To be huffing and puffing, and knowing that the other team has the better of you, to turn that around sends a really strong message,” Vassiliadis says.
“The reality is I still think we’ve got more in us, we can’t afford to play only 45 minutes, our challenge is going to be to do that for 90 minutes and I think we’ll be at the next level if we can do that.”
“I believe we’re too good a team to be down for the whole 90 minutes.”
It’s an early call to make after just two rounds, but Port Melbourne could be emerging as the competition’s dark horse. Vassiliadis is adamant not much has changed at the club to turn results around, however, bar for one factor – “execution”.
“The game plan has not changed an iota. The boys that were here last year are a step ahead because they know [the plan], and the new boys have taken to it like ducks to water,” he says.
“Now the execution, the quality and balance is everything we wanted it to be. We’re not the finished product, nowhere near it, but all we can do is win the games that are in front of us and now I think psychology plays an important role, so the confidence, the clean sheets, the scoring goals, at the moment we’re heading in the right direction.”
From here, perhaps two things could happen. Teams may figure out how to put Port to the sword by making early pressure count. Or the Sharks will continue to develop and click as a team, converting those hard-fought wins from perilous situations into commanding victories over hapless opponents.
It may just see Port Melbourne’s name mentioned alongside the competition’s heavyweights come the business end of the season.