Bentleigh Greens have announced the signing of 23 year-old South African born Ryan De Vries for the remainder of the 2014 NPL Victoria season.
De Vries re-joins Bentleigh after a stint in New Zealand’s top flight with Auckland City, returning to Kingston Heath off the back of two impressive seasons prior to his departure.
“It’s good to be back, Bentleigh’s my first choice and love the club … It’s like I never left,” De Vries said.
“The first day I got back to the club, I spoke to everyone and they just opened me with welcome arms.
“[It’s] Just about getting into training, itching to play so so I just want to get into training gel with the boys and take things from there.”
Greens coach John Anastasiadis was delighted De Vries has returned to the club who he’d last made an appearance for in last seasons Victorian Premier League Grand Final defeat to Northcote City.
“Ryan is a proven player in the league so he is quality and brings a little but of that X-Factor to our team,” Anastasiadis added.
However, Bentleigh’s qualification into the FFA Cup may have been a significant contribution towards De Vries signature.
After defeating Richmond 3-1 last week in the quarter-finals of the Dockerty Cup, Bentleigh booked their place into the semi-finals also ensuring a spot amongst the 32 teams in the inaugural FFA Cup.
Bentleigh will travel to Western Sydney on 12 August 2014 to face Blacktown City and Lily Homes Stadium.
“Thats an interesting one. I would have preferred someone a little bit easier because reports coming out of Sydney are that Blacktown are the next best thing out of the A-League which didn’t go too well with us,” Anastasiadis said.
“Nevetheless it’s going to be a great occasion for the club, Bentleigh Greens being a suburban club on the big stage in the FFA Cup. For us, it’s a great opportunity, we’ll got to Blacktown, we’ll try and win the game and look forward to the next round.”
Anastasiadis additionally revealed preparations have already begun ahead of his side’s trip to Sydney.
“I’ve got something coming in the mail.
“I’ve asked a few friends who I’ve got in Sydney and they’ve just said that they are a very, very good team.
“When they’ve got Mitch Mallia and a couple of their boys who played A-League it’s not going to be an easy game but again it’s something for our club and for the boys in general.
“I think a lot of them wouldn’t have expected to travel within the country to play a cup game so it’s something different and another motive for the players, not only for our team but for the league.
“As a player I lived it and I loved it going to stay with the boys and hopefully the boys will enjoy it.”
In the meantime, Bentleigh will travel to Knights Stadium on Wednesday 16 July to take on Melbourne Knights in their semi-final Dockerty Cup date.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Anastasiadis said.
“Knights are a good team so for we’ve just got to be ready for it, prepare properly and hopefully everybody will be fit and ready to go because these are the games where there is no second chance.
On the day you’ve got to be ready for it at the end of the day it’s how we prepare and how we turn up on the day.”