A brave eight teams turned up at Jack Edwards reserve on Saturday to chance their arm at FFA Cup progression, despite the sweltering heat rising from the rubber/astroturf surface making conditions difficult.
In the end, four teams progressed into the second round of the cup with Whitehorse United, Eltham Redbacks, North Melbourne Athletic and Rowville Eagles all registering victories across the day.
First up was the aforementioned Whitehorse, who were pitted up against Rosebud Heart and their star striker David Greening – who was fresh off a four-goal haul in the Heart’s first FFA Cup fixture last weekend.
He helped Rosebud get off to a flying start in the fixture, scoring the opening goal before Matthew Pearce made it a 2-0 lead heading into half-time, only for United to emphatically strike back with a dominant second half.
Cheered on by the heavy Whitehorse presence on the sidelines, the club piled on four unanswered goals to storm home with the game.
In the second game of the afternoon, a second-half penalty to Andy Mclean and late Dejan Milevski tap-in saw the Eltham Redbacks claim a 2-0 win over Monash University SC.
Eltham dominated proceedings and should have opened the scoring in the first minute, one for Monash defender Neil Gardner to sweep a shot off the line.
Instead, they were forced to wait until the 67th minute, where a penalty was awarded after a string of chances.
Centre-half Mclean first cannoned a shot agonisingly off the crossbar, only for his side to win a penalty for a handball in the same passage of play, which was cooly dispatched to the right corner.
“I was a bit nervous as we had a few chances, heading towards the latter part of the game,” scorer of the penalty Mclean said.
“The boys were getting a bit nervous, but [personally] it means nothing to score the goal. The boys put in 100% today and it was a good result.”
Eltham then had two goals chalked off for offside, before finding their sealer in injury time through Milevski, who was on hand to poke home Yates’ unselfish squaring ball around the advancing keeper.
FULL MATCH REPORT > Eltham Redbacks 2 defeated Monash University 0 (Courtesy of Football Chaos)
The third match-up at Jack Edwards Reserve saw North Melbourne Athletic also claim a 2-0 victory, over Old Mentonians SC.
Target man Max Clarke – standing at a whopping 6”3’ – proved too much of a handful for the Old Mentonians centre-halves as he stuck a clinical brace to book their spot in the second round.
The Tasmania-native was a South Hobart senior in the past, notably nabbing the club’s 2012 top goalscorer honour for his under 19’s exploits, tied with former South Melbourne and current Newcastle Jets winger Andy Brennan.
His pedigree shone through on the day as he proved the difference between the two sides, where on another day, he could have had four or five, such was the quality of his movement and deft touch, providing a real focal point for his side’s angled delivery into the middle of the park.
“It’s the first time this club has played in this competition, so to score two goals as well is really good,” Clarke said.
“I’m really happy, especially the second goal which was a good finish into the top corner. The balls I got in today were really great and I couldn’t have scored without them.“
He came close with a couple of early free kicks, while his teammate Jessi Delaney burst free on the right to test opposition keeper Heath Young.
A flurry of passes on the right wing saw Pat Ryan in space for a shot, but the keeper once more stepped up to deny Athletic.
The opener came soon after through Clarke, who broke the line with surprising pace to latch onto an inch perfect ball, before clinically finishing into the bottom corner.
His second was down to the impressive work of David Evans on the left wing, who skirted past his opponent with easy, cutting into the area and laying off a square ball for Clarke to put away first time.
The Mentonians – in their first competitive fixture of the season after progressing via forfeit last week – struggled to create clear-cut chances across the 90 minutes, with their best opportunities coming beyond the hour mark.
James Hawkes was first up, but he put a good opportunity over the crossbar from close range, and then Chris Gibson struck to force North Melbourne keeper Darragh Meade into a stunning fingertip save.
“We tried hard but it just wasn’t enough,” said Old Mentonians coach Tim Phizaklea.
“We’re a side coming together now, it really is a brand new side that we’re working our way through. We’ll turn the corner and everything will be alright [come the State League season].”
In the final game of the gala event, Rowville Eagles booked their spot in the second round of the cup with a 4-2 win over Waverley Wanderers.
Three player scored a brace – two ended up on the winning side – with Daniel Grigoruta and Denny Bejan grabbing a memorable double each to seal passageway for the Eagles.
They were flying at 3-0 up before former Nunawading City striker Jon-Luc Silvestri hit back to make it 3-1.
He completed his brace in injury time, but it wasn’t enough to salvage a result, as it merely served to round off a 4-2 scoreline.