After escaping with a last-ditch 2-1 win against Springvale White Eagles, a relieved Box Hill United captain Nick Kokolakis described Saturday afternoon’s match as the one that could seal the promotion chase.
When asked about the smash and grab victory – courtesy of a late Rinor Muriqi winner – he agreed that come the end of the season, the side could well and truly look back at the clash at White Eagles Stadium as the sealer for their passage into top-tier football.
“I hope so, maybe when you look back at the end of the season and instead of walking away from here with a 1-1 draw, we’ve come away with the three points,” Kokolakis said.
“It’s such a tight league this year so we’re thrilled to have come away with the three points today. It could’ve got either way there at the end but we got away with it so it’s good.”
Kokolakis was full of admiration for the way they performed in the dying moments, complimenting the sides character to come back from Springvale’s late equaliser.
“Once we went up 1-0 we sort of just focused on getting the ball forwards as quickly as we could, as much as we could and put them on the back foot,” he said.
“Unfortunately we conceded one but it was good character [shown] by the boys to get it back late and get us the win.”
The midfielder – who put in a man-of-the-match performance for his side – also commended the depth of the squad, which manifested itself through substitute Muriqi’s 89th minute goal.
“We spoke about it at the end of the game that it’s the biggest squad we’ve had this year to choose from,” the captain said.
“We’ve got some absolutely quality boys coming off the bench that would start in any other team.
“As a group we’re really focused, really tight-knit and we’re pretty much like a family so if we stick together for the rest of the year, a bit of luck goes our way hopefully it’ll be successful.”
Continuing on with the praise for his teammates, Kokolakis singled out a pair of players through the spine who contributed to the valuable result.
“I thought all the boys stood up today. Josh Valedon was immense at the back and I really thought George Howard had a good game up forward,” he said.
“He’s such a young kid and it looks like he’s been playing for a long time so I think it was a very rounded game. A few of the boys down back really saved us so really happy with that.”