Image: Kevin Juggins
Avondale FC has continued its perfect start to the season as it defeated South Melbourne 1-0 on Saturday but goalkeeper Chris Oldfield has warned that the best is yet to come for the league leader.
The Avengers had notched up 1-0 wins against St Albans and Heidelberg United respectively, but resigning the reigning champions to back-to-back defeats sent the strongest signal yet that the new look side is on the hunt for silverware.
“I think there’s more to come, personally I think there’s a lot more to come to be honest. When we play football we’re a good team,” Oldfield said after the game.
We’ve showed that we can match it with personally the best team in the NPL. South Melbourne are a great team, they always will be a great team. The little rock they’re in at the minute, they’ll come out of it and for us to beat them 1-0 and keep a clean sheet against them is a huge result for the team but for the club also.”
Craig Carley’s goal just after the hour mark separated the two sides at Knights Stadium but Oldfield was the hero for Avondale with an early contender for save of the season, late in injury time.
Liam McCormick looked certain to find the equaliser for South as the corner delivery was flicked to him at the back post but lightning reflexes from the Avondale shot-stopper to tip the ball over the bar ensured Avondale held on for the win.
“I didn’t really see it until late,” Oldfield said of the save.
“It was a good header and I just reacted and I don’t know how I managed it to be honest, I just flicked it over the crossbar and fortunately I helped my team win.”
The 26-year-old has had a busy summer, moving to Avondale from Hume City following a stellar 2016 season which saw him pick of the Goalkeeper of the Year award, he also spent some time at A-League leader Sydney FC, which he said was a valuable experience.
“What I gained from Sydney is to be relaxed, always be composed. When I was around (Danny) Vukovic he was extremely calm in any scenario,” he said.
“For the six weeks I was there it rubbed off on me. To come to the NPL and hopefully I can do what he taught me, just to be calm, it doesn’t matter if we’re under pressure.”
The former Hume City goalkeeper is one of a number of new faces at Avondale this season, including other teammates from Hume in Craig Carley, Petar Franjic and Ramazan Tavsancioglu, the latter of whom has quickly become an important member of the Avengers squad with a string of solid performances in the centre of defence.
“Rama is a great player. He’s a really solid player, he’s got heaps of experience, he’s fast and he’s aggressive. He is the complete package for a defender.
“We’ve got a good friendship and a good relationship so it’ll take us far in the league.”
Stern tests continue for Avondale with upcoming fixtures against Oakleigh Cannons and Green Gully, who will also be in contention for finals come the end of the season.
“We’ve got such a big start to the season. We’ve got Oakleigh and Green Gully in our next two games. We have our goal and we’re far past that goal so far. The club are over the moon, it’s the best start they’ve had in two years.”
“We need to stay resilient, we have done for the first three games but we know that there’s more to come, the team knows that.”
“We’re three weeks into the season, we’re a brand new team and we’re going to get better. What we’re showing now, we’ve won 1-0 in three games, there’s a lot more to come from us… when the goals do come it will be reflective of how good the team is.”