Photo: Matt Johnson
Injuries can make or break a title challenge; similarly squad depth can prove the hallmark of champions.
So when Ross Archibald – one of the league’s standout centre-halves this season – fell to a serious shoulder injury in the 4-0 FFA Cup victory over South Melbourne just under a month ago, Bentleigh’s season could’ve gone one of two ways.
Luckily for the Greens, they had a solution all but sewn up, and they simply had to tilt their heads to the left.
Luke Pilkington has made the central defensive position his own in recent weeks, where he’s put in a number of assured performances having shifted one position across the defensive line from left-back.
It’s a position he has played before in his youth, little surprise given the left-footers supreme versatility on the football pitch.
“I’ve played left-back for the last six-seven years now, but slotting into centre-back is pretty natural, especially the left side of defence on my left boot,” Pilkington said.
“I’ve played there before, I know the role and I play well with the boys there so I’m happy doing the job.
“I enjoy playing centre-back, you get more freedom on the ball, more time and a bit less running which is nice.
“It’s good to see everything in front of you and to be able to pick passes, and control what’s in front of you.”
The Canberra native was launched into the national spotlight during his time with reality TV show Football Superstar where he won the second iteration of the competition in 2009, competing alongside several familiar names to Victorian football in John Lazaridis, Steven Topalovic and Jack Petrie.
His reward was a contract with Melbourne Victory, where he continued to learn his trade as a fullback, culminating in a first team debut in 2009, coming off the bench in a 1-0 loss to North Queensland Fury.
A further two league appearances and an Asian Champions League debut followed under then coach Ernie Merrick before he joined the Greens mid-2011, where he’s been a staple in their defence since.
One man who’s been at Kingston Heath since he’s been there is experienced centre-half Jack Webster, who has since established himself as one of Bentleigh’s most important players.
Pilkington had two weeks of learning alongside Webster in the centre of defence, where they registered league wins against Avondale FC and Oakleigh Cannons, only for the Englishman to collect his fifth yellow card of the season, leaving him unavailable against Melbourne Victory.
This left the makeshift pairing of both himself and Troy Ruthven marshalling the ship in the narrow 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory, while Josh Brindell-South continued to deputise in Pilkington’s vacated left-back role.
“I think we did alright, obviously it’s a loss when Webby is out with suspension but Troy slotted right in there perfectly,” he said.
“I don’t think [Melbourne Victory] gave us too much grief in terms of open game attacks so we did our jobs, covered each other and our fullbacks, so that’s all that counts.
“Josh is a good player. He’s naturally a right-back, so slotting into the left is the same position, just on your left peg.
“He’s doing well, he’ll take some time to adjust there while Ross is injured. If he stays there, he’ll pick it up pretty quickly.”
With the re-shuffled defence, three wins from three marks a good return in the face of adversity for the Greens, which keeps them just one point behind South Melbourne in the race for the minor premiership.
They were made to work against the Victory, who showed up to play and had plenty of chances to draw level in the contest, however the performance mattered little, so long as they ground out the result in the end.
“We got the three points and that’s all that matters at this stage of the season,” Pilkington said.
“They’re a technical little outfit, they’re good but we just didn’t show up for the first half especially.
“After that we turned it on a little bit, they got a lucky break but we managed to pull through in the end.”
A massive game awaits next week, as Bentleigh host South in a game that’ll go a long way towards deciding the title outcome.
With South forward Milos Lujic suspended for next week’s game and Webster returning, the task at hand for Pilkington looks to have been made easier, however he has insisted the club will only focus on their own game, rather than getting drawn into talk on their opposition.
“We don’t focus on the other team to be honest. We just go in and play our own football and we play that every week.
“We beat them in the FFA Cup [final qualifying round] and we’ll look to do it again regardless of the players we come against.
“Hopefully we’ll win that one then go on and be on top of the ladder at the end of the season.”