South Melbourne coach Chris Taylor was delighted his side are “in the spotlight for another trophy,” following a drama fuelled Dockerty Cup semi-final victory over Heidelberg United on Wednesday night.
After going behind to a Kaine Sheppard strike, a second half double to Nick Epifano sealed progression to the final.
The result sees South make amends for a tough month in the league, after recent defeats against Bentleigh Greens and last night’s opponents Heidelberg United.
“[The game played out] like a Cup tie, because of the results recently we were a bit scratchy early on, especially in the first half,” Taylor said.
“[After] going a goal behind, giving them the momentum, I thought we showed a bit of character.
“I said to the boys we’ve got to stop feeling sorry for ourselves after things go against us and just go out there and start playing football.
“I thought the last 20 minutes we played better football and the result was that we got a few chances.”
The Hellas coach also heaped praise on star winger Nick Epifano, who once again helped his team to victory with crucial goals at vital moments.
“He’s always an outlet for us, he’s a great player and thats what you need in your side,” he said.
“It’s players like that who win games for you and he did that tonight.”
Despite a host of injuries and patchy run in the NPL, South Melbourne are still in the hunt for Cup and league honours.
With attention slowly turning to the FFA Cup Round of 32 clash against Palm Beach, Taylor said the club had started to study its opponent ahead of the fixture on July 29.
“It’s about getting there and putting ourself in the spotlight for another trophy and that’s obviously what we did,” he said.
“We’ve got a few videos and had a bit of a look, we’ve watched one game and we’ll see how it goes.”
South Melbourne have an upcoming weekend off, with their next game not until Round 23 when they face Pascoe Vale at CB Smith Reserve.