South Melbourne coach Chris Taylor was full of praise for semi-final opponents Pascoe Vale after Vitale Ferrante’s men took his side to the death at Lakeside Stadium on Friday night.
The game was locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes but South Melbourne had to come from 2-1 behind in extra-time, eventually scoring the winning goal after 119 minutes of thrilling football.
Taylor admitted his side were flat throughout the contest, but credited Pascoe Vale for taking the game to them and making them work hard for the victory.
“I thought we were flat the whole way through,” Taylor told The Corner Flag. “It’s one thing to say we didn’t play well, but credit to Pascoe Vale because they made it very hard for us.
“Whenever we play them they’re well coached and they make it really hard for us. I know Pascoe Vale are a really good side and I knew they would give us a really difficult time.
“When we got the first goal I felt we could go on and get the second but it wasn’t to be. They came back in, got their tails in and credit to them made it really hard for us.
“I thought we had a few chances and probably should have done better with them but that’s the way football is.”
FT: IT’S ALL OVER!! A FAMOUS NIGHT, WE’RE THROUGH TO THE GRAND FINAL! South Melbourne 3-2 Pascoe #PS4NPLVIC #smfc pic.twitter.com/JPGUTPsgK6
— South Melbourne FC (@smfc) September 4, 2015
Luke Adams had given South the lead in the first-half but Davey van’t Schip’s equaliser on 73 minutes took the game into extra-time.
Van’t Schip scored a second on 99 minutes but the introduction of 17-year-old Andy Kecojevic turned the game on its head.
The youngster scored the equaliser to make it 2-2 less than five minutes after coming on, before setting up Michael Edgar for the winner with just seconds of extra-time remaining.
“He’s for me one of the best up and coming kids going around and we’re proud to have him down here,” Taylor said. “We’ve shown a lot of faith in him but we think he’s going to be something special.
“I’ve protected him a bit this year. He started at home against Bentleigh and I probably threw him in the deep end. We’ve played certain games where I don’t think it’s right for him because physically it’s going to be a bit difficult for a 17-year-old.
“We look after his welfare as well but he’s a good player and when the game opens up like today you can see his looks very decent.”
South Melbourne will face Bentleigh Greens in the NPL Victoria final next Sunday after the Greens defeated Hume City 2-0 at Kingston Heath.
“Bentleigh are a good side and they move the ball around well so we’ll work on certain things during the week and try to nullify them in areas they don’t want to be in and they’ll do the same to us.” Taylor said.