Altona Magic coach Vlado Tortevski has declared the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1 title race as good as over.
The Magic has taken a massive nine-point lead at the top of the ladder after a stirring 1-0 win over Preston Lions at BT Connor Reserve on Sunday.
Tortevski believes there is no stopping his side from going on to claim the title, even with six weeks of matches still to be played.
“For me, this is the game that decided it,” Tortevski told Star Weekly. “These three points is the championship.”
From the outset it was obvious how much it meant to come home with those three points. The Magic has been lauded all season for their entertaining, attacking brand of football, but this was lacking against Preston.
It was a more nervous and subdued Magic, seemingly more intent on limiting mistakes than wowing fans with breathtaking football.
But it was mighty effective.
Once the Magic hit the front through a Jon McShane goal, they absorbed everything Preston threw at them to preserve their advantage.
“I’m sorry we didn’t play really good soccer like we usually do, but this is the circumstances, we needed the three points and that’s what it was all about,” Tortevski said.
“We changed the tactic and made sure everything was going to be alright because one-nil was going to be enough for us.
“It wasn’t a pretty game, but we came here to achieve something and we achieved it.
“We proved that we can play under pressure.”
McShane’s goal came 25 minutes into the match. The striker got on the end of a cross from Nikola Markovski and wrong-footed the Preston defenders to score at the far post.
“Nikola was on the right side, he passed one player and a second player and, when everyone was expecting him to shoot, he cut it back to Jon,” Tortevski said.
“Jon did something special, he beat a player and everyone dived to the first post, then he put the ball in the opposite side.
“That was a good finish from a very experienced striker.”
Tortevski went as far as saying that McShane is too good for local football. McShane, who has played at the top level in Scotland with St Mirren and Hamilton Academical, has scored 14 goals in 15 games with the Magic.
“His ability is not for this league, he’s a player for A-League,” Tortevski said.
“With his mind 100 per cent on the game, he’s a player that can play A-League, and I’m really surprised how one of these managers haven’t realised that and given him the opportunity.”
The Magic will be out to extend its winning streak to six games when it hosts Sydenham Park at Paisley Park on Saturday evening.
In other games, Altona East Phoenix moved three points above the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Diamond Valley United, while Yarraville Glory was beaten 3-2 away to Westgate in a five-goal thriller.
In state league 2, Altona City kept the promotion door open with a 2-1 win over ladder leader Geelong.
City is six points behind second-placed Essendon Royals.
It was an entertaining weekend for fans of local sides in state league 3, with Williamstown beating La Trobe University 3-2 to keep its top-two hopes alive and Melbourne City going down 4-3 to Melbourne University.
