YARRAVILLE Glory have defied the odds to get their season back on track with consecutive blue-collar wins in the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 3 north-west.
The Glory have extracted six points from the past two outings against North Sunshine Eagles and Cairnlea to move clear of the relegation zone for the time being and into mid-table.
Glory coach Charlie Egan told the Weekly it had been an incredible turn-around in form with his injury-depleted team being forced to call on reinforcements not accustomed to first team football.
“The last two months, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong, and a lot of it is out of your control,” he said.
“Credit to the boys; we’ve had four or five of them who probably shouldn’t have played but under the circumstances have put their hands up and they got the job done.
“Every hand is on deck; everybody is pulling their weight.
“I can’t be any happier with the boys.”
The Glory have resorted to dumbing down their playing style.
Substance over style will be their way until the first team returns to near full-strength.
“We didn’t play the best football in the world,” Egan admitted.
“It was just about getting the points. That’s all we need at this time.”
The Glory needed just a single goal to edge out Cairnlea at McIvor Reserve on Saturday.
Despite the scrappy nature of their performance, the Glory still troubled the visiting goalkeeper and could have been further in front at half-time than the one-goal break provided by midfielder Keith Dunne with a nifty lob over the keeper.
A major reason for the Glory’s move into the middle of the standings is goalkeeper Mark Wilson.
The Scottish import has been in wonderful form between the sticks.
“He’s been a standout,” Egan said. “He should be playing at premier league level, but he committed to us for the season and has stood by his commitments.
“He’s good on crosses. He’s an excellent shot stopper, he can kick the ball a mile. He’s a class above in this league.”
The Glory will be hoping to continue their winning ways when they face Hume United on the road at Laura Douglas Reserve on Saturday.
Altona Magic’s rapid rise up the men’s state league 1 ladder continued with a 4-3 road win over ladder leader Pascoe Vale at Hosken Reserve on Saturday.
The Magic reached top gear in a hurry to lead 3-1 at half-time and held on in the face of a Vales comeback attempt in the second half.
They now sit fourth on the ladder, just five points adrift of the promotion places.
FFV RESULTS
SL1: Pascoe Vale 3 Altona Magic 4
SL2: Altona East Phoenix 3 Clifton Hill 0;
LaTrobe University 2 Altona City 4
SL3: Yarraville Glory 1 Cairnlea 0, Sunbury United 1 Williamstown 1
PL1: Essendon United 1 Maribyrnong Greens 0
PL2: Laverton Park 0 Essendon Royals 1
PL3: Melbourne City 2 Darebin United 4
MML: Altona North 8 Flemington Eagles 2
