Harper Sercombe
The fate of Altona Magic in the National Premier League is in its own hands, with the club set for an inaugural finals berth.
The club currently sits in sixth with games against bottom team Bentleigh and fifth placed Port Melbourne to come.
The club suffered a 4-1 loss to last season’s minor premiers South Melbourne last week, before a bye on the weekend due to the Dockerty Cup.
Although coach John Markovski said his side started well, up 1-0 at the break.
“The boys did really well in the first half, played exceptional,” he said.
“In the second half it was just a lapse in conversation, a good learning curve for us for the next game to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“To be competitive for 45 is good, we just need to be competitive for 95 minutes.”
With important games to come Markovski remains confident in playing finals. Green Gully sits one point behind the Magic and has a better goal difference
“Every game is winnable… at the end of the day it just depends on how we turn up,” he said.
“We need to win [against Bentleigh] and then after we do that we’ll concentrate on the next one.
“With two games to go, we win those games we finish in the finals.
“It’s in our own hands now.”
The club has never finished in a finals spot in the NPL top division, making this season a potential momentous occasion for the club if it can remain in the top six.
“Yeah it’s good for the club, it’s good for the players, it’s good for all of us, to be involved in finals is what you work hard for from the start of the season,” Markosvki said.
Markovski said he has been happy with the team’s offence throughout the season, however, there is work to be done defensively.
“The boys have been scoring plenty of goals, they’ve been working really hard,” he said.
“We need to not concede too many goals, if we don’t concede goals we will definitely score goals.
“This year we have done really well at moving forward but we need to work hard on our defending, and hopefully we don’t concede.”
Prolific goal scorer for the club, Jonas Markovski, is leading all comers in the league’s golden boot award, having scored 18 from his 22 appearances.
“Jonas has done really well, he’s scored a lot of goals for us, he’s done his job, he’s scored, he’s assisted,” Markovski said of his son.
“All the forwards have done really well, not only Jonas but the whole team has done well, starting from the keeper to even the ones that come off the bench.
“I’m happy with all the boys’ seasons.”
With about 14 players turning over in the off season, the year was always going to be a learning experience after finishing in 10th last year.
“There’s a new bunch of kids this year and they’re starting to gel at the right time,” Markovski said.
“They’re starting to understand what we want and we’re reaping the benefits.”
Magic have the bye on the weekend before facing the Greens at home on August 12.
