Yarraville Glory has further enhanced its Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1 survival bid in a victory that coach Paul Donnelly described as a “classic six-pointer”.
The Glory not only obtained three vital points in a 2-0 win on the road over Hoppers Crossing at Grange Reserve, but ensured the hosts did not get a share of the points, which leaves them deeper in the relegation zone.
“It was a huge result for us,” Donnelly said. “We spoke about it all week, how important it was.
“It was about us drawing clear of them and them getting stuck at the bottom.”
Yarraville has been in red-hot form of late. In the past month, Glory picked up four wins out of five.
It is a huge monumental shift considering the Glory only had one victory after 10 rounds.
Having pulled off an upset against high-flying North Sunshine a week earlier, there were concerns about the Hoppers Crossing game.
However, forced personnel changes ensured there would be no players resting on their laurels.
“It kind of worked in our favour a bit because we had two players out with yellow card accumulation and some injuries,” Donnelly said. “With seven players out, everyone was fighting for their spot at training because they knew a few places were up for grabs.
“They took that fight into the game, so it didn’t seem like there was any changes, they just got on with it and it was very positive.”
Diego Ortiz broke the deadlock for Yarraville just before half-time. Ortiz only had to poke the ball home after a defensive error.
“It was a bit fortunate,” Donnelly said.
“It was a corner that came in and their keeper slipped up and Diego was Johnny-on-the-spot.
“It was a bit scrappy, but it lifted everyone.”
With Hoppers Crossing pushing numbers forward for an equaliser in the second half, Yarraville took full advantage with a number of counter attacking moves.
One of those moves yielded a goal from a Musa Kamara breakaway, who found Darcey Den Ouden in the box to finish off the move.
Kamara has been an important acquisition for the Glory since Keith Burch went down with a season-ending knee injury.
“We put him on the bench last week and he came on when Keith got injured and did really well, so he got the start this week and did well again,” Donnelly said.
Yarraville’s win was underpinned by its dominance in the midfield. Anthony Themistokleous worked hard to snuff out any Hoppers Crossing forays, while Mariano Chain was a constant threat in attack.
Yarraville is five points clear of the relegation zone and eight points off second place, so there is a whole host of possibilities ahead of a date with Keilor Park on Saturday.
