Eight games unbeaten, Altona City is the form club of the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 3 north-west and it has a real shot at promotion.
City was one of the beneficiaries of previous ladder leaders Northern Roosters pulling the plug on the season after the FFV discovered player registration irregularities last month.
City jumped from fourth to third and within arm’s reach of the top two.
Last Friday night’s 2-1 derby win over plucky FC Williamstown has seen City creep to within three points of the promotion places with five rounds to go.
“We’ve got to take advantage of the situation that’s been put in front of us,” City coach Sam Borg said.
“All we can do is control our own destiny and that is to try and win the next five games. We believe we’re in a very strong spot.”
City encountered a more resilient Williamstown outfit at Grey Reserve than the one that paid it a visit earlier in the season.
City returned from the short trip with all three points on the back of goals to Tony Saric and Dave Mahoney.
Saric scored in the opening minute after latching on to a through ball from captain Matt McKay.
Saric then turned provider, putting Mahoney in behind the Williamstown defence for the deciding goal.
Williamstown might be languishing in the bottom two of the competition, but Borg is adamant it was not the same side City confronted first time around.
“I’ll tell you now, Williamstown won’t get relegated – they’re a very good team,” he said.
“They put us under a lot of pressure for 90 minutes.
“To us, it was a very good result, a feeling of accomplishment, but we’ve done that now and we move on because we’ve got a massive game this week.”
City will host hot premiership favourite Essendon Royals in a blockbuster at Kim Reserve on Friday night.
City goes into the match with a number of players in top form, including defensive midfielder Huon Russell, central midfielder Ross Walliss and the Saric brothers – Tony (midfielder), Mark (central defender) and Frano (goalkeeper).
Around the grounds, Altona East Phoenix has pulled three points clear of the state league 1 drop zone with a 3-2 win over Westgate in a high-scoring affair at Paisley Park.
Altona Magic, the team directly below the Phoenix, held second-placed Preston Lions to a 1-1 draw at BT Connor Reserve.
Yarraville Glory hammered La Trobe University 5-2 to move to within four points of the state league 2 top two.
Melbourne City is clinging to second place in state league 4 after a 1-0 win over Brimbank Stallions, but Laverton Park edged closer to relegation with a 3-1 defeat at Sebastopol Vikings.
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