NO one can argue with the assessment of Hoppers Crossing coach Joey Vella about his team’s form in all Football Federation Victoria competitions.
“We’re scoring goals for fun at the moment,” he said.
The goal-hungry Reds ran riot to record a 7-1 win over shellshocked Plenty Valley in the opening round of men’s provisional league 2 north-west season at Grange Reserve on Saturday.
This was no flash in the pan for the Reds, who have scored 22 goals in their past 270 minutes of action when included with the FFV Cup.
“Hopefully it continues – that’d be nice,” Vella said optimistically.
The Reds have begun the season like a house on fire. They are bullying their opposition into submission with greater attention to the defensive responsibilities and their arsenal of offensive weapons is proving hard to stop.
“Everything is clicking for us,” Vella said. “It’s really been outstanding team efforts.”
The opening 20 against Plenty Valley was to and fro. Teamwork resulted in a 20th minute goal that broke the deadlock and it served only as a warning to what would come in.
Brett Gilmore’s name is on the scoresheet but he was just a final link in a chain that began with a Drew Gilmore free kick to Gus Dos Santos, who headed the ball over the Valley defence Kevin Smart, who delivered a cross to Gilmore for a volley. “All the goals we scored were built up from the back or the midfield,” Vella said. “All goals were team-oriented. We don’t want to be chasing long balls.”
Gilmore had a double 15 minutes later.
Wing to wing movement from the Reds spread the Valley defence and up a hole for Gilmore to run in and head a goal from a Zia Sherzai cross.
This sparked a dominant period for the Reds, who scored three times in five minutes.
The second of those saw a hopeful ball from Dos Santos played in, creating uncertainty in the Valley backline, and goalhound Alister Smart needed no second invitation to open his account for the regular season.
It proved Smart’s awakening because three minutes late he was celebrating a double with a chip over the goalkeeper to make it 4-0 at the break.
“We were dominating in the midfield,” Vella said. “When we scored those goals they lost their game plan and their heads dropped.”
The only uneasiness the Reds experienced came out of the half-time break when they conceded a goal three minutes after the restart.
The Valleys, a regular title-contender in the division, finally started to show some of their potential.
But like the first half, it was only fleeting.
The game was out of reach of the Valley when Reds striker Alister Smart delivered to his brother Kevin for an easy 60th minute tap in.
Substitutes Abel Fesseha and Mussie Kiflom got in on the act to round out the scoring for the Reds.
The Reds will face Laverton Park on the road in their first game after the Easter break on April14.
Elsewhere, Werribee City kicked off its state league 1 campaign on Saturday night in a scoreless draw with Port Melbourne at SS Anderson Reserve.
Truganina played its first ever game for points in the men’s metropolitan league but returned from Green Gully Reserve with a 4-2 loss to Keilor Wolves.
SCORES:
SL1: Port Melbourne 0 Werribee City 0
PL2: Hoppers Crossing 7 Plenty Valley 1
MML: Keilor Wolves 4 Truganina 2
