HOPPERS Crossing tumbled out of the FFV State Knockout Cup with a 3-1 loss to state league side Keilor Park at Grange Reserve on Saturday, and it came at a significant cost with captain and attacking midfielder Kevin Smart injuring a hamstring.
The Reds used the competition to blood a host of youngsters and freshen up first-team regulars with lighter workloads, but it was still enough time for Smart to be seen hobbling around the changerooms post-game with an injury that could see him miss up to three regular season games.
“It is a big price to pay, considering we were trying to rest our senior players so they didn’t get injured,” Reds coach Joey Vella said.
“He got injured in the last five minutes of the game.”
The Reds were outclassed from the outset as the Parkers scored in the seventh minute, built a 3-0 lead early in the second half before letting the Reds in for their only goal when Tom Orndahl played in Billy Vasilevski.
Despite the loss, the Reds got what they wanted out of the game and that was time in a competitive senior match for the young subs and reserves players, who took on the challenge with real vigour, showing there is depth at the Hogans Road club.
The standouts of the baby Reds were teenage defender James Kearney and Robbie Nagy, who rose to the challenge of playing in defence against an experienced Parkers front line.
“We sent them out to go and put pressure on the players that are in the senior team at the moment and create a bit of depth in the squad,” Vella said.
“We’ve got a few really good young players for the future and even if we need them for a game or two during the season, we know they’ll do a pretty good job for us.
“That was pretty pleasing.”
The Reds will sink their teeth back into the provisional league 2 north-west on Saturday when they host the Northern Roosters at Grange Reserve.
Meanwhile, Werribee City’s cup tie with country side Cobram Victory was postponed, creating a potential logjam of fixtures for the Bees in the coming weeks.
The Bees were not happy with the game having to be rescheduled as a mid-week clash but will co-operate with the FFV and the Victory to find a suitable date to play the match.
“They had another game to play on Sunday so wouldn’t make the trip down here because they didn’t want to back up and play again after the long trip,” Bees’ secretary Charlie Lombardo said.
“We’ve got a couple of tough games and it’s probably going to put a bit of a spanner in the works for us.”
FFV Cup: Fourth Round: Hoppers Crossing 1 Keilor Park 3; Werribee City v Cobram Victory – postponed.
