HOPPERS Crossing finally has its day in the sun – the Reds have sealed promotion in the Football Federation Victoria provisional league 2 north-west.
They cannot be knocked off the top two rungs on the ladder after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Brunswick Zebras at the Grange Reserve.
For Reds coach Joey Vella, the glorious moment was five years in the making.
“We’ve been building,” he said.
“Every year we’ve improved in ladder position and points.
“That’s what you judge yourself on when you ask the question ‘is the message still getting through?’, because it’s a long time to have the same voice as coach.”
The Reds have to wait no more; they are going up to the state’s fifth tier, just one step away from their state league ambitions.
“It’s a good relief to have it done so early in the season,” Vella said. “All the boys are really happy with themselves.
“They went out and celebrated together on Saturday night,” Vella said.
He was quick to stress that the job was not finished and the players have made a pact to go up as champions.
They hold a handy nine-point buffer over the second-placed Epping City, who have two games in hand due to postponements.
“It’s only half the job done,” Vella said. “That’s coming from the players, they really want to win this thing.”
It was an out-of-character Reds that started the match. They were off the boil for the opening 45 minutes and the Zebras pounced with the only goal of the first half.
“We were really scrappy,” Vella said. “We gave the ball away cheaply and were not working hard enough.
“Our shape was all out of whack.”
The Reds found a spark from the get-go in the second half.
Two minutes in, Zia Sherzai sent in a cross and grateful recipient Tom Orndahl volleyed home the equaliser at the far post.
Not long after, it was Sherzai who was waiting at the back post, where he produced a near identical volley to make it 2-1 to the Reds.
Fittingly, Alister Smart would produce the
game’s decisive goal, beating the Zebras goalkeeper one-on-one after a quality build-up from Sherzai.
The last time the Reds were promoted was in the late 1990s when they moved up to state league 3. It has been a slippery slope since.
Vella is hoping this promotion will be start of the Reds’ rise back up the divisions.
Werribee City’s promotion hopes in the men’s state league 1 took a turn for the worse with a 2-1 loss to St Albans Saints on Sunday at Churchill Reserve.
FFV scoreboard
SL1: St Albans Saints 2 Werribee City 1
PL2: Hoppers Crossing 3 Brunswick Zebras 2
MML: Light United v Truganina PPD
