Harper Sercombe
Caroline Springs George Cross’ 16 game winning streak has come to a close with a draw against Werribee City in the Victorian Premier League 1 on Saturday night.
After conceding first the Georgies equalised before half time through a Russel Currie goal.
The Bees then went up again not long after the break. The game looked lost for the Georgies until Nicholas Sette put through the game saving, levelling goal during injury time, finishing the game 2-2.
“It was a tense affair and in the end we’re content with the one point,” Georgies’ coach Eric Vassiliadis.
“Even though we want to win all of our games at home I thought the endeavour of the group and the positivity on the ball meant that it ended up being a slightly open game.
“It reinforced how difficult this league is and how much we need to be concentrating for the full term.
“The game was a bit more open than I would have hoped because both teams wanted to win the game, which is great.
“We could have definitely lost that game but on balance of play we were very proactive and had an abundance of opportunities. We copped a couple of goals on the break which is football and we need to prepare for that.
“I was happy that over the 96, 97 minutes I thought we were the better team but it’s done now and we take a draw and move on.”
Last weekend the Georigies’ were able to have an immediate impact in the VPL as they knocked off Melbourne City 3-2, having being promoted in the off season. Vassiliadis said after a trying off-season to kick off the season with a win and a draw is promising.
“We were absolutely thrilled because we’ve had a lot of change over the off season, we’ve lost eight players from our starting 11, and we’ve brought in some really good quality,” he said.
“It’s going to take some time for the group to gel and to build that fluidity.
“On top of that the pre-season hasn’t been kind to us in terms of injuries. There’s been some challenges so to get off round one against a very good, young Melbourne City side was a massive positive for us.”
This week the Georgies are set to face Brunswick City, again at City Vista. Brunswick has kicked off the season in the same way as the Georgies.
“We know that this year, every week is genuinely going to be a completely different challenge,” Vassiliadis said.
“They’re a big club that has historically done well at this level. They’re coming off a very very good win away against North Geelong so there’s a lot of quality sprinkled through that team.
“They’re another team that I think is going to try to take it to us but I think at home we will focus on us and hopefully over the 96, 97 minutes we’ve got enough firepower to get the win but it’s going to be a tough one for sure.”
