Tara Murray
Caroline Springs George Cross is through to the next round of the Australia Cup, but it wasn’t without making work harder than it should have been.
The Georgies overcame Victorian Premier League 2 side Altona City on Wednesday night, 2-1 but needed extra time to get the result.
Scores were locked at 1-1 at the end of regular time before the Georgies scored in extra time to get the win.
Nicholas Sette and Jack Wardle were the goal scorers for the Georgies.
Georgies coach Eric Vassiliadis said they will take the win and move on.
“I mentioned after the game, the important thing in these games is to get the win,” he said. “We didn’t play well.
“We don’t look in isolation. We still need to improve in some areas and there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Vassiliadis said while their numbers were off the charts in terms of GPS data indicating the effort was there, they struggled with their execution in the front third of the ground.
He said they could have won the game a lot earlier.
“We made hard work of it.” he said. “We had 27 shots to five and we kept them in the game.
“Had we been a little bit more clinical we would have killed the game off sooner. Going to extra time we didn’t need that in a midweek game.
“We have to be better”
Vassiliadis said many of those attempts in front of goal failed to make the goalkeeper work hard to stop most of them.
The Georgies have drawn National Premier League side Hume City in the seventh round. The winner will go onto the national stage of the competition as well as the final five of the Dockerty Cup.
Vassiliadis said it could have been an easier or hard draw, but for now he wasn’t looking at that match just yet.
The Georgies are back in action on Friday night against Brunswick City.
Vassiliadis said it’s a crucial match for both sides.
The Georgies are currently in 11th spot.
“We’ve had an interrupted year with injuries and suspension. We’ve been getting some guys back,” Vassiliadis said.
“We went and watched them last week when they lost to [bottom side] North Geelong [Warriors], but they will get a few players back.
“The two clubs are on the same points and have it as a must win.”
