Melton’s FFA Cup campaign came to an end when the Phoenix were eliminated from the knock-out competition by Sunbury United at the weekend.
The state league 4 outfit was far from disgraced though, going toe-to-toe with their more fancied opponents for the full 90 minutes.
After keeping Sunbury goal-less for the first half, the two teams went into the sheds locked at 0-0.
Melton then hit the front shortly after the resumption of play. The goal came through striker Jordan Borg.
Sunbury, which plays in state league 2, refused to panic, and hit back shortly afterwards.
United scored twice within five minutes, with Djafari Mwarabu the first man to find the back of the net. His goal came at the 60th minute mark, and Jake McIntyre added a second shortly afterwards. Despite its best efforts, Melton was unable to find an equaliser.
Melton coach Peter Schwellinger was impressed with his side’s efforts against the higher-ranked Sunbury.
“I think we matched them throughout the match … we were pretty unlucky to lose,” he said.
“We just had one defensive error from a handball, which led to a penalty.
“We didn’t get the result this time, but I think it was a great FFA Cup for us,” Schwellinger said.
“We played two sides from state league 2. We were able to knock one of them out [Sporting Whittlesea], and we pushed another one all the way, and came close to knocking them out as well.”
Melton’s attention turns now to its state league season. The Phoenix start their campaign with an away fixture against Altona North next month, before hosting Point Cook in round two.
Schwellinger said it was important for his side not to drop in its intensity.
“We need to be careful now, going back to state league 4, that we don’t take it easy,” he said.
“You can’t drop your level … and there is always a danger of that.
“We need to get out there and play every game with the mentality we have shown.
“We need to play our game.
“We shouldn’t worry about other teams,” Schwellinger said.
“We want other teams to be worrying about us.”
