MELTON’S promotion hopes suffered a major blow with a 3-0 defeat to Heidelberg Stars last Saturday in FFV provisional league 3 north-west.
The Stars victory gave them a three-point lead on the table from fourth-placed Melton and have two games in hand on the Phoenix to extend the advantage.
Darebin United (45 points) leads the league from Heidelberg (39) while Bundoora United (38) is above Melton (36) and also has two games in hand on the Phoenix.
Melton coach Danny Gnjidic said his team’s performance was a considerable improvement on the last meeting, albeit with the same outcome on the scoreboard.
“It was one of those days,” Gnjidic said.
“Sometimes as a coach you can sense it’s not going to be your day.
“Our promotion chances have taken a pretty significant hit.”
Melton started with authority but Heidelberg’s first attack about 10 minutes into the match yielded a goal against the run of play.
Melton pressed to chase an equaliser but were caught out on the counter attack for a 2-0 Heidelberg lead.
Melton pressed again in the second half, conceding in the final minute after being caught on the break by a Heidelberg counter attack.
“It was a much-improved performance from us, 3-0 was not a true reflection of the game,” Gnjidic said.
“We dominated possession and had numerous opportunities, two of which were goal-bound shots blocked by our own players in scrambles.”
Melton has two more games for the season but needs top teams to drop points to have any chance of snaring second place. “Performance wise and ability wise we’re capable, if we get the rub of the green,” Gnjidic said.
Melton plays Darebin United at MacPherson Park on September 15 at 3pm. It has no game this Saturday as the weekend is a catch-up round for postponed games.
Melton’s women lost 3-0 to Port Melbourne on Sunday and sit seventh of 10 on the state league 3 north-west table.
Melton’s 20 points is three behind sixth-placed Casey Comets and five above eighth-placed Western Suburbs.
