Warriors Fight Out Draw

Ivan Franjic
By Alex Bagdasarian

 

Heidelberg United played host to one of its biggest rivals since the advent of the NPL era in the form of Bentleigh Greens, at Olympic Village on a bitterly cold and wet Sunday.

George Katsakis has seen his troops gaining momentum in recent weeks, including huge morale boosting wins against South Melbourne and Dandenong Thunder, which has seen the ‘Bergers climb to within a point of the top six.

It was a typically tight Bergers v Greens match with both teams creating chances, with Joshua Pin coming closest after threatening out on the left before cutting inside to strike the ball only to be denied by the keeper.

The Heidelberg faithful are full of joy seeing Pin back from his long injury a couple of weeks ago. He has been pivotal since his return, playing an integral role out in the wing with his pace and the desire to get forward.

A late first half chance fell to Ivan Franjic with the ball falling nicely to him, but his volleyed strike into the corner was batted away by the keeper.

Early in the second half, Pin put the Warriors ahead with a thunderous strike from long range for his first goal of the season, displaying his shooting prowess in front of the loyal home fans.

Minutes later, the Greens put the pressure on the Bergers to sneak a goal and level the game with George Lambadaridis the scorer.

With pouring rain drenching the players and the pitch, Brendan White was caught out well off his line, and his calamitous hesitation allowed Mitchell Hore to pounce and give the away side the lead.

Despite the setback, the Bergers kept fighting back to get something out of the game once again. This has become a regular refrain this season, with jangling nerves being felt throughout the stands yet again.

Clawing their way back into the match, the resurgent Warriors equalised with a thumping hit from Kaine Sheppard into the bottom corner to grab a significant point to keep within touching distance of the top six.

 

 

Next up for Heidelberg United is another crucial match – Round 7 of the Australia Cup against Dandenong Thunder on Wednesday (June 8 at 7:30pm) at George Andrews Reserve, in a rematch of the recent NPL Round 15 clash at the same venue.

 

Match Details:

Heidelberg United 2 (J. Pin 52’, K. Sheppard 86’) – Bentleigh Greens 2 (G. Lambadaridis 58’, M. Hore 72’)

Team Line-up:

GK – 1 – Brendan White

4 – Mallan Roberts

5 – Ajdin Fetahagic

8 – Dominic Falla (15 – Brian Summerskill 83’)

9 – Adrian Zahra (c)

10 – Ivan Franjic

12 – Deion Nikolaidis

14 – Kaine Sheppard

17 – Joshua Pin

18 – Anthony Theodoropoulos (19 – Sean Ellis 61’)

21 – Eoin Ashton (6 – Joseph Franjic 61’)

 

Subs not used:

GK – 63 – Nick Eres

22 – Kazuki Okada

24 – Hussain Al Sharifi