by Greg Blake
At the very least Heidelberg United Alexander supporters could hit bed and rest soundly over the weekend, safely assured that the Warriors would again end another round of another season in the NPL Victoria top six. Alexander clung to a now tenuous potential finals place following a scoreless draw against one of the league’s form sides in Caroline Springs George Cross at headquarters on Friday night.
Alexander did enough to win this one and there were plenty of upsides. George Cross – coached by Heidelberg club legend Eric Vassiliadis – has crept quietly into the finals picture after just one loss in its last ten games. On Friday night they hardly looked a chance in a game that meant plenty to both sides.
The first half was like sitting at a bar on jazz improvisation night. You wait patiently for a semblance of some rhythm or the hint of a tune, but it just doesn’t happen. Endless shots of vodka don’t help. Leo Mazis briefly looked lively for the Georgies, but Heidelberg’s Kayne Razmovski was terrific in taking his measure and shutting down the threat.
Mercurial Warrior Jay McGowan wafted through the opening half like the scent of wonderfully exotic incense. For a time he shaped as the x-factor, but the best chance of the largely forgettable opening 45 minutes fell to Asahi Yokokawa, who sent a 33rd minute header spinning just wide of the mark. The most puzzling conundrum of the first half was whether Heidelberg United players had to be hospitalised before drawing a free kick from referee Ross Clark.
Heidelberg launched itself into a much more encouraging second half and might have led through when Tobi Obani went close in the opening sixty seconds. Marcus Humbert and a strangely off key Anthony Lesiotis both had a crack at breaking the deadlock and – with Anthony Theodoropoulos and Christian Theoharous inserted into the game – the Warriors came home hot. A mad late game scrambled series of chances fell to – in rapid succession – Ciarin Bramwell, Humbert and Ryan Lethlean.
Despite not nailing it on the scoreboard and grabbing a much-needed win, what appealed most about Alexander’s sprint to the finish line was about winning the contest, rather than a recent trend in tight games of tentatively getting to the final whistle without making mistakes. At no stage did Heidelberg appear likely to lose this one. They just failed to win it.
The other upside was Ashton Bonsall grabbing his third consecutive clean sheet. If Yaren Sozer remains sidelined we’ll get a better look at Bonsall under a wee bit more pressure, but terrific stuff that he’s come in to fill in for the best keeper in the comp and not done a thing wrong not conceded a single goal. It’s a year since the Warriors have gone three games without conceding goal, with Sozer going four games in succession without letting one past in July, 2025.
And, as a goalkeeper, it helps having an absolutely magnificent beast like Ryan Lethlean in front of you. He was tremendous again against George Cross. With no Sozer, Fletcher Fulton or Ben Collins on Friday night, Lethlean stepped up as defensive leader in every sense of the word.
Heidelberg’s final four matches in the run in to finals start at Avondale next weekend, followed by a home meeting with Hume a fortnight later, on the road at South Melbourne is next before the Warriors host Bentleigh Greens in round 26.
Footnote – For the record, Alexander has been top six for 73 of the past 74 weekends since John Anastasiadis took charge. The only exception was following the opening round of 2025, when a 2-3 defeat at Melbourne Knights left the Warriors in 11th spot on the table.
