For the Bentleigh Greens and their coach John Anastasiadis, the Dockerty Cup final has become something of an annual calendar event for the Cheltenham-based club.
Tuesday night’s final at Jack Edwards Reserve in Oakleigh will be the third year in succession the club is going to the final. For fans of the two adversaries, Bentleigh Greens and Heidelberg United, the final promises to be a tense contest between evenly matched opponents, while for the neutral, it promises to be an exciting match between the two top teams in the NPL who have developed an intense rivalry.
In fact, this will be the third instalment in the storied rivalry that’s developed between the two, as the Bergers and Greens contested both the Cup and League finals last season, with the Bergers wresting the Dockerty Cup from the then holders, Bentleigh Greens in a penalty shoot-out.
The Greens got their own back, by taking out the NPL Grand Final, after the two teams again went to extra time.
Greens coach Anastasiadis told Neos Kosmos mid-week, “We know the importance of being in another final and what it means for the players as for their careers.”
With Tuesday night’s final being a rematch of last year’s final, Anastasiadis said, “Last year we were unlucky to lose a penalty shoot-out. This year we hope it doesn’t go that far and we actually get the result from the start.” He says the chance to win silverware is the prime motivation, rather than defeating the team who took the Cup from them last season.
There’s little that the opposing coaches Anastasiadis and the Bergers’ George Katsakis don’t know about their opponents. They are friends off the park, and have known each other since they were former teammates in the mid-late 80s in the Bergers’ U20 squad. Anastasiadis says, “We know each other quite well. There’s a lot of respect there, no doubt, between each other and the families.”
However, the two clubs have a strong rivalry which borders on the fierce, which doesn’t look like abating. Anastasiadis says, “We’re always trying to find an extra edge – both clubs. So you know we’ve got something up our sleeve and hopefully we’ll put that extra edge to work in the final. We’re hoping it pays off, because it is risky at times. Because we both, more or less, know each other that well, you know you’ve got to be careful what you do and how you take those risks. It’s a final and we always go out to win every game. We don’t wait for things to happen. I’m sure George also has something up his sleeve. It will be a very interesting game on Tuesday night.”
Anastasiadis anticipated that the final, “will be a typical Heidelberg game, where they’ll be really tough to beat and physical. We’ll just go about and play our game and do what we do best – try and keep possession of the ball. I think if we do that, we’ll probably get the result we want.”
The Greens have strengthened across all lines with their mid-season transfers picking up defender Jacob Alexander, strong defensive midfielder Ethan Wesley, and versatile attacker Brody Taylor.
With two Friday league games in just a week, and the Cup final on Tuesday sandwiched in between, the Greens coach says of the fixture congestion: “We know what to expect. We’ll be prepared for it. The good thing is that everybody’s healthy in the squad. There are no injuries. Eighteen players ready to go. There’s no doubt our rotation policy still sticks, especially when something like this happens.”