On a cold, clear Wednesday evening at Olympic Village, home side Heidelberg United fired up from the start to grab the early initiative with two early goals against visiting Northern NSW NPL team Charlestown City Blues, in their Rd of 32 FFA Cup tie.
For the next 80 minutes, the outcome of the contest appeared almost a foregone conclusion. However, a late City goal with just eight minutes of normal time remaining, made for a few anxious moments for the home fans, before referee Jonathan Barreiro whistled for full time and a final scoreline of 2-1 in favour of the Bergers.

The visitors’ hopes of keeping the Bergers scoreless for as long as possible evaporated within the opening minute, when the Bergers’ Andrew Cartanos fired a low cross from the left flank, which was deflected by Blues centre back Kevin Davison, into his own net.

The Blues barely had time to recover from conceding an early own goal, when their defence was pierced again, this time from Sean Ellis, who climbed highest to head home a Jack Petrie corner in the 12th minute to give the home side a firm grip on the tie.

Sporting their Richmond like heritage strip, the Bergers threatened to score a third that would seal the match. Both Ellis and Cartanos were menacing down the flanks. The cross bar denied Cartanos in the second half whilst Blues keeper James Fogarty made several good saves, including a couple from Cartanos and Bergers’ centre forward Tom Cahill.

For the Blues, the player most likely to score was nuggetty centre forward Kane Goodchild, who had a couple of good efforts at goal, one of which he probably could’ve done better with when he suddenly found himself one on one with Bergers’ keeper Chris Theodoridis. However, Theodoridis saved to preserve the Bergers’ two goal buffer. Instead it was Blues’ midfielder Daniel Ott who gave the visitors a sniff when he scored from outside the box in the 82nd minute, setting up an anxious finale for the home fans. In the end, however, the Bergers were able to see the Blues off relatively comfortably to progress to the next round.
The Bergers’ 2-1 scoreline was the closest of the four matches which featured in Matchday 2 of the Rd of 32. In the other three matches, Adelaide United eased past Central Coast Mariners 3-0, Sydney FC defeated Rockdale United 4-2 and Cairns crushed Armadale 4-0.

In this coming Tuesday’s matchday 3, Bentleigh Greens will host the feature clash against A-League opponent Wellington Phoenix, in what is fast becoming an annual event for the Cheltenham based club. On the same night, Northcote City makes its Rd of 32 debut, when it hosts Tasmanian NPL team Devonport City, whilst up in Darwin, Hellenic Athletic hosts A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers.

Matchday three also features two all A-League clashes, with Melbourne Victory flying to Perth Glory and Melbourne City away to Brisbane Roar.