They’ve met in two of the most recent major finals in Victorian football – last season’s NPL Grand Final and this season’s Dockerty Cup final. Now for the first time they are preparing to go head-to-head in a high stakes showdown on the national stage. Two of the great rivals of Victorian NPL football, Bentleigh Greens and Heidelberg United have been drawn to meet each other in an FFA Cup quarter-final tie.

Wednesday night’s FFA Cup quarter final draw ensures at least one Greek-based club will progress to the semi- final stage, after throwing together the two great rivals. For the Bergers, it will be their second consecutive Greek derby in the FFA Cup nationwide rounds, after their impressive 4-0 away win against Adelaide Comets in the Rd of 16 clash on Wednesday evening.

With a large contingent of travelling fans cheering them on, the Bergers struck twice in the first half to seize a firm grip on the game, with both goals coming through a direct route. The first goal came inside ten minutes, when Bergers’ keeper Chris Theodoridis sent a long kick into the Comets’ half, which Sean Ellis played first time into the path of Reuben Way bursting through the centre of the Comets defence to fire into the net. The Bergers doubled their lead in the 34th minute when midfielder Alex Schiavo pounced on a loose ball at the far post, after following up on an Ellis miss kick from a Les Doumbalis long throw into the box.

The Comets’ hopes of a second half revival nosedived with the sending off of Kamara in the 68th minute.

Heidelberg’s Ellis had no such trouble with his timing when another goal scoring opportunity came his way in the 71st minute, finishing an incisive move involving Way and Adrian Zahra, with a first time shot which flew into the net. Centre forward Tom Cahill finished off the scoring for the Bergers with an 85th minute penalty after he drew the initial foul.

The win means Heidelberg now joins Bentleigh Greens in becoming just the second member federation club to qualify for the quarter-final stage of the FFA cup on three occasions. Last year, the Bergers also reached the quarter final stage of the competition, where they came up against a clinical Adelaide United. The Bergers lost 3-0 at home to the A-League outfit.

The other quarter-final match-ups from Wednesday night’s draw are:
Melbourne City v Western Sydney Wanderers
Apia Leichhardt v Adelaide United
Avondale FC v Sydney FC