Shock is an understatement.
No one expected to see the Bentleigh Greens concede so quickly in the FFA Cup preliminaries and to find themselves out of the race that last year shot them to stardom.
Coach John Anastasiadis has been very honest about the 4-2 loss to the NPL1 team Ballarat Red Devils and admits the morale at the club is at an all-time low.
“It’s a massive kick in the guts, I don’t know how we’re going to get over it,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
“We wanted to back up what we’d done, that is the biggest disappointment.”
Undefeated in the local NPL league and facing a team relegated from the competition last year, it was a safe bet that Bentleigh would breeze through the Wednesday match.
Sadly, the team fell victim to complacency.
“The biggest problem was that we started very slow and we basically gave them two goals at the start,” Anastasiadis admits.
“Our senior players are the ones that really did it and on top of that we missed some very easy goals.
“We would score and they would score straight away, it was just incredible.”
Now all that’s left for the team is to chase NPL glory, and grab the trophy at the end of the season.
“We’ve got no other choice now,” Anastasiadis says.
“The NPL is our main focus and we’ve got to lift ourselves up and show what type of characters we are.”
The Greens have a week to recover until their next match as their round 9 match gets rescheduled to June.
As for the FFA Cup preliminaries, a number of Greek-sponsored clubs remain in the mix.
South Melbourne became a goal machine against North Sunshine Eagles SC after their mid-week fixture ended with an 8-0 clean sheet.
Oakleigh Cannons almost lost their match against Richmond FC after a 0-0 draw turned to penalties. It took Oakleigh five tries to get the win.
With a fairytale run last year reaching the round of 32, South Springvale (Aris) managed to keep their dream alive after defeating Box Hill United.
In the other states, a number of Greek teams are still in the mix.
Sydney Olympic remain after they defeated Mounties Wanderers FC 3-0 and in the Northern Territory, Darwin Olympic beat University Azzurri 3-2.
The preliminary rounds continue next week.