Oakleigh Cannons is proving something of a cups specialist this season, putting a disappointing league season behind it to progress alongside Heidelberg United and Hume City to the FFA quarterfinals. Tuesday night’s tense 1-0 away over Adelaide’s Metro Stars in the FFA Cup Rd of 16 ensures another run deep into the national cup competition, following its appearance in the Dockerty Cup final last month.
On Tuesday evening, the visiting Cannons came under a lot of pressure from the home team in the first half, with keeper John Honos pulling off a fine save to deny Stars winger Rocky Callisto.
Oakleigh showed more attacking intent in the second half, with big striker Mirjan Pavlovic hitting the side netting with a shot followed by a trademark Dean Piemonte free kick which drew a good save from Metro Stars keeper Daniel Godley.
However a Godley error of judgement proved fatal to his side’s chances. A long clearing kick from deep in the Oakleigh half bounced over the advancing keeper caught on the edge of his box. Although he got a hand to the ball, it was only to knock it into the path of Cannons striker Pavlovic, who gleefully accepted the chance to score the match winner from a narrow angle in the 66th minute.
Tensions on the park spilled over in the dying minutes, with the referee issuing yellow cards to three Oakleigh players and two Metro players for a spate of rash tackles, culminating in the sending off of Metro’s Liam Wooding deep into injury time.
Cannons coach Arthur Papas, speaking to Fox Sports after the game, said “I’m extremely happy. It’s a tremendous effort from the group to reach this stage of the tournament and you saw a really united team out there. We really had to battle in the first half and they put us under a lot of pressure but in the second half, we showed a tremendous level of quality. It’s a massive achievement to Oakleigh, a massive achievement for this playing group and they deserve all the credit tonight.”
The Cannons victory sets up a quarterfinal meeting against fellow NPL club Hume City in what is a rematch of their Dockerty Cup semi-final meeting.
Hume advanced to the FFA Cup quarterfinals courtesy of its 3-1 home win over Sydney Olympic on Tuesday evening.
Two goals in the last quarter hour of the first half to Daniel Clark and Marcus Schroen put the home team in the driver’s seat.
A 64th minute goal to Dimitri Hatzimouratis halved the deficit for the visitors but Theo Markelis ensured safe passage for the home team when he swept home a cut back from Shaun Timmins.
Results of the other two Rd of 16 FFA Cup matches last Tuesday were:
Palm Beach Sharks 0 lost to Western Sydney Wanderers 2
Rockdale City Suns 2 lost to Melbourne Victory 3
The FFA Cup quarterfinal draw is:
Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United
Perth Glory v Western Sydney Wanderers
Heidelberg United v Melbourne City
Hume City v Oakleigh Cannons
Dates and venues will be announced in the coming days but the matches are two be played on 22 and 29 September.