Heidelberg United and Bentleigh Greens will play off in this season’s Dockerty Cup final after both teams won their Dockerty Cup semifinals midweek. Heidelberg trounced Hume City 5-0 at JL Murphy Reserve on Wedneday evening to give themselves the chance of making history if they go on to win their first ever Dockerty Cup trophy.
Cup holders Bentleigh defeated arch rivals South Melbourne 2-0 at Jack Edwards Reserve on Thursday evening, and now have a shot at making it back-to-back Dockerty Cup triumphs. The Bergers’ win against Hume was a welcome return to form for the club following two consecutive league defeats. Apart from a 10-minute spell from the half-hour mark, they controlled the game against Hume.
Any goalscoring concerns the team may have had due to the loss of forward Sean Ellis to illness just prior to the game were quickly dispelled when Michael Trigger, his replacement up front, expertly drove home a Reuben Way cutback in the 12th-minute. Trigger went on to have a fine match with his sharpness around the box creating problems for Hume. Bergers centre back Steven Pace and midfielder Harry Noon also returned to the starting line up for the Bergers and both featured prominently with Pace assisting a Kosta Kanakaris goal in the 39th-minute to double Heidelberg’s lead.
Soon after the break Kenny Athiu scored a wonderful individual goal by controlling a long ball over the top without breaking stride and striking a right foot shot into the top right corner. Kanakaris scored a second from close range following a Trigger assist. Kanakaris then turned provider for Noon to complete the route. In the other semi, the Greens defeated South Melbourne in a hard fought Dockerty Cup semifinal thanks to second half goals from Matt Thurtell and man of the match Tyson Holmes. That they managed to do so without suspended captain Jack Webster and suspended coach John Anastasiadis was testament to their resilience.
It was a typically fiery derby between the two most successful teams of the NPL era. South went into the match full of confidence on the back of a 15-match undefeated run which had taken them to the top of the ladder and into the FFA Cup Rd of 32. New Spanish recruit David Barca-Moreno started for the first time in place of an injured Milos Lujic, playing alongside Leigh Minopoulos in a new 4-1-3-2 formation. Also missing from South’s line-up due to injury was winger Nick Epifano. Coach Chris Taylor began with Marcus Schroen on the left midfield flank. South began confidently and looked threatening in the first half mainly on the counterattack without creating many clear chances.The Greens produced the best chances of the opening half with most coming from the direct penetrating runs of Andy Brennan down the right flank. Ben Liftin and Tyson Holmes both missed good chances in the box created by Brennan crosses. The Greens scored the all-important first goal of the match in the 55th-minute following a turnover, when an excellent Ross Honos through ball pierced the South defense by releasing Matt Thurtell down the inside left channel. The striker finished clinically from the edge of the box. Greens midfielders Honos, Ruthven and Holmes were starting to win the midfield battle and the Greens doubled their lead in the 75th when Holmes collected a rebound from his own shot and firing past South keeper Nick Roganovic. By this time South coach Chris Taylor was forced to turn to his bench bringing on Stefan Zinni and Tim Mala for Schroen and Matt Millar. But the Greens’ defence, ably led by centre backs Ross Archibald and Mark Jankovic and well supported by fullbacks Glavan and Pilkington, stood firm and were able to close out the match.
After the match, Bentleigh assistant coach Ljuban Palinic, deputising for the suspended Anastasiadis, commented, “We focus on what we need to do and game to game, every win is important to us. It’s obviously sweeter when it’s against South because they are a big club, but obviously we did what we had to do tonight to get to the final, and we’ll be ready for Heidelberg United when it comes around as well.”