With a dramatic extra time win, Northcote City claimed the Victorian Premier League title last weekend. The Hercules Boys triumphed in their very first VPL Grand Final, in what was a great and entertaining 3-2 victory at AAMI Park.
The regular 90 minutes were locked with a 1-1 draw, after scoring was opened by Northcote’s Evan Kounavelis and equalised by Bentleigh Greens’ Ryan de Vries only a few minutes later.
In the early extra-time, it looked like Bentleigh was about to take the VPL trophy home, when Luke Sherbon gave the Greens a 2-1 lead.
But the VPL top-scorer and winner of the Jimmy Rooney medal for his best-on-ground performance, Milos Lujic, scored to level 2-2. It was just minutes after Bentleigh substitute Luke Pilkington, who came on after 99 minutes, was awarded a straight red card for a needless kick-out at a Northcote player.
The VPL champion for 2013 was decided when a corner won by Lujic was turned into the winning goal, sent in by Marinos Gasparis, to prevail 3-2 at AAMI Park. Ten-player Bentleigh was left to mourn a missed penalty and other goal chances.
“It has been a crazy year, and to win it as well … feels even better!” first-time VPL winner Northcote City coach Goran Lozanovski said about the victory.
The 53-year-old Northcote City have a relatively small following when compared to the rest of the league. Not many gave the team a chance as potential VPL winners at the beginning of the season. Last season, Northcote finished fifth, and won one of the finals’ encounters.
“I dare to say this year people were saying that Northcote might be pushing for the top five, but that’s about it. To finish first is a massive shock, but I think after the way we started – it would have been disappointing if we didn’t finish first,” former Socceroo Lozanovski admitted to Neos Kosmos.
“The trophy means a lot for the club. To be into the fourth season of VPL from playing the lower leagues the majority of its life, to make it to the Premier League and to win the Mirabella cup two years ago – it’s great. To come out and finish as minor premiers in the VPL is a great achievement – and with the flag, it’s just crazy.”
Coach Lozanovski lauded his team’s stability and hard work, for bringing the VPL trophy to Northcote.
“I think a lot of people are shocked, but obviously all that hard work and all those troubles over the years – it’s all worth it now,” Lozanovski said.
“Stability is always the big key, what we started working on two years ago; including a few good signings this year, like Evan Kounavelis, Michael Eager, Rashid Mahazi, who is now with Melbourne Victory. All these players that came into the team, no one really knew who they were, but they stepped up and put a lot of pressure on the rest of the group.
“We had a majority of the team stay from last to this season, and added some good quality players to it. Everyone wanted to fight for each other there. In the end, we had a good start and it was all about self-belief. And I think these guys really believed that they were good enough to win it – and they did it.”
After a long year and ten months in the process, the Northcote Boys are having their deserved two months off. For coach Lozanovski however, it will mean physically being off the bench but mentally working behind the scenes and scouting in the lead up to the next season.
“My job is to recruit new faces and the biggest challenge is to try and keep the majority of the current players,” Lozanovski explains, while already looking
at a few players from interstate.
