Plenty Valley Lions pulled off the upset of the FFV north 4 season on Saturday, handing leader Fawkner its first loss of the season.
In an emotional game for the Lions, who were honouring the recent death of club supporter Steven Dumaloski, the Lions won 2-1 for a third victory in a row.
The win leaves the Lions in fourth spot, 15 points behind Fawkner and 11 in arrears of second-placed Bundoora United with two games in hand on both.
Before the game, coach Michael Loche said it had been a tough few weeks for the Lions, who hadn’t been able to train because of poor ground conditions and had had to reschedule two matches.
Adding to the frustration, the Lions match against Meadow Park the previous week was called off because the Eagles had no paint to mark the lines.
The Lions were awarded a 3-0 win.
“It has been shocking,” Loche said.
“The only training we’ve done is swimming and, unfortunately, our weekend performances have suffered a bit because of this.”
But Loche was quick to point out the lack of training was not the reason for the Lions’ drop-off in form after winning their first five matches of the season.
“I don’t want to make excuses,” he said. “There’s no particular reason we have dropped off.”
While they have lost only two games in the second half of the season, the Lions have struggled to take all three points.
“We’ve lost a bit of confidence and haven’t been able to convert draws into wins. We haven’t been able to finish off sides.”
The Lions are still a mathematical chance to finish in the top two and be promoted but that would need everything to go their way.
“We’ll have to play at other locations and give up home ground advantage as our ground isn’t equipped to handle night matches,” Loche said.
“I don’t think finishing second is realistic.
“We want to finish as high as possible and top four is a pass mark this year.”
In other results, Epping City beat Northern United 4-1, Bundoora United won 8-0 over Meadow Park and Greenvale United lost 4-1 to FC Strathmore.
In state league 2 north-west, Sporting Whittlesea’s hopes of promotion suffered a setback with a 1-0 loss to Geelong.
Sporting now sits in fourth position, three points behind leaders Moreland United.
