By Tara Murray
Bundoora United’s FFA Cup campaign came to an end in the toughest possible way on Saturday.
Facing Hampton Park United Sparrows in the second round of qualifying, it was a penalty shootout that would decide the winner after scores were locked at 2-2 at the end of regular time.
The Sparrows won the match 4-2 on penalties.
Speaking before the match, coach Con Kiriakopoulos said they had wanted to match their FFA Cup of last season, when they were knocked out in round two, having won three matches.
He said the FFA Cup was about getting some minutes into the legs of players, with the focus on bigger things later in the season.
After finishing second in FV state league 5 north last season, United is focused on going one step further and earning promotion.
Kiriakopoulos said they wanted to keep going up the grades to build a pathway for the juniors coming through.
“Last year we were very disappointed. We believed that we were the best team all year, but certain things didn’t go our way.
“Hopefully we can get promoted this year. We’ve got a few new players who have strengthened the squad.”
There’s been minimal changes to United’s list with just three departures and four additions.
Among those who have joined the club, there’s a couple of players coming with state league 1 experience.
Bundoora has added to all parts of the ground as they hope to achieve that goal of going one step further.
Kiriakopoulos said one of the big focuses of the group was to bring the young players through.
The under-18s train with the reserves side, at the same time and ground as the senior team. He said they had an abundance of juniors.
“In our first game against Bacchus Marsh we had one player that was 16 that played the last 20 minutes.
“We want to get the young kids coming through and we want to promote them.
“We might call them over and give them a go with the senior side.”
In other results, Broadmeadows Stars is through to round one after a big 7-1 win against Mitchell Rangers.
