Mill Park coach Andy Vlahos is hoping his side will take momentum from its Cecil Earley Cup semi final win into the rest of the FV state league 2 north-west season.
In what has been an up and down season for the club. Mill Park became the first club to earn a berth in the Cecil Earley Cup final.
The cup was created this season, with the top eight state league clubs left the Australia Cup facing knock out matches to decide the top team.
Mill Park will face local rival Whittlesea Ranges in the final.
Vlahos said it was a pretty exciting moment for the club.
“There was a good little atmosphere and i think we needed that confidence going into the rest of the season,” he said.
“It is a bit of a first time for the club as we have not been in this position before. We’re looking forward to the game with Ranges.
“It’s always a local derby and this one is an even bigger one.”
Mill Park won through to the final with a 1-0 win against state league 4 west side Balmoral.
Vlahos said he felt they were the better side across the game. He also praised Balmoral for its performance across the whole competition.
“We had more of the ball and they couldn’t break us down,” he said. “They sat back a little bit and tried to counteract especially in the second half.
“We created a nice piece of play with a nice cross and Aleks [Pavasovic] scored a really good goal with 10 minutes to go.
“We were a little bit better for the whole game.”
The Cecil Earley Cup final will be played before the Dockerty Cup final at the home of the Matildas.
Before then, Mill Park is focused on finishing the state league 2 north-west season strongly.
Mill Park sits sixth on the ladder.
“We need to finish off with a bit more consistency, we’ve been a bit indifferent,” he said.
“Hopefully it’s a bit of stepping stone to finish off the season strongly.
“It’s quite congested from third last to fifth or sixth an lot of teams wanting points.”
