By Tara Murray
Whittlesea United produced one of its best wins ever to go through to the sixth round of the Australia Cup.
The Victorian Premier League 2 club was tasked with facing the Preston Lions in round five on Tuesday night.
Whittlesea opened the scoring in the 25th minute through Mert Tuna in the 25th minute with Ali Turgut scoring just before half time to make it 2-0.
The Lions hit back in the 51st minute and levelled the scores just before final time to send the game into extra time.
AtIlla Ofli put Whittlesea back in front early in extra time and it was able to hold on to win, 3-2.
Whittlesea coach Andrew Marth said it was a pretty big moment for the club.
“It’s a huge result for the club,” he said. “We were up against one of the strongest clubs in Victoria.
“We thoroughly deserved it. Without a doubt this is the best win the club has ever had individually.
“Preston is a high level club and we’ve gone under the radar.”
Marth said while their domestic season hadn’t been the best so far, the group was up for the challenge on Tuesday night.
He said they felt like they totally dominated the game and it was a view Lions coach Louie Acevski shared with Marth as well.
“We thoroughly deserved it and it was a great occasion for the club against a proud side in the NPL.
“I said to the squad it’s 11 v 11 on the field. If they go out there and do their personal jobs for and foremost we have a chance at the end result.”
Whittlesea will play with Dandenong Thunder or Green Gully in the next round in another challenge for the club.
With a win like that, Marth said they were hoping it would kick start their VPL2 season.
Whittlesea sit in ninth spot after 12 rounds, with a 4-1-7 record.
“I said to the boys that we have to leave that result behind, we have Goulburn Valley on Saturday in a tough game.
“Hopefully it springs us back into contention for the finals mix in VPL2. We are going to have a lot stronger second half of the season.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries, but we virtually have our full squad back together.”
Meanwhile, Whittlesea Ranges were knocked out of the Australia Cup losing to Nunawading City, 7-2 on Tuesday night.
