Bentleigh Greens Head Coach Petr Tichy says his team will be stronger for the challenges faced early in the season as he plots a return to the winner’s list on Friday night.
The Greens take on Green Gully, another team that has zero points from its first two games of the season, and Tichy – whilst not happy with the results – said he was not disheartened by the start to the season and looked to the positives from the Round 2 clash with Moreland City.
“We’re keen to prove to anyone that we can match up with any opposition in the league, and even though we lost, I think as a group, we’ve looked to take positives out of the games so far,” he said.
“I was very impressed with how we held up physically, having to play for 77 minutes with just ten men. The boys matched Moreland despite being a man down, and once we got that red card, it was just about staying in the game and looking to create that one moment.
“And we did that. We were in the contest the whole time, and we created the chance to equalise that was only stopped by an unbelievable save from their keeper.”
Tichy said whilst there was a temptation to look at the Gully game as a ‘bottom of the table’ clash, he said the reality was both teams were a lot better than their current position on the table would suggest.
“Gully is a team with real quality, and so are we. At the end of the day, this league is a marathon, not a sprint. We know we need better results, and this is another game where we have a chance to get that result.”
Despite injuries and suspensions, the Greens are looking to bounce back from their loss against Moreland City last week. The absence of goalkeepers Bon Scott and Christian Pavlidis has opened the door for youngster Ben McCauley to impress.
Tichy also praised McCauley’s performance in the last game, despite one costly mistake, and said that the young keeper would be better for the experience and that he should take great confidence from the incredible saves he did make.
“He’s a very young goalkeeper, and for him, it was a difficult way to be thrown in, just 13 minutes in and in a game where we now had a man down. I thought he was outstanding in the first half, he stopped everything that came his way. Yes, he had one mistake, but I’m sure he’ll learn from it, and he’ll definitely be a fantastic keeper. It’s part of the learning process for him, but he can take pride in the saves he did make to keep us in the game.”
Despite the tough start to the season, Tichy believes that the group is embracing their challenges.
“The group feels like we needed this challenge. This is what will make us stronger, not weaker. Whatever football throws at us, we’ll deal with it. Playing 80 minutes with 10 men away, the group embraces the challenge and makes us stronger going forward.
“We look at that occasion as one that has shown the character and the strength of this squad, and we use it to improve this week.”
The match against Green Gully will be a good opportunity for the Greens to prove their quality and pick up their first points of the season.
With the game being played at home at Kingston Heath, we encourage all of our supporters to get down and show the boys your support.