Melbourne Victory NPL head coach Joe Palatsides shared his thoughts following Saturday afternoon’s defeat away to Goulburn Valley Suns.
On the performance:
“We probably started off a bit slowly.”
“Goulburn Valley is a pretty physical team which they used to their advantage.”
“We conceded two sloppy goals.”
“But from that point on we took control of the game.”
“In the second half we created plenty of chances.”
“Even though we missed some fairly easy opportunities, I was pretty proud of the way the boys went about it after falling behind.”
“We probably deserved at least a point, if not a win, but unfortunately in the end we just couldn’t get the ball over the line.”
On the challenge of playing in Shepparton:
“This is always a really tough away game. A long trip from Melbourne is a bit different from what we’re used to.”
“But that’s what it’s like to play away from home in the A-League, so it’s good experience.”
“It’s a good learning experience for the players that when we have a tough away trip like this we have to be switched on from the first minute.”
On Tim Atherinos:
“Tim has been really consistent this year.”
“During pre-season he had to learn a bit about the way we play which took a bit of time.”
“But he has come up with some really important goals for us.”
“The goal just before half-time came from him using his initiative to get into the right place at the right time, with some help from Austin (Ganino) as well.”
Next Up
Victory are on the road again next weekend, as they travel to Beaumaris Reserve to take on Beaumaris SC next Saturday 3rd June, kicking off at 3:00pm AEST.
NPL3 Victoria 2023 Round 11
Goulburn Valley Suns 2
Melbourne Victory 1 (Atherinos)
Melbourne Victory U23s starting XI: Ahmad Taleb (GK), Josh Inserra, Ryan Lethlean (c), Franco Lino, Alex Menelaou, Adem Duratovic, Jordi Valadon, Tim Atherinos, Austin Ganino, Marc Latsis, Will Wilson
