Avondale defeats Oakleigh to claim valuable three points and NPL Victoria Community Shield

Avondale rediscovered its mojo in its first win over Oakleigh at Jack Edwards Reserve since 2015 and got a nice bonus on top, the NPL Victoria Community Shield.

Avondale celebrates its Community Shield win over Oakleigh. Picture: Avondale FC

Avondale coach Zoran Markovski believes his side rediscovered its mojo in Friday night’s 2-1 win over Oakleigh Cannons.

The victory was the Avengers first at Jack Edwards Reserve since 2015 and also secured the club the season’s first silverware as the Round 9 fixture doubled as the Community Shield.

The result sees the reigning premier and champion climb to second on the NPL Victoria ladder, three points behind South Melbourne.

First-half goals from Stef Zinni and Yusuf Ahmed were enough to clinch an invaluable three points.

Not since a Jacob Colosimo hat-trick fired Avondale to a 5-1 win in 2015 have the Avengers taken three points on the road against Oakleigh.

Markovski labelled it a “complete 95-minute” performance.

“It wasn’t even about the result, the way we played, I think we got our mojo back against a really good team,” Markovski said.

“People were shocked by the Manningham result, no excuses Manningham deserved to win that game, we weren’t switched on and we got what we deserved.

“Since the Heidelberg game, the Altona game and then against Oakleigh it’s been a shift in our mojo, playing with high intensity and backing ourselves.

“That’s the way football should be played by both teams, both teams go at each other and entertain, so for the neutral, a lot of people said it was a great game and it was.”

Zinni opened the scoring in the 22nd minute after being released by Cian Cuba and squeezing the ball past an onrushing Nick Feely.

Ahmed doubled the lead just nine minutes later as he tapped in a simple finish after Feely spilt a straight forward save from a Zinni.

Oakleigh hit back minutes before half-time through Alex Salmon.

Ex-Avondale man Stef Valentini made a determined run down the left and his pin-point cross found a charging Salmon to head home with authority.

Neither team could make a breakthrough in the second half as Avondale muscled up in defence.

“They’d had a couple of half chances from our turnovers but we had full control of the first half,” Markovski said.

“The boys were resilient (in the second half), we showed strength and there was a lot of fight in the group, especially against a team that is a threat going forward.

“They’ve been scoring three or four goals a week and to inflict their first loss, I’m super proud of the boys.

“Stef has gone to another level, Yitay Towns and Cian Cuba, those three boys were exceptional.

“Defensively, as a group, we were really solid as well from the back to the front.

“We’ve got a lot of mobility in midfield, it’s hard for teams when we rotate every position – you’ve got Kristian (Trajceski), Cian, Yitay (Towns) – and then the front three of Yusuf, Zinni and Kur Kur are scoring goals.”

Markovski said the Community Shield was a nice bonus but he’d prefer to see the match return to its traditional pre-season slot.

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“I didn’t even mention it before the game, for me the Community Shield is played a week before the season and usually at a neutral venue,” he said.

“At the end, any trophy that becomes available we’ll definitely take it.”

Elsewhere, fellow front-runners South Melbourne and Heidelberg picked up Friday night wins over Green Gully 3-0 and Melbourne Knights 1-0 respectively.

Manningham United defeated Moreland City 4-1, Port Melbourne were too good for Dandenong Thunder 3-0, Altona Magic edged St Albans 1-0 and Hume City and Dandenong City played out a nil-all stalemate.