Oakleigh Cannons rally from a goal down to defeat Avondale in the Australia Cup

In bitterly cold conditions, two goals from captain Joe Guest helped Oakleigh Cannons knock out Avondale and book a ticket to the Australia Cup national stage.

Joe Guest in action for the Oakleigh Cannons.

Oakleigh Cannons are back on the Australia Cup national stage for the third year in a row.

A comprehensive 3-1 win over NPL Victoria rival Avondale on Tuesday night booked the Cannons’ ticket to the Round of 32.

In bitterly cold conditions at the Home of the Matildas, Oakleigh’s pressure was too hot for the Avengers to handle.

It was a performance exactly as the doctor ordered after two disappointing defeats in the league.

After falling behind in just the 13th minute, Oakleigh took control of the match and two goals from star captain Joe Guest gave it a well deserved lead at halftime.

Alex Salmon then put the tie to bed in the 82nd minute as the Cannons finished with a 22-7 shot advantage and 9-1 on target.

Guest said the performance had set a new standard for the rest of the season.

“(The Round of 32) that’s where we feel we should be playing,” he said.

“Obviously this is the toughest draw we probably could have got but everyone was up for it and on the back of two disappointing weeks it was important we responded.

“You could see everyone was fired up for it and that’s the standard now moving forward into the next round and for the rest of the season.

“We’re pretty happy with that, in recent weeks when we’ve gone behind we’ve struggled, so to respond in that way and not let it affect the performance was really important.”

Cian Cuba opened the scoring for Avondale with a wonder-strike from outside the box.

The Avengers midfielder moving down the right, drove the ball past a diving Nick Feely into the top left-hand corner.

Alex Salmon in action for the Oakleigh Cannons.

However, Oakleigh responded quickly and while Salmon was denied by the post, the deflection fell perfectly to Guest to equalise.

Salmon was again denied by the post minutes later after some calamitous defending, his initial shot saved by Mayen Mayen before he hit the rebound into the woodwork.

Guest was johnny on the spot again in the 39th minute to take the left.

Avondale skipper Aydin Brice couldn’t control Stef Valentini’s cross and the deflection again fell perfectly to his Oakleigh counterpart for an easy finish.

Although Guest wouldn’t have preferred it came to his preferred left boot.

“They both came on my right foot, I don’t know what the odds are of that,” he said.

“I was lucky to get a couple of tap ins, they’re the ones you want, I was just happy to contribute.

“Hopefully I can get a few more of them, I’ll take it on the right.”

Valentini, the former Avondale player, provided the assist on the third goal as well, stripping Blake Carpenter to send Salmon away and he had no trouble slotting past his defender and Mayen.

Oakleigh will now go into the draw on Wednesday afternoon to find out their next opponent.

The Cannons reached the semi-finals in 2022, defeating Sydney FC in the quarters on the way, but drew reigning A-League premier Melbourne City in the Round of 32 last year.

The club is also still in NPL premiership contention, sitting seven points behind leader South Melbourne.

“The year before we managed to avoid any A-League team until the quarter-final but last year we got the big dogs straight away,” Guest said.

“If we could get a trip away, the lads want that, somewhere interstate but maybe not an A-League team.

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“We’re seven points off (first place), not a lot has changed because other teams have dropped points around us.

“We see it as an opportunity that we haven’t grasped, we’re pretty much where we were before the blip, so hopefully we can use this to bounce out of it and see where we get.”

Oakleigh will be joined in the Round of 32 but Heidelberg United, South Melbourne, Hume City and FC Melbourne.

The five clubs will also go into the Dockerty Cup finals draw on Wednesday.