By Ahmed Yussuf (@ahmedyussuf10)

Green Gully has guaranteed its survival in the NPL with a 1-0 win over Northcote City in poor conditions at John Cain Memorial Reserve on Saturday.

The hosts conceded in the 33rd minute, with veteran forward Mathew Sanders leaving Northcote goalkeeper Luke Gavalas rooted in the middle of the goal as he stroked the ball into the net.

The visitors created the first real opportunity of the game, when a cross into the box from wide man Osagie Ederaro was controlled expertly and volleyed by centre-forward Brent Fisher, whose effort was denied by Gavalas’ strong save.

Northcote struggled to find an equaliser during the first half, with nine-time Victorian champion Green Gully increasingly dangerous.

A cross from winger Ratip Cileli run onto Fisher, whose back-heel attempt narrowly missed the back post.
 
And with half-time approaching, Sanders spun away from his marker Adrian Chiappetta to put Gully ahead with a neatly worked shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal.

The second half showed the wear and tear of the NPL season, as both sides struggled to create chances on goal.

With less than 30 minutes to play, Gully’s Thomas Deng attempted an audacious long-range strike, but it was handily saved by Gavalas.

Despite Northcote’s lack of productivity late in regulation time, winger Liam Wooding had the chance to equalise, but in a crowded penalty area the former Adelaide United youth player missed the target.

Northcote City coach Goran Lozanovski was disappointed to drop points again at home.

“If you look at our home record, I think it’s three wins. It’s pretty poor,” Lozanovski said.

“The way I look at it our ground hurts us, and our away record is probably third best in the competition.

“It shows we do play football, and on a ground like this it’s going to hurt us.”

Green Gully assistant coach Nick Radecki said the win was critical.

“The result for us (Green Gully) was in our own hands,” Radecki said.

“With it (survival in NPL) in our hands, we knew we had to come out here and get a positive result to be safe.

“The most pleasing thing was we came out and played positively.”

MATCH DETAILS

Northcote City 0 defeated by Green Gully 1 (SANDERS 33’) at John Cain Memorial Reserve [HT: 0-1]

Northcote City: 1. Luke GAVALAS (GK), 2 Adrian CHIAPPETTA (C),16. Gregory LOMBARDO, 5 Phillip PETRESKI, 6 Aaron WARD, 23 Jonathan BOUNAS, 7. Jonathan MUNOZ, 11. Liam WOODING, 10. Marino GASPARIS (21. Ricky GONZALEZ, 65’), 17. Anthony RIZK (21. Jacob ELIOPOULOS, 88’), 9. Trent RIXON (8. James KALIFATIDIS, 72’)

Unused substitutes: 22. Chris THEODORIDIS

Yellow Cards: 7. Jonathan MUNOZ 78’

Red Cards: Nil

Green Gully: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ (GK), 4. Matthew REID, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 6. Stephen DOWNES, 7. Jeffrey FLEMING, 10. Ratip CILELI, 12. Mathew SANDERS, 16. Thomas DENG, 19. Peter DENG, 20. Osagie EDERARO (11. Jem BERKANT, 63’), 9. Brent FISHER (18. Habib FLEIFEL, 83’)

Unused substitutes: 23. Christopher AILAKIS, 21. Adam PETKO, 22. Cameron DAVIS

Yellow cards: 19. Peter DENG 74’

Red cards: Nil