By Steven Chang (@Gixibyte)

Green Gully kicked off its season with aplomb, notching up a 4-0 triumph over a young Werribee City side at Green Gully Reserve on Sunday.
 
A quickfire brace of goals from fleet-footed winger Osagie Ederaro and Mathew Sanders in the first half gave Green Gully a 2-0 advantage going into the halftime break, before Sanders struck again and a superb Brent Fisher strike completed the home side’s quartet of goals.
 
The match began with a scrappy opening period, but Green Gully quickly began to impose itself over Werribee City, establishing a tight grip on possession and dictating the lion’s share of the play.
 
Gully’s domination culminated in the first genuine opportunity of the game, when centre-back Daniel Jones held up the ball and laid it off to Andy Vargas who struck it solidly, but couldn’t beat Werribee goalkeeper Tommy Dunn.
 
After a slow, probing period of play, a lofted pass fell to Ederaro, who allowed one bounce before he rifled the ball emphatically into the back of the net with a sweetly hit volley to open the scoring.
 
Spurred on by Ederaro’s opener, Gully ramped up its siege on Werribee’s penalty area, with a Brian Vanega cross flying into the path of Ederaro, whose bullet header boomed over the crossbar.
 
Minutes later, a prowling Jeffrey Fleming unlocked the Werribee backline. The Gully player-coach released a well-timed, delicate chip to an onrushing Sanders, who deftly controlled the ball with his chest and clinically tucked a shot past the Werribee custodian, doubling Gully's advantage to give it a two-goal cushion at the break.
 
The home side began the second stanza where it left off, shooting out of the blocks brightly and piling the pressure onto its youthful opponent.
 
Ederaro’s skillful jink past the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation took him wide and sparked a goalmouth scramble, but Vanega wastefully blazed his shot over the bar when the chance fell to him.
 
Moments later, Gully netted its third. Sanders effortlessly cleaned up in front of an open goal, as Dunn spilled Ederaro’s long-range strike into Sanders’ path.
 
A three-goal cushion did not dissuade Green Gully from continuing its relentless assault.

Stephen Downes released Sean Harding with a defence-splitting through ball. The full-back fired in a quick low cross to the far post, but an onrushing Sanders could only fling a desperate boot out, missing a golden opportunity to add another to Gully’s tally.
 
The hosts showed no mercy and continued to inflict more pain on Werribee City. Brent Fisher found himself in acres of space down the right wing, tearing into the penalty area at pace. The striker backed himself to guide an exquisite strike into the top corner, boosting Green Gully's lead to four goals.
 
Ultimately, Gully’s experience and its superiority in possession overwhelmed the visitors, who will be disappointed they could barely muster a single goalscoring chance.

Despite this, Werribee was competitive in patches, and coach Nino Ragusa has a long season at the top level to extract improvements from his young squad.

"I'm disappointed. I'm always disappointed after I lose. It's a 90-minute contest. We only brought 30 to 40 minutes of a genuine contest to the game", Ragusa said.

"We know our boys are very inexperienced. Our aim was always to bring a young team in and nurse them through. In the third year they’ll be a force in the NPL. In a way, I’m glad they were taught a bit of a lesson. It’s a reality check for them.’

Gully player-coach Jeffrey Fleming was happy with his side’s efforts in both attack and defence.

“I’m feeling good. Positive start to the season. We controlled the game, our possession was excellent. We could have scored more. Kept a clean sheet. It’s important for us to defend well,” Fleming said.

Fleming said he was unfazed by his side’s lack of new blood, and viewed its ongoing consistency in personnel as a strength.

“It’s positive that we have been able to keep the squad together. We’ve got a couple of good young boys that are really working hard at pushing the older boys for places. For now, we’re happy with the squad”, he said.

Following a one week break for the Dockerty Cup fixtures, Green Gully will next travel to face Dandenong Thunder, while Werribee City will host its first ever NPL match against Hume City.

MATCH DETAILS

FT Green Gully 4 (Ederaro 41', Sanders 43' + 56', Fisher 79') defeated Werribee City FC 0 at Green Gully Reserve (HT: 2-0)
 
Green Gully: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ, 2. Daniel JONES, 4. Mitchell BISSINGER, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 6. Stephen DOWNES (10. Jem BERKANT 72'), 7. Jeffrey FLEMING, 12. Mathew SANDERS (9. Brent FISHER 72'), 16. Sean HARDING, 17. Andy VARGAS, 20. Osagie EDERARO, 21. Brian VANEGA (11. Ratip CILE 67').

Unused subs: 23. Akim ABDUL.

Yellow cards: None.

Red cards: None.
 
Werribee City: 1. Tommy DUNN, 2. Oliver ROWLAND (3. Simon SYMEOY, 58') 4. Ryan FILIPOVIC, 5. Nemanja GOVEDARICA, 6. Anthony RAGUSA, 9. Zois GALANOPOULOS, 13. Milan SAVIC, 14. Bobby VIDANOSKI (17. Matthew CUNDARI 66'), 18. Joshua GROENEWALD, 26. Ray MARKLEY (7. Simon ZAPPIA 57'), 30. Ivica PRAIZ.

Unused subs: 12. Roderick YOUSEF.

Yellow cards: Anthony Ragusa (62'), Bobby Vidanoski (31').

Red cards: None.

Pictured: Green Gully in action against Werribee City (image credit: Charlie Lombardo)