Photo: Mark Tizard/Galaxy United
Galaxy United coach Vince Ierardo says that he is quietly confident about his side’s chances going into it’s cut-throat clash against Alamein this Saturday afternoon.
The comments come following his side’s 6-0 rout of Bulleen Lions at the Veneto Club in the Elimination final last Saturday.
He said the result did surprise him, although he was confident that his side would get the result.
“We actually match up quite well against Bulleen,” Ierardo said.
“So we thought that if we continued to do the same things that we did in the previous games, that we would [get a result].
“[I] didn’t expect this result, but I did feel confident coming into the game.”
In particular, he was proud of his side’s defensive efforts, which saw the regional outfit grab a third clean sheet against Bulleen this season in four meetings.
“[The defence] definitely was fantastic because in the few previous games, the teams were able obviously to get in behind us…the back four were immense and made sure that didn’t happen.”
The result is a huge boost for Galaxy heading into this week’s do-or-die clash with Alamein – who are expected to have Matilda Larissa Crummer lining up for them after making a return from the Rio Olympics – but despite this, Ierardo is happy to continue to embrace the underdog tag which his side has worn all season.
“We haven’t been spoken about this year, which is a good thing, and the teams above us are [there] rightfully so.”
“They’re great teams and deserve to take all the credit that comes their way and they [Calder and Alamein] definitely are the favourites. We just want to continue to go week-by-week and see what happens”.
The Galaxy manager was full of praise for an Alamein side, which they are yet to get a result from this season.
“We’ve played them three times this year and once in pre-season, and we haven’t beaten them. They’re a quality opposition, they know how to get the job done,” he said.
“We only played them last week, so hopefully we’ll be better for it coming this week.”
“We’ll get some feedback on their game and do a little bit of work….and hopefully we can get the result we want.”
The Preliminary Final will be held at 2pm on Saturday, 27th August at the HA Smith Reserve in Hawthorn.