There was something in the air at John Cain Memorial Reserve after Heidelberg United’s derby win over Northcote City.
It wasn’t just the wall of cigarette smoke shrouding the Greek radio guys, clocking off after another day’s broadcast, nor was it the steam billowing from the change rooms as the referees discussed the red card incident where Kaine Sheppard’s goalbound shot struck Marino Gasparis’ arm.
Rather, it was head coach George Katsakis’ raspy breath as he spoke to the cameras, an exhausted but triumphant cackle that gave way after just 90 seconds.
One could forgive Katsakis for losing his voice. Despite leading by a man and two goals at half time, his side couldn’t quite ram home the advantage, allowing Northcote a sniff of a comeback that didn’t eventuate.
As frustrating as it may have been, it was a win nonetheless, highlighting the Bergers’ ability to keep points ticking over this season even when not playing at their peak – the sign of a good side.
Bar one poor loss to Bentleigh Greens, Heidelberg sit just two points adrift of top spot despite dealing with a heavy schedule and injuries to key players.
“We’ll always take a win, especially at this venue, it’s been a difficult one for us over the years,” the Heidelberg coach said.
“Traditionally it’s a local derby and we haven’t been able to get much out of it.
“Having not played some good football today, we managed to squeeze a result, and especially at this point in the season it’s always good to come off with a win.”
Whilst Heidelberg’s attack hasn’t fired on all cylinders just yet – winning just two matches by more than a goal – with injuries and niggles striking all of Dan Heffernan, Kaine Sheppard and Kenny Athiu at various points throughout the season, the team has thrived off a strong defensive backbone.
United have conceded only four goals all season, the second least in the competition, and kept a clean sheet in every away game so far.
“Defensively we’ve worked solidly all year not to concede, again at an away venue we’ve managed to keep a clean sheet,” Katsakis said.
That staunch defensive structure, along with squad depth, will be stretched to its limits in tonight’s midweek clash away to fellow high-flyers Port Melbourne, with the likes of Kamal Ibrahim and Trent Rixon posing a huge threat to the visitors.
Katsakis admitted changes will be necessary to keep the squad fresh ahead of the fixture congestion, but based on this season’s performances despite having to often chop and change the starting 11, he can be confident that any players he brings in can deliver the desired results.
“We’re looking to rotate some players so there will be some changes,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that the right personnel are playing and are fit enough to play.”
One feels that with the Bergers already being so hard to break down defensively, they just need to click down the other end for the floodgates to well and truly open.
If that can happen at Port Melbourne’s expense tonight, it’ll go a long way to rubber-stamping their title credentials.
And while Katsakis may lose his voice regardless of the result, hopefully for his sake it’ll be his side’s football doing the talking at the end of the 90 minutes.