Northcote City coach Goran Lozanovski was happy to put a rough month of football behind him with his squad’s 2-1 win over Bentleigh Greens on Friday night.
The reigning Victorian champions had to battle an in-form Bentleigh side in rough conditions as the strong Melbourne wind made for unpredictable gameplay.
“We’ve had a rough month and we knew it was going to be a tough battle against one of the best teams in the competition,” said Lozanovski.
“We struggled [with the wind] in the first half a little bit and adapted well in the second half – if we hung in there we knew we were in with a chance.
“Bentleigh are a great side, it looked like it was going to finish a draw and in the end we scored from a set piece – we held out well.”
Northcote – coming off a month with little success – had to put in a strong showing to overcome a Bentleigh side that was in a purple patch of form and did not disappoint, with a number of players putting in strong performances; Lozanovski singling out Wade Dekker for praise.
“We threw young Wade Dekker up front and he was outstanding today, he was probably our best player today by far and the kid’s been outstanding at the club for the last three years. His workrate was outstanding tonight but in saying that, I suppose the teammates behind him all did the hard yards,” the Northcote boss said.
With squads making changes to their lineups recently, Lozanovski admitted his team’s form slump has it has been difficult for the defending champions to entice players to sign with them but revealed the signing of a player from Europe.
“It’s been difficult trying to get players to come across to a club that’s probably not in form but in saying that, we’ve got a young boy who has come from Greece and he’s signed on board with us. He’s a young 24 year old who can play full-back or [on the] right side,” Lozanovski revealed.
“He’s probably our main signing at the moment but we’ve got a couple of young boys coming through the system and we’re just going to promote the young boys at this stage.
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re trying to rebuild into next season but at the same time trying to pick up as many points as we can this year.”
The Northcote coach also touched upon the transition to the NPL and admitted that more work was needed to clarify the rules and regulations for clubs in the league.
“I suppose [there was] a lot of heartache at the start because everyone wasn’t sure of what the rules and regulations were going to be and the points system but it’s still the same competition,” said Lozanovski.
“Same name, some of the rules are slightly different but I think they need to be a bit more clearer with the rules because for some reason every week I just hear a new rule pops up so that’s a little bit frustrating but I think it was a lot of teething this year. Going into next season, I dare say they’ll have the rules and regulations a lot more clearer and everyone will know where they stand,” he added.
Northcote City will be looking to add another three points to their tally when they make the trip to Ballarat this Saturday to face the Red Devils.