Port Melbourne manager Eric Vassiliadis was cautiously optimistic following his side’s 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory on Friday night.
It’s now four points from a possible six to begin the season for the Sharks, but it could have been maximum points had his side buried a late opportunity to beat Oakleigh Cannons in Round 1, having to settle for the draw despite being on top for longer periods of the contest.
Following the win over Victory, who were coming off a win over Northcote to start their season, Vassiliadis praised his side’s efforts against the promoted team.
“I thought our desire, our mentality, our will to work was super, and I think on balance we deserved it (the win),” Vassiliadis said.
In particular, Vassiliadis was pleased with the efforts of players who have just returned to the first team, following early-season injuries which saw key personnel missing from Round 1.
In relation to the squad as a whole, Vassiliadis is content his side is slowly working towards achieving its peak fitness and performance.
“(Adrian) Zahra’s 10 minutes was outstanding … we brought Shaun Kelly back into the team, James Karvelis playing today without training for a couple of weeks,” Vassiliadis said.
“We’ve got a hell of a lot more up side.”
“The dressing room feels like they’re all heading in the right direction.”
“[We need to] make sure that translates from the dressing room in a cultural sense, to a way of playing football that’s effective.”
The early run of results brings with a sense of deja vu back to 2015, where Port’s blistering start to the season saw them sit on the higher echelons of the table with four wins from six games, including 4-0 triumphs over Oakleigh Cannons and North Geelong Warriors.
However, it was the mid-season slump thereafter that was the catalyst for Port Melbourne falling by the wayside and back into a mid-table position come the end of the year.
While Vassiliadis – who has previously stated his aim of finals football in 2016 – will be looking to convert another promising start in the league performance-wise into sustained success throughout the season, his immediate focus is on South Melbourne on the weekend.
Looking ahead to Friday night’s game against a rampant South Melbourne side, who have scored 10 goals in their opening two fixtures to top the NPL Victoria table, the Sharks’ coach said that he was confident his side would know what to expect.
“I don’t think South (Melbourne)’s going to surprise us in any way, because where they’re really, really good particularly is on transition, so we’ll have to prepare for that, but it’ll be a good game,” Vassiliadis said.
“We are committed to doing everything in our power to achieve success, but for now we just worry about South Melbourne next week.”