Few would have predicted the inaugural round of the Cecil Earley Plate would deliver an upset of such epic proportions, but Balmoral delivered in spades, eliminating FC Clifton Hill who sit three tiers above them in the football pyramid.
Barely days after parting ways with Head Coach Slavce Sokolovski, Balmoral arrived at Quarries Park with injuries, suspensions and cup-tied players impacting their assembled line-up. But the youthful starting eleven took the lead via a Bilal Boukhalfa free-kick which crept under an outstretched Chris Theodoridis. 1-0 to the visitors. They quickly doubled their lead shortly after the half-hour, Ali Yalcindag instrumental in setting up and finishing a blistering counterattack. Jake Ciantar pulled one back for the hosts twenty minutes into the second half, but it would prove to be their only dent on the scoreboard, Balmoral claiming a famous upset.
The opening night of the Plate witnessed two matches in Melbourne’s north, with a battle of State 2 between Whittlesea Ranges and Chisholm United at Harvest Home Recreation Reserve. A solitary goal was enough for the Ranges to advance, Hayato Fukuda scoring in the first half.
The Ranges' former home ground, Partridge Reserve is now Mill Park’s home, and they proved too good for FC Strathmore with two late goals in the second half rounding out a 3-1 win at the one-time Premier League venue. Shifa Ahmed was lethal with a brace while Dean Jancevski added another ten minutes from time to cancel out Dimitri Filippakis’ equalising strike.
The only match to be played south of the Yarra witnessed a goal fest at Dendy Park, with eight goals failing to separate Hampton East Brighton and Banyule City. The hosts may have thought they had the game done and dusted when Adam Cooper scored in the 90th minute to make it 4-3, only to have Nick Voulgaris equalise in the fourth minute of stoppage time for the fast-finishing Bulls. The boys from Brighton however outlasted their rivals, with Eid Sawari, Jayden Graskoski and Cooper once again scoring in extra-time to seal a remarkable 7-4 win.
Cecil Earley Plate: Round 1 Results
- Whittlesea Ranges 1 (Hayato Fukuda 25) Chisholm United 0
- Mill Park 3 (Shifa Ahmed 8, 75, Dean Jancevski 80) FC Strathmore 1 (Dimitri Filippakis 71)
- Hampton East Brighton 7 (Mackie Simmons 2, 53, Mat Luak 86, Adam Cooper 90, 118, Eid Sarwari 97, Jayden Graskoski 114) Banyule City 4 (Nicholas Sette 37, Jake Montagnese 41, Radin Askarzadefarahani 63, Nick Voulgaris 90+4)
- FC Clifton Hill 1 Balmoral 2 (Bilal Boukhalfa 21, Ali Yalcindag 33)