Golden Plains a no-glow

SURF Coast defeated Golden Plains 4-1 in the State 4 West local derby on Saturday to slowly move away from the dreaded relegation zone, while a distracted home side was left to lament what could have been.

Both sides went into the contest at the Bannockburn Recreation Precinct on the back of their first wins of the season last week and the possibility of back-to-back triumphs had both camps high with expectation.

But it was the visitors who were first out of the blocks, with Liam Dunn’s brace and a single by Francois Bationo seeing the visiting Coasters 3-0 up at the interval.

A second-half penalty con- version by Mylton Bailey ensured consecutive wins for the Torquay outfit.

New signing Sarbablu Bani has provided a glimmer of hope for the Eagles avoiding relegation, scoring their only goal of the game — his second in as many weeks since being signed by the bottom placed strugglers.

Despite the victory, Surf Coast coach Adonis Markoulis wasn’t about to let his team get carried away.

“Golden Plains played smart, compact football, they defended well. We struggled to play some good football. We were lucky to be 3-0 up at half time,” said a tough-talking Markoulis after the game.

“We will take the win and the three points, but we have a few things we need to work on for next week,” he warned.

His Golden Plains counterpart, meanwhile, admitted his charges appeared too distracted and suffered as a result.

“We had a few players out and in the end we just weren’t as switched on as our opponents today. I think we might still have been in party mode from last week,” a disappointed Daniel Cuccinotta said.

“They had two tall defenders which gave them an advantage whenever we went forward. But the problem was across our midfield, as our midfielders weren’t tracking back.

“A couple of mistakes in the middle of the park cost us dearly. Full credit to Surf Coast, they made the most of their opportunities. They had two penalties they converted, we had a disallowed goal from a corner, but that’s life. I guess we move on and turn our attention to next week.”

Next week, Golden Plains has a herculean task taking on third-placed Altona North away, while Surf Coast hosts North Melbourne Athletic.

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