City’s sweet draw for an FFA Cup run
GOLD Coast City coach Grae Piddick could not be happier after his club landed a home-town match against South Melbourne in the Westfield FFA Cup quarterfinals.
The luck of the draw favoured City as the national club competition was narrowed to eight teams after the round of 16 was completed on Tuesday night.
When the marbles came out at the draw, City landed South Melbourne Hellas, a club they played against in a Cup round of 32 tie at Cbus Super Stadium in 2015.
Playing as Palm Beach Sharks, City beat South Melbourne 8-7 in a penalty shootout after the scores were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation and extra-time.
Palm Beach were subsequently beaten by Western Sydney Wanderers in a round of 16 qualifier at Cbus Stadium but had made the quarter-final stage in the Cup’s inaugural season in 2014 when they lost a quarter-final to Central Coast Mariners, also at Cbus Stadium.
“Getting a home game again is helpful because no matter who we play at this stage we’ll be the underdogs,” Piddick said.
City, Blacktown City, Heidelberg United and South Melbourne are the NPL clubs left to fight out the Cup and there is a strong chance three A-League clubs will make the semi-finals.
“The big time Charlies are the ones that are left at this stage,” Piddick said of the NPL clubs left standing.
“Blacktown, Heidelberg and South Melbourne are very powerful,” he said.
“They have massive resources and budgets far bigger than us.”
Piddick said the efforts of 2015 when they beat South should serve as a motivator for his players.
“That result gives us a bit of history,” he said. “We knew we were under the pump and we got a famous victory.”
The City-South clash will be played on either September 13 or 20 – there are two quarter-finals set for both nights – and Cbus looks likely to be the venue again.
Piddick said City’s home ground at Duncan McKenna Field was not up to the necessary standard required for such an important fixture.
“We did investigate at playing at other local grounds but none are good enough,” he said.
THE BIG TIME CHARLIES ARE THE ONES THAT ARE LEFT AT THIS STAGE ... GRAE PIDDICK
FFA CUP quarter-final draw: Gold Coast City v South Melbourne, Blacktown City v Western Sydney Wanderers, Heidelberg United v Adelaide United, Sydney FC v Melbourne City.