SUNSHINE George Cross played out a scoreless draw against the lowly Whittlesea Zebras in round 10 of the Victorian Premier League.
The Georgies produced the best chance of the game, with a long-range effort from George Papadopoulos rebounding off the crossbar, denying Sunshine a potential winner.
Sunshine coach Andy O’Dell was disappointed in his side being the first to not score against the Zebras this season.
“The message was that we have to work harder than them, that’s our strength, and the boys let me down today,” he said.
The pre-match message from O’Dell to his chargers was that it was going to be a tough game and, as promised, the winless-Whittlesea put a lot of pressure on the home side.
Zebras coach Ange Postecoglou said his side earned the point by matching Sunshine’s intensity.
“Unless you’re prepared to battle with them and work really hard, and do all the hard things you have to do in sport, you will struggle. Today we fought hard and got a good result.
“(I’m) happy with the draw, it’s a difficult ground to play on and they are a hard-working team.”
Whittlesea began well, putting the ball in the back of the net in the second minute, but the offside flag had been raised and denied the Zebras an early lead.
The Georgies kept up the forward pressure, which nearly paid off in the 20th minute, when Robert Simeoni had a free header opportunity, but the incoming cross could not find the imposing forward. Two minutes later, Simeoni was in the action again, this time making contact with a header in the box, but Zebras keeper Kenny Gerochristodoulou was able to collect the ball with relative ease.
A defensive error in the 69th minute from the Zebras saw Papadopoulos pounce, and feed the through ball to Phil Cutler, who was one-on-one with the keeper, but was ruled to be offside when the pass was made.
This week, Sunshine will host South Melbourne, which has remained undefeated since round 2.
Whittlesea will take on Preston in the third Northern Community Cup, taking place at Epping Soccer Stadium on Sunday at 12.30pm.
