Shepparton South falters in Australia Cup’s opening round, while Shepparton progresses

Meanwhile, Shepparton South’s foray into the cup was short, but not at all sweet.

In sweltering Sunday conditions at McEwen Reserve, the Southerners were knocked out 1-0 by Baxter Soccer Club, ending the club’s run before it truly began.

Ryan Brown’s header in the 73rd minute was Baxter’s dagger into South’s sternum, pushing the Frankston-based outfit into a lead it would hold on to for the final quarter of an hour.

South coach Lewis Coyle said that, though not perfectly polished, Sunday’s performance was respectable given his squad was still in the early stages of pre-season.

“I thought we played well for the majority of the game,” Coyle said.

“The first 20 minutes, I thought there were too many gaps in between the lines.

“The forward line was high, the defence was low and the midfield was here, there and everywhere.

“After the drinks break we started to grow into the game and had a couple of chances ourselves which we couldn’t convert.”

South was put under the cosh early, but pressured Baxter’s goal without fruition in the latter stages of the first half.

After the main break, the game yoyoed back and forth until a chance to break the game open came ever so close to materialising for the Southerners.

On the hour mark, Jamie De Smit created an almost-perfect sliver of gold, a ‘what if’ moment, which would have surely spun the game on its top.

The South midfielder deftly controlled a long switch deep into Baxter’s box, swivelling and driving an arrow towards the net which left the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.

To the relief of Baxter — and agony of South — his blushes were spared.

De Smit’s half-volley ricocheted off the crossbar and out, robbing the hosts of a lead and driving the visitors into a new gear.

Little more than 10 minutes later a Baxter corner whipped into the back post was met by the head of an unmarked Brown, who made no mistake from point-blank range.

Baxter staved off a late flurry to go through to the next round and, though it’s not the ideal start Coyle would’ve wanted in South colours, he’s far from concerned.

“For us, it was a learning curve,” he said.

“I think we played into their hands when we started to go at them because it seemed like they were set up for the counter attack — I think tired legs helped that as well.

“But apart from that, I think there’s some massive positives to come from that game.

“We can only start building; we’ve still got to gel with some new players involved, young players coming through, so I think we’ll be fine for the season.”

Meanwhile, Shepparton United is set to host Melton Phoenix on February 24 after assuming the bye in round one, while Shepparton’s second-round foe has been revealed as Old Ivanhoe, the game to be played on February 25.