Melrose set up a date with league champions Myrtleford in the semi-finals after a hard-fought 4-2 victory against Twin City at Willow Park on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Melrose took the lead inside the final 10 minutes of the first half when a quality long ball from Jarryd Bourke was headed home by Evan Rawluk.
Twin City’s Tyson Mason was denied on the stroke of half-time by a brilliant save from Melrose keeper Josh Fluss to keep it at 1-0.
Trent Rixon wasted no time doubling the advantage for Melrose five minutes into the second half.
Michael Shimmin found a response two minutes later, but Melrose edged back out to a 3-1 lead when Rixon scored his second.
Melrose opened up its biggest buffer of the match, 4-1, when Waters’ perfectly-placed free kick rocketed into the back of the net.
Mason finally found a way past Fluss inside the final 15 minutes to make it 4-2, but Melrose held firm to secure the result.
Melrose coach Kade Rixon was forced to watch from the sidelines after receiving a one-match ban for two yellow cards in the final round, but was delighted with the effort.
“It’s not much fun watching, but to the boys’ credit they knuckled down and had a good go at it,” he said.
“I let the boys down last week, so hopefully I can make amends.”
Bourke was outstanding in midfield in Rixon’s absence, while Fluss’ game in goals was a sight to behold.
“I put the challenge to him (Bourke) at the start of the week and he said he wanted to do it,” Rixon said.
“Toddy Meehan was huge at right back, defensively, and it was all pretty well led by ‘Jobba’ (Josh O’Brien).
“He’s (Fluss) probably had one of his better years.
“He’s pretty beat up with his body at the moment, but some of the stuff he does is incredible.
“The best thing about this group is there’s not an individual we’re relying on each week to win us games.”
Twin City coach Shaun Wilhelm was disappointed to bow out in the first week of finals, but was pleased the club made positive strides after finishing ninth last season.
Myrtleford took down Cobram 6-0 in a rematch of last year’s cup final.
Wangaratta turned the screw in the second half against Albury United to record a 6-1 victory.
They’ll meet Boomers who drew 1-1 with Albury City and won on penalties.
- Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here