Avondale have not only broken the NPL goal-scoring record this season, but they’ve also lost just one game in the league all year.
Intriguingly for neutrals, that one loss came against South Melbourne in May, but has since been rectified with a 2-1 win to Avondale in August.
Avondale FC head coach and recent recipient of the NPL Coach of the Year award, Zoran Markovski, said the players have enjoyed the intense week heading into Sunday's final.
“Preparations for the weekend’s game have been at a high intensity, we don’t drop our standards at the football club,” said Markovski.
The coach believes the recent victory over South Melbourne is something the players can draw confidence from.
“We’ve had the wood over South Melbourne from 2019, I think we’ve gone and won about six or seven games against them,” he said.
“[But] I think they won the last three prior to the one [recently where] we defeated them.
“We go in there with the confidence that we took out of that game, and the game plan we organised for that.
“We’re going into the grand final fully confident.”
When asked about just how special this current Avondale team is, Markovski didn’t hold back.
“I look at this group and I think it’s probably the most exciting football team I’ve seen my whole football career,” he revealed.
“At NPL level in Victoria I think it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever seen.
“The players we’ve brought in, the culture that we’ve formed as a group, the entertaining football we’ve played; to break the points record in the NPL and to dominate like this … we scored 78 goals to break the goal-scoring record.
“I don’t think that will be beaten for a long, long time.”
Zoran Markovski holding his Coach of the Year award. (Photo: FFV)
Markovksi believes Sunday’s game is the “showcase of Victorian football,” and that neutrals looking to be entertained should come along.
“The crowd is going to be vital,” he said.
“I think there’ll be a lot of South Melbourne supporters there … and I think the Avondale supporters will be out in loads as well, but I think a lot of neutrals should come out and watch the game.
“We’re an entertaining football team and we take the game on.
“We like to entertain, we like to create chances, we like to score goals.”
Kickoff is at 3:00pm Sunday, September 10 at Olympic Village in Heidelberg West.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate.