We’ll keep this short. The first half was relatively even, although South cleared one off the line. Heidelberg seemed to start the game without their regular intensity through the middle and were content to trade long balls. South’s long balls were playing direct to a non-existent number nine hoping to play off to non-existent runners. Heidelberg’s long balls were over the top to running strikers with far more effectiveness but mercifully, no end result.

In the second half things turned for the worse. A through-ball down the wing, cut to a player outside the box, deflected past Lopez and Heidelberg went up 1-0, well deserved. 10 minutes later, again down the right side, a through ball into the box, a cut back into the danger zone and a free shot into the net. At the 84th minute just to seal it, Heidelberg scored a third. A powerful shot just inside the box.

Heidelberg 3, South nil. 19 shots to 2. What can we say? The fans were disappointed, but the result was expected and there weren’t many of us there to make the usual fuss.

After the final whistle, the players approached the stand to thank the fans for their support, and unusually Esteban Quintas did so too. He waved the fans good bye and hugged friends on the side-lines for a final time. It appears that’s the end of Quintas at South, and despite the negativity, and the necessity of his likely departure, we are sad to see him go.

Quintas clearly loved the club, worked his hardest and shared the same passion as the fans. It’s a shame that he never won a Grand Final and it’s a shame he may leave the club in this way, however we must remember the good times, the Premierships and the Cup runs. Quintas helped rebuild the club from it’s lowest recent ebb and that should be remembered and respected.

Above all though, this is only football and the recent pressure would have been intense. We hope Quintas is ok and wish him luck for the future. He will always be welcome at South (at least by us) as a trophy winner and a true clubman.

Niceties aside though we move onto a potentially critical and necessary next step of appointing a coaching staff able to put this club in the right direction.

Side note – great touch by the club for playing Kalamata’s promotion game against Kifisia in the club rooms. Shame about the result but many of South fans appreciated the gesture.