South headed to Gardiners Reserve to face Eastern Lions in their first Cup game of the year.

The fixturing came at a good time following the exit of Estaban Quintas, allowing the club almost a week of buffer to work through their new coaching line up and emotionally process the season that’s been as it looks to a new chapter ahead.

Eastern Lions are currently 11th in VPL1 and are battling not to get relegated. Although on paper this game should have been a walk over, following South’s recent form and coaching changes there was always a sense this could go pear shaped.

Minopoulos took the role of head coach for the game and selected a conservative line up, with five defensive minded players. Bonada and Mikkola were left out of the team selection – those two players, although needing of a rest were two of Estaban’s favourites – here’s hoping that there’s nothing else to read into their omission except for the rest.

By all accounts the team played a very different style against the Lions, keeping the ball on the deck and holding possession for longer periods.

Encouragingly this saw instant results with a brace from Harding giving South a 2-0 lead at half time. Brennan added a third in the second half to seal the win and see South progress to the next round of the cup.

A good crowd was in attendance to watch South’s first win since February. The win also marked the first time South has scored more than one goal in a game since the 3-3 draw against Victory.

The forward pairing of Brennan and Harding is an interesting change up and with Bonada and Mikkola likely to return to the line up next week it is heartening to see that South does in fact have forward options despite the surprise exit of Gustav Moller earlier in the season. Either way, any combination of these players will necessitate a less direct build up play style.

South face Green Gully away next week and will need to nab a win to stop the rot of their league form. With Oakleigh and Avondale to follow points will not come easy over the next month.