Ersan Gülüm believes Adelaide United can be pleased with their efforts despite their season ending in dramatic fashion.
The Reds suffered a shattering 2-1 loss in the Elimination Final against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Sunday night.
Besart Berisha scored a stunning bicycle kick in the 89th minute to consign the Reds to a first round exit.
Gülüm said reaching the finals after a disappointing 2016/17 season is something the team should feel proud about.
He also said the younger players in the squad will learn from this experience.
“For me, for my first year in the A-League and with the group we had and Marco’s (Kurz) first year, this team finishing last (ninth), last year and then playing finals, it’s a great achievement,” he told Fox Sports after the game.
“For all the young boys, half of them it’s their first finals and they’ll only build experience after this and only get better hopefully.”
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Nikola Mileusnic sparked the cagey affair into life after half-time with a clinical finish from Isaías’ quick free-kick, but it was soon cancelled out through Leroy George’s header.
The Australian-born Turkish international believed the home support no doubt helped the Victory get over the line, but reiterated there were several positives to takeaway for Adelaide.
“They’re playing in front of 15,000 in their home stadium, of course it’s going to make a bit of a difference,” he said.
“We had the experience as well I think including myself and a few other older players.
“I think we all did our job really well, I think we can take the positives out of it and look back and think we had a great year and now we rest up.”
