A plethora of goals on show in the NPL Victoria this week as Oakleigh Cannons finally made up some ground on ladder leaders South Melbourne, who saw their 11 game winning streak come to a mighty halt following the 3-0 result between the two sides.
Green Gully continue to show signs of life after a convincing, and quite frankly brutal, destruction of Northcote City 6-2, who themselves haven’t tasted success in six attempts.
Speaking of tasting success, the Knights have won their second game in three starts, after a 4-2 win over the struggling Ballarat Red Devils.
Bentleigh Greens continue to patch up their wounds following a barren May, notching up their second win in succession, this time against Hume City 3-0. Another big score line saw Dandy Thunder put four past a hapless Goulburn Valley to compound more misery onto the bottom placed club.
Pascoe Vale opened the round with a 2-0 away win over Port Melbourne, whilst Heidelberg United’s score draw with Werribee capped off proceedings for the week.
Formation 3-4-3
GK: Alastair Bray (Bentleigh Greens)
It was a fine day between the posts for the Green’s ‘keeper who had to well and truly earn his clean sheet. Forced into a number of critical saves, some from close range, Bray delivered a reliable and sturdy performance for Bentleigh. His saves value in the scheme of the match were priceless as the visitors would go on to win 3-0.
CB: Ramazan Tavsancioglu (Dandenong Thunder)
Thunder’s centre half put in an immense performance against Goulburn Valley Suns on Saturday night in Shepparton. A superb and dominant defensive display was even yet better matched by his sides opener, as he scored a sensational first time volley from the edge of the box. Tavsancioglu came home with a clean sheet too, not bad work where you can find it!
CB: Ivan Grgic (Melbourne Knights)
The young defender stood up when it counted for his side on Sunday afternoon, netting Knight’s equaliser whilst also gifting the hosts the lead in the space of a few minutes. Despite falling agonisingly short of a first half hat-trick, Grgic’s performance in the final third was also well matched in the defensive half of the ground as a decent performance sees the defender earn selection in Round 12’s Team of the Week.
CB: Dominic D’Angelo (Oakleigh Cannons)
When Miron Bleiberg singles you out as a standout performer, you know you’ve had a day to remember. D’Angelo was instrumental in Oakleigh’s back three which ended South’s 11 game winning streak as the hosts maintained a clean sheet. On hand to collect Aron Wilford’s crumbs, the 27-year-old was also crucial in setting up two of Oakleigh’s goals, cutting back the lead at the top to six points.
LM: Jospeh Youssef (Pascoe Vale)
Pascoe Vale’s captain completely dominated the wing on Friday night as his side secured a 2-0 victory over Port Melbourne. Both defensively and in offense, Yousef’s work-rate was valuable for the visitors as he combined well with van’t Schip up front and also netted the killer goal.
CM: Andy Vargas (Green Gully)
Vargas was instrumental in Green Gully’s 6-2 demolition of Northcote City. The midfielder set up a few of his sides goals and was also involved in almost everything else.
RM: Goran Zoric (Oakleigh Cannons)
The winger wreaked havoc upon South Melbourne’s defence and his performance was absolutely crucial in Oakleigh’s 3-0 victory. Lively for 90 minutes, Zoric provided the assist for Oakleigh’s opening two goals whilst capping of his sides result with a quality finish after a cheeky nutmeg.
CAM: Daniel Visevic (Melbourne Knights)
Playing behind the striker in Knights 4-2 victory over Ballarat, Visevic displayed a best on ground performance on Sunday afternoon. Assisting Grgic twice from set-pieces, the attacker then netted a quality free-kick of his own to give his side the advantage.
FWD: Osagie Ederaro (Green Gully)
The Green Gully forward earns selection this week after scoring a hat-trick in a devastating 17-minute spell which could have even been added to. Ederaro was clinical in front of goal in the first half, and was involved in a number of plays as his side slotted six past Northcote City.
FWD: Davey van ‘t Schip (Pascoe Vale)
The forward appears to be in some seriously impressive form which no doubt coincides with his sides recent run of results, claiming victory in their last three matches after an average start to the season. Assuming the role as a lone striker against Port Melbourne, van ‘t Schip grabs a spot up front in this weeks edition in of the Team of the Week, combing well with his team-mates which was only outdone by his sublime volley to hand his side an early lead.
FWD: Matthew Sanders (Green Gully)
Like his strike partner Ederaro, Sanders was clinical in front of goal as Green Gully’s forwards stole the limelight this week. Sanders scored two and could have had a hat-trick if it weren’t for a last minute penalty save by Northcote ‘keeper Chris Thoedoridis.
Substitutes:
John Honos (Oakleigh Cannons):
Oakleigh’s custodian didn’t have the busiest of games but the number one was perhaps involved in one of the most significant moments of the match, pulling off a sensational save to deny Tyson Holmes an opening goal for South Melbourne when the score were locked at 0-0. Rarely tested after that, Honos displayed a commanding role inside his penalty area, dealing with everything when called upon.
Nathan Megic (Pascoe Vale):
Starting to become a regular feature in our Team of the Week, Megic displayed his usual uncompromising and tireless defensive display as hardly anything passed the defender on Friday night.
Les Doumbalis (Heidelberg United):
Heidelberg’s left back is undoubtedly the unluckiest omission from Round 12’s Team of the Week. Selected as a standout performer by our match reporter, Doumbalis just falls short after a string of impressive performances in defence this weekend. Lively as ever on the left, matched by a thorough defensive display, the full-back came close to netting the Bergers’ opening goal with attempts both before and after Werribee’s opener.
Alan Kearney (Dandenong Thunder):
Thunder’s stand-in captain completely dominated the midfield on Saturday night as his side raced to 4-0 triumph over Goulburn Valley. Marshalling his troops all night, the midfielder capped off an imposing performance with an assist for the visitors fourth goal.
Brent McGrath (Bentleigh Greens):
The one time Socceroo did everything right on Sunday afternoon for Bentleigh as the striker was nominated as man of the match against Hume City. Providing headaches for Hume’s defence and came close on a few occasions, once denied by a fine save from Chris Oldfield in goals.
Special thanks to Brad Hutchings (@BradHutchings_), Shaun Moran (@moranshaun), Adem Barolli (@adembarolli), David Manuca (@davidmanuca) and Andrew Bishara (@_andrewbishara) for their contributions.