Bentleigh Greens 3-0 Green Gully
(Ibrahim 65, Wallace 76, Ruthven 90+4)
Bentleigh extended their lead on top of the NPL ladder to eight points after a dominant second half saw the Greens defeat Green Gully 3-0 at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Friday night. With both sides having one eye on Tuesday’s crucial FFA Cup fixtures, chances were few and far between in the opening half with Chris Lucas hitting the post and Anthony Ragusa seeing his effort well saved by Ryan Scott. The visitors have been plagued by injury in recent weeks and rested several starters with the toll taking its effect in the second-half as reigning Gold Medallist Kamal Ibrahim opened his Greens account with a splendid curling effort outside the box which dipped over Rani Dowisha and underneath the crossbar. One soon became two in similar fashion as Captain Wayne Wallace set himself up before unleashing past Dowisha for his third goal in as many games and ninth overall for the season. Gully’s woes were compounded in injury time as goalkeeper Dowisha saw red for handling the ball outside the area (and will now miss Tuesday’s FFA Cup tie against the Central Coast Mariners) with Troy Ruthven converting the resulting free-kick into the bottom corner of the net.
Pascoe Vale 2-1 Oakleigh Cannons
(Lazarides 20, Gasparis 76p; Piemonte 81)
Pascoe Vale have ended Oakleigh’s five game winning streak by defeating the Cannons 2-1 at CB Smith Reserve on Friday night. The hosts had much of the early ascendancy and opened the scoring when Davey van’t Schip’s shot was saved by John Honos only for Matthew Lazarides to tap the ball home at the follow-up. Vale almost doubled their lead immediately after only for Honos to force Carl Recchia’s header over the bar after a delightful free-kick into the box from Marino Gasparis. Ioannis Georgopoulos did his best to level the scores only to be denied by Alex Pavlidis who also did well to deny Dean Piemonte from netting an equaliser in the second half. Those saves proved pivotal as mid-season signing Gonzalo Munoz was brought down in the box allowing fellow new arrival Marino Gasparis to step up and double the host’s advantage. That lead was reduced not long after as Dean Piemonte netted his eight goal of the campaign with a well taken shot outside the box however that strike proved to be mere consolation as Vitale Ferrante’s men collected their sixth victory from the past eight fixtures.
Port Melbourne Sharks 0-0 Bulleen Lions
Two of the competition’s lowest scoring teams failed to find the back of the net in a disappointing 0-0 draw between the Port Melbourne Sharks and Bulleen Lions at JL Murphy Reserve on Friday night. With both sides desperate for the win to edge close to relegation safety, Andreas Govas’ low-hit free-kick was saved by Sharks shot-stopper Luke Gavalas early into the contest. The hosts nearly opened the scoring when David Stirton’s header was scrambled away only for the striker to launch a follow-up shot which was cleared off the line much to the relief off the Bulleen defence. Eric Vassiliadis’ side got even closer to breaking the deadlock when Alan Kearney’s curling effort had Griffin McMaster beaten only to smash against the crossbar. In an end-to-end opening half, the last major opportunity of the half fell to the Lions Japanese attacker Takanori Nishimoto whose well-hit half-volley was tremendously saved by the fingertips of Gavalas. Both sides attempted to make the breakthrough in the second period only to be frustrated as both moved a step closer to avoid automatic relegation with the Sharks ending a barren run of seven straight defeats.
Northcote City 1-3 Richmond
(Karvouniaris 22; Roorda 81, Niagioran 84, Caniglia 89)
A destructive final ten minutes has seen Richmond triumph 3-1 to overtake Northcote City on the table following their encounter on Saturday afternoon at John Cain Memorial Reserve. The home side opened the scoring mid-way through the first-half when Borbor Sam’s cross was met by the head of Greek defender Michalis Karvouniaris. Sam almost doubled City’s lead inside the opening munutes of the second half only for French goalkeeper Tony Foglia to make a smart save before Jonathan Bounas had a goal disallowed for an earlier foul. Richmond equalised when Hamlet Armenian nodded the ball towards Dutchman Geert Arend Roorda’s whose volley beat Phil Petrovski and smashed into the back of the net. Armenian then grabbed himself another assist as he centred the ball to Nick Niagioran who put Richmond in front with just over five minutes on the clock remaining. Two quickly became three when Alex Caniglia tucked the ball past Petrovski’s legs for his ninth goal of the season as Northcote displaced Richmond in the automatic relegation zone with three rounds of the campaign remaining.
South Melbourne 1-3 Avondale
(Manolo 88; Fleming 5, Germano 10, 54)
Avondale caused one of the season’s biggest boilover’s as a Jonatan Germano brace saw them defeat South Melbourne 3-1 at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday afternoon, effectively ending the hosts’ title aspirations. Anthony Barbieri’s side opened the scoring five minutes in when Massimo Murdocca’s cross was met by the head of veteran Jeff Fleming who glanced the ball past Nikola Roganovic. Avondale doubled their advantage not long after when Germano latched onto a Nick Symeoy through ball and fired home to stun the majority of fans inside the stadium. South’s woes were compounded when Roganovic was forced off following a collision with Avengers midfielder Jem Berkant on the stroke of half-time, Zaim Zeneli coming on as his replacement. Avondale ended the game as a contest ten minutes into the second half when another Symeoy through ball was met by Germano who tucked the ball home to register his tenth league goal of the season. The hosts finally came into life late on as Milos Lujic’s header hit the post before being saved by Chris May on the line before Spanish substitute Manolo reduced the margin with a well taken strike as South’s Premiership defence came to an end on a forgettable afternoon for Chris Taylor’s men.
Heidelberg United 2-1 Hume City
(Athiu 1, 33; Markelis 28)
South’s loss proved to be Heidelberg’s gain as the Bergers jumped to second on the ladder following a 2-1 victory over Hume City at Olympic Village on Sunday evening. United jumped ahead inside the opening minute when Kenny Athiu tucked the ball home at the back post to give George Katsakis’ men the perfect start. Athiu almost got a second as he nodded the ball just wide off the post before Hume levelled the scoring soon afterwards through Theo Markelis who blasted the ball past Chris Theodoridis after being played through by Tom Cahill. The scoring continued not long after as Heidelberg got themselves back in front after a charging run from Athiu resulted in the powerful striker scoring past Jordan Franken for his 17th goal of the season – two behind leader Lujic. The Hume back-up had to be at his best in the second half to keep the scoreline intact, making a couple of sharp saves to deny Sean Ellis and Reuben Way as the game opened up. Theodoridis was called into action and denied Daniel Clark an equaliser while Charlie Beverley failed to get his shot on target as the hosts held on to set-up a blockbuster top-of-the-table clash against Heidelberg United next week.
Photo Credit: Con Deves