Image: Heidelberg United
If there was any doubt as to which club is the current force in the NPL, it’s Heidelberg United, who kicked ahead at the top of the ladder with a commanding 3-0 win over previous equal leaders Avondale. Elsewhere, Green Gully had a repeat of a 3-3 draw against Kingston City, while Hume City got back on the winners list league-wise with a win over St Albans.
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Going into the clash between Avondale and Heidelberg at Somers Street, the only thing separating both clubs was goal difference.
However, the massive win on the road, and having played a midweek game too, showed just how strong the Bergers are at the moment with momentum completely in their favour.
A starting debut to new recruit Michael Trigger from Ballarat City highlighted squad depth at the moment but soon it was another recruit in 2017 who broke the deadlock.
A corner kick by Sean Ellis was met by Adrian Zahra, who headed in the lead with one of the Bergers’ first main chances of the contest after 20 minutes.
From there it was Jack Petrie who doubled the advantage in spectacular circumstances, scoring in a second week in a row by nailing a bullet volley from distance when a long throw-in was cleared into his path.
The task became considerably more difficult for Avondale when James Riccobene was sent off early in the second half, with the Avengers having Chris Oldfield to thank for numerous saves to keep the scoreline from extending.
Kenny Athiu capped off proceedings with a penalty towards extra time to seal an emphatic 3-0 win and re-take top spot (from Bentleigh who earlier won on Friday), much to the delight of the Bergers faithful.
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There was a sense of deja vu at Gully Reserve as it was early in Arthur Papas’ campaign that the Greens drew 3-3 with Kingston at the Grange, with now the exact same situation transpiring. That time the lead switched, with Kingston scoring a late equaliser at home, and this time again the home side recovered from a deficit – though Gully had to claw back two goals.
But it was Damian Iaconis who was on form early, netting his eighth of the campaign to end a mini-drought.
Gully struck back and it was Matthew Reid who equalised from a corner just four minutes after coming on as a sub for the injured Alex Caniglia to have the sides delicately poised at 1-1 after half an hour.
However from there the visitors propelled themselves to a strong lead, exposing Gully’s defensive frailties that have seen them concede the third most goals in the competition.
Velibor Mitrovic had a tap in before half time to also get back on the scorers sheet, with Mouad Zwed returning from suspension to become another City attacker to find the back of the net.
Not to be outdone, the highest-scoring side in the competition then got to work to peg back Kingston’s lead.
Jay Davies hit a sweet strike in the top left corner just after an hour to get the hosts back into contest. Then in quick succession Wade Dekker headed home from Nick Krousoratis’ delivery to square the ledger after 68 minutes.
The next 20-plus minutes went goalless, however, with both sides settling for the six-goal draw, sharing 12 goals in both meetings in the league this season.
Gully remain in the top six but have gone three games winless, while Kingston snap a losing streak to move a point ahead of 12th placed Bulleen, who are still yet to play.
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Hume City moved back into the top six for now with a hard-fought 2-1 win over a fast-finishing St Albans.
Liam Boland had an attempt early at a trademark lob early which was tipped over the bar, with the hosts looking threatening.
Ufuk Kubilay’s side did eventually find the back of the net when Bryan Bran found James McGarry, who continued his solid season form with another assist as Jayden Prasad finished off the move.
Nick Hegarty almost added to the scoreboard before the break with a solo run and shot but his effort was saved.
The second half saw St Albans come out fighting and Rodrigo Covarrubias hit the first warning shot which was saved by Michael Weier.
But then the home side struck back on the scoreboard as Hegarty also added another assist to his tally, finding Daniel Clark to double the lead.
But there was a lifeline for the visitors when Joey Monek was felled in the box, with captain Ryan McGuffie stepping up and reducing the deficit from the spot.
Daniel Chaabani had a later shot saved as St Albans finished strong but pulled up just short in the 2-1 defeat.
Dinamo remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the ladder while Hume sneak back into sixth place, though Oakleigh can jump back above them if they beat or draw with Bulleen on Monday.