Image: Smile for Peter
Heidelberg United earned revenge after Round One’s 6-0 demolition, putting five goals past a flat-footed South Melbourne at Olympic Village.
In the first week of reverse fixtures, Heidelberg almost reversed the scoreline from Round One as they cruised to a 5-0 win in front of their home faithful and consolidated on their top-of-the-table credentials, while South were made to revisit the drawing board.
Matthew Millar picked up where he left off last week, keeping the fullbacks on their toes as he became inches from assisting Milos Lujic to the back of the net numerous times.
Harry Noon was also proving to be a handful as he initiated promising runs forward and assisted his team-mates in defence by ceasing any possible chances South were creating.
Missed opportunities became a common occurrence for the travelling team as Lujic became tied down for another week and South were unable to find other suitors for the goalscorers list.
South were left to rue their many missed opportunities when Steven Pace latched onto a cross from the left wing in the 27th minute to break the deadlock and commence what would ultimately be – a rout.
Heidelberg tripled their lead in just the last three minutes of the first half, with Kenny Athiu nodding home a free kick in the 42th minute to score his 10th goal of the campaign, along with Noon capitalising on a missed Athiu 1v1 chance to slot away in the 44th minute.
Chris Taylor attempted to mend the scoreline by substituting Marcus Schroen on for Iqi Jawadi at half time, although South were still unable to make use of their chances in the attacking third.
The home faithful were again rewarded when a long throw-in had been knocked around inside the box, before Noon smashed the ball into the top left corner to make it 4-0 – in only the 51st minute.
Only eight minutes after did the Warriors find their fifth when Jack Petrie beat Nikola Roganovic at his near post with a cracking effort from just outside the box.
South finally hit their first shot for the second half in the 63rd minute, which sailed over the Olympic Village nets – an indication of the lacklustre performance which was put on display.
15 minutes from full time, Schroen was fouled inside the box, which gave South an opportunity for a consolation goal.
Nick Epifano built on his team’s woes as he skied the resulting penalty over the crossbar – his third penalty taken in as many weeks.
The latter stages of the match consisted of several missed opportunities from the Bergers, with Athiu’s header merely scraping the top of the crossbar and numerous other openings being skied over the goals and being knocked wide.
Heidelberg boss George Katsakis was ecstatic about the win, exclaiming how it is one of the greatest wins for Heidelberg United as a whole, and later giving full credit to his team, who have been waiting for this day since Round One.
“It was definitely among the best wins at this club, it’s very significant to me and my whole footballing [and coaching] career. It’s something I’ve dreamt of, and it’s happened,” the boss beamed.
“But the boys were just amazing today, I’ve gotta give the credit to the boys. They were just absolutely on song, they wanted the win just as much as I did.”
Katsakis also attributed his win to forming his team’s structure around South’s weaknesses, also stating how the Warriors had taken full control of the game and prevented South from achieving any form of movement.
“We worked on our structure all week, and we knew the way South Melbourne come out, and we made sure we nullified their positive areas and the areas where they’re quite strong in,” Katsakis explained
“Once we broke that down and got the first [goal], i think we just took total control of the game. Towards the end of the game they couldn’t beat anything to be fair.”
The former Heidelberg player went on to exclaim how the traditional derby was between two of the greatest clubs in the country, and how putting the disaster of Round One was vital to prepare for tonight’s game.
“Straight after the Melbourne Victory game last week, we spoke about [tonight’s game] in the first session. We put the [6-0 result] behind us, put it in the bank, as we usually say, and work towards this weekend’s game,” Katsakis reported
“It was very important to show some form of revenge, more importantly for our faithfuls, our supporters, our members.
“It was definitely a derby between two of the greatest clubs in this state, if not, the country. It was very important for us as a group and we made sure of it.”
Katsakis next highlighted how his players were told the second half of the season is the start of a new journey, and explained how desperate his players are to achieve results.
“We drew a line last week and said this is the next part of our journey this year,” he announced.
“We’ve started this season on zero points and we got our first three points out of three and a great goal difference as well, so that’s the way we’re treating it at the moment.
“We know it’s [one game we’ve won out of one game] and next week [against Melbourne Knights] is our second challenge and hopefully we get something out of that game as well.
“We’ve done a lot of character building over the year, and people have stood in for people no matter where. They just want to play and make sure they get the result for the club, and more importantly, for the group.
“Because it’s a tight knit group, it’s something that we’ve worked on all year, in bringing the right personnel in, and now that we have, I think our second part of the year will be quite strong.”
Heidelberg will aim to push further high among the NPL Victoria table as they travel to an inform Melbourne Knights, who have been victorious in their previous two matches, while South Melbourne will have a bottom-placed Northcote City firmly in their sights, who are fresh off a 3-0 triumph against Melbourne Victory.
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Heidelberg United 5 (Pace 31’, Athiu 44’, Noon 45’,51’, Petrie 59’) defeated South Melbourne 0 at Olympic Village [HT 3:0]
Heidelberg United: 1. Chris THEODORIS (GK) 2. Josh WILKINS 13. Luke BYLES (C) 17. Steve PACE 7. Reuben WAY 10. Jack PETRIE 6. Lewis HALL 11. Kosta Kanakaris 14. Harry NOON 19. Sean ELLIS 12. Kenny ATHIU
Substitutes: 4. Johnny LAZARIDIS 21. Andreas GOVAS 24. Emmanuel TSAKIRIS 8. Andrew CARTANOS 23. Jack EVANS
South Melbourne: 1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) 12. Amadu KOROMA 4. Michael EAGER (C) 23.Matthew FOSCHINI 11. Bradley NORTON 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 8. Matthew THEODORE 18. Matthew MILLAR 99. Iqbal JAWADI 7. Nick EPIFANO 9. Milos Lujic
Substitutes: 14. Chris IRWIN 17. Marcus SCHROEN 21. Zaim ZENELI 21. Andy KECOJEVIC 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS