Dusan Bosnjak has continued his impressive form of late to deliver a timely three points for finals chasing Oakleigh Cannons, while a shock win for Bulleen Lions has provided a point buffer between them and the drop.
The permutations of the weekend’s results also saw South Melbourne wrestle top spot back from Bentleigh Greens who’d earlier overtaken them after a win against Port Melbourne on Friday night.
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Former Melbourne City youth product Anthony Taranto made his debut for Northcote but it wasn’t enough as a Dusan Bosnjak-inspired Oakleigh Cannons came home late to claim the three points.
It was Dean Piemonte however who scored after 26 minutes to propel the visitors into the lead.
An eventful 10-minute period thereafter saw Bosnjak double the lead, before Northcote pegged back to equalise before the half time break.
Their first real opportunity on goal saw Anthony Ramzy find the back of the net, before new recruit Braedyn Crowley added his second goal for the club to square the ledger.
With no scores added for the majority of the second half, it came down to that man Dusan Bosnjak to drive home the winner and send the visiting support into raptures.
Bulleen Lions gained important ground in the survival race while putting a dent in Hume’s pursuit of the top.
With mid-season acquisitions yet to feature, Hume lacked that killer instinct up front, and were made to pay when Bulleen’s two Visa players combined.
It was Matteo Ballan who played through Takanori Nishimoto, with the latter making no mistake past the onrushing Chris Oldfield.
One would expect Hume to hit back, but instead it was Josh Barresi with the best chance to double the advantage in the second half, with his shot saved by the custodian.
The scoreline would remain that way, with the visitors’ unable to find their way through on goal as the Felix Rosman-led backline of Bulleen gave nothing away.
South not only returned to winning ways, but they also returned to the summit of the NPL Victoria ladder, after masterminding a narrow 1-0 win over an in-form Green Gully outfit in a physical affair.
Gully went into the clash having grabbed five wins out of a possible six but were left empty handed with just a first-half separating the two sides.
The penalty was indicative of a supremely physical encounter, in which a stunning 10 yellow cards were dished out by the match official, seven of which were amassed by Green Gully.
Nick Epifano was on hand to slot home from the spot after 41 minutes, making up for last week’s missed effort against Alex Pavlidis in the 1-0 loss to Pascoe Vale.
The in-form Nick Krousoratis missed an opportunity to draw level before the break, and another before the full-time whistle, with his late effort beating Nikola Roganovic, but not the South Melbourne defender on the line.
Liam Boland and Evan Christodoulou had both earlier seen chances saved, with Roganovic doing well to keep a clean sheet against the potent attacking unit of the Cavaliers.
FULL REPORT > South narrowly body past Gully
While they weren’t able to capitalise on South’s slip last week, a resurgent Heidelberg United were able to match their title-chasing opponents’ result this week with a 4-2 win over the struggling Melbourne Victory.
Welcome inclusions to the starting line-up were attacking duo Sean Ellis and Kenny Athiu, while young keeper Jack Evans was drafted in for his NPL Victoria debut, in the absence of the suspended Chris Theodoridis and the departed Pasquale Gioffre and Stuart Webster.
The changes made an immediate impact, with United going two goals to the good within the opening 15 minutes of the fixture; first Ellis crossed for Athiu to plunder his eighth goal of the season before fullback Les Doumbalis drifted up to grabb his first of the year.
Victory had opportunities to pull a goal back, but weren’t able to grab a breakthrough in the first half, while they were held at bay by both debutant Evans and a sturdy goal post.
Athiu then fired home a second to put his side into an unassailable 3-0 lead, and despite a late surge from the Victory – Joey Katebian netting twice in the final 15 minutes – they were able to secure a 4-2 result with Jack Petrie also getting onto the scoresheet late.
While they still have a sizeable eight-point gap to close down come the end of the season, the result regardless was an important one for the Bergers, who will take plenty of confidence out of the clash after a four game winless streak, which included an FFA Cup departure mid-week.
Photo: Anita Milas/Just Shoot