Image: South Melbourne FC
A great derby has to encapsulate tradition and passion in equal measure. South Melbourne and Heidelberg United have always gifted fans of football in Victoria just that.
In a nation where football is so often seen as a ‘young’ or ‘growing’ sport, this fixture continues to prove that the beautiful game has as rich and important historical permanence within Australia as any other.
In particular, the sight of a packed Olympic Park, brimming with noise and excitement, awash with flowing seas of yellow and black juxtaposed starkly with the blue and white, poses an interesting question to the FFA.
If those who hold the future of Australian football close to their hearts and aim to further the sport at every opportunity need inspiration, they should look no further than the popularity and longevity of this contest.
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In a battle for the ages between age-old rivals South Melbourne snatched a 2-1 win over Heidelberg United in their semi-final of the Victorian National Premier League.
In front of a rapturous home crowd at Olympic Park Sean Ellis gave Heidelberg the advantage before a red card to the Bergers’ Reuben Way threw the contest into turmoil. Through the hostilities emerged Matt Millar and Milos Lujic, whose goals on the 72nd and 74th minutes respectively sent South Melbourne to their third NPL grand final in a row.
Great night a big semi final game @FFV365 @HUFCWARRIOR to go all the way ! #Alexandros pic.twitter.com/1JN0B400Y8
— Con Sotidis (@LearnKotch) September 3, 2016
Fast-paced, furiously contested and bursting with raucousness, desire and exhilaration, a match of such intensity deserved to be a grand final. Certainly both sets of fans and players treated it with appropriate importance and the excitement on offer both on and off the pitch was palpable.
The usually subdued, rustic grandstands of Olympic Park were transformed into a crucible that boiled over with a level of passion and entertainment rarely before seen at NPL level.
Heidelberg drew first blood. It took Sean Ellis only fifteen seconds to break through a porous South Melbourne defence. The versatile winger was given space and made no mistake, cannoning home a volley in front of a shell-shocked South Melbourne and their fans.
Archie Thompson had a perfect start. His quality on the ball laid the groundwork for the opportunity, yet it was Ellis’ quick reactions and impressive agility that sent Olympic Park into ecstasy.
Amongst the cracking of flares and the haze of orange smoke, Ellis sprinted half the field in wild celebration, truly signalling to the neutral observer that Victorian footballs night of nights had begun. Moments later, a fracas broke out between both sets of players as the bitter rivalry begun to rear it’s ugly head.
Although a trembling start could be an understatement, to their credit South Melbourne certainly showed no intention of letting the game devolve to the same sort of performance that saw them slump to a 5-0 defeat the last time these teams met at Olympic Park.
Bradley Norton was involved early and had South’s first chance of the game blocked by Steven Pace, yet arguably should have had the opener minutes later. Nicholas Epifano had carried the ball into a dangerous position for South on the break, yet Norton miscontrolled his cutback and the Bergers recovered.
Both sides were playing overtly direct football and although end-to-end, few chances were created until the half neared its conclusion. South had begun to settle into the game and dominated possession through overloading the midfield areas.
On the 24th minute Thompson found space in behind the South defence but had a weak effort easily denied by Nikola Roganovic, to the delight of the vocally berating South Melbourne support.
Yet as soon as passions looked to be dimming down, Reuben Way and the ever-involved Bradley Norton flared furies back to breaking point.
On the 31st minute, Way was brought down by a sceptical Norton challenge, and while Norton was grounded Way’s physical retaliation saw the experienced Heidelberg winger earn a straight red card.
Heidelberg can have little argument with the decision, however its pivotal influence was bound to cause George Katsakis headaches.
The incident sparked an attacking charge from South Melbourne, Leigh Minopoulos came closest to gaining an equaliser from a corner before half time. His powerful header on the 38th minute glanced just wide of Chris Theodoridis’ goal.
If anything, the passionate nature of the contest seemingly favoured Heidelberg going into the second half. Surprisingly however, chances still emerged for both sides, as Heidelberg certainly didn’t appear willing to lie down.
While frequent relinquishes into physical altercations and rampant fouling scuppered South Melbourne’s attempts to encourage flowing play, South would still be disappointed that they couldn’t stretch Heidelberg and take advantage of their numerical disadvantage straight away.
Set pieces continued to present issues for the Bergers and Epifano again had an opportunity to level things on the 48th, the South winger latched onto a spilled corner, yet his shot was well deflected by Josh Wilkins.
Heidelberg, meanwhile, still managed to look dangerous. The potent attacking trio of Sean Ellis, Kenny Athiu and Thompson combined well on counter attacks, yet fell short of troubling South Melbourne keeper Nikola Roganovic.
On the 61st minute South did manage to challenge Theodoridis, as the Heidelberg shot-stopper was drawn into a solid string of saves to maintain Heidelberg’s crucial advantage. The importance of Norton going forward had been largely repressed by Heidelberg’s forwards embracing defensive duties.
Archie Thompson, who had performed admirably in both an offensive and defensive role, was withdrawn with 20 minutes remaining for Kosta Kanakaris as Heidelberg looked to sustain quikly deteriorating energy levels. However it was only minutes until South Melbourne dealt a cruel double blow.
Within minutes of Thompson’s withdrawal Chris Irwin made Heidelberg pay for lapse defending on the 72nd minute.
South Melbourne’s pressure left Heidelberg unable to clear from a long ball, Doumbalis’ clearance only finding its way to Irwin on the right flank who punished uncertainty with a venomous finish.
Two minutes later and heartbreak turned to despondence for the Heidelberg faithful. Milos Lujic, who had been largely invisible to this stage, was released on the break after Heidelberg gave the ball away from the kick off.
The league’s top scorer proved his quality, placing the ball easily past Theodoridis with a delightful chipped effort before sprinting to the touchline for the embrace of a relentless wave of South Melbourne support.
The goal seemingly awakened the powerful forward who could have put the game beyond doubt moments later. As Heidelberg opened up, again the striker was found brilliantly with a lofted ball behind Wilkes and Doumbalis, however this time his volley drifted just over the crossbar.
Heidelberg valiantly attempted to enliven proceedings, however long balls to Athiu were easily read and denied. Without Thompson and Way, Heidelberg struggled to maintain any possession and was lucky not to go further behind as the game drew to an end.
Five minutes of extra time couldn’t engage any serious efforts from a depleted Heidelberg side as South showed their experience and wore proceedings to a seemingly inevitable conclusion.
Despair abounded for the countless Heidelberg fans crammed into Olympic Park, yet their grief was rendered invisible by euphoric South Melbourne devotees rushing to greet their side with well-deserved commendation.
Their side now enters their second NPL grand final in a row, and along with the 2014 league title is a momentous achievement even for stalwarts of Australian football. They will be up again stiff challengers, however in either premiers Bentleigh Greens or the potent attacking force Oakleigh Cannons.