Three teams went undefeated for the month of June in the NPL Victoria, with each of those clubs earning a nomination – in one case, two nominations – for the Player of the Month. Elsewhere there’s reward for effort as Pascoe Vale have turned their fortunes around with three wins from four games, as one of their star attackers earns a nomination also.
With a number of previously struggling teams finding their feet in the NPL2 Victoria, it opened the gate for plenty more nominees for the Player of the Month in the states second tier competition. Some familiar names and quiet achievers feature from some of the more successful clubs of the month, with players such as Goulburn Valley Suns’ Shaun Kane incredibly unlucky not to make the cut.
Incorporating Round’s 15 through 18 for the month of July, we’ve plucked out some of the NPL Victoria’s best performers, so get your votes in below for both the NPL and NPL2 Player of the Month.
NPL
Craig Carley (Hume City)
Scored in every single game in the month of June as Hume City took a total of 10 points from a possible 12. Without his goals, Hume would’ve taken just five points, a telling sign of the impact the Englishman has had since moving to ABD Stadium in the mid-season transfer window. An injury-time goal in the 2-1 win over Avondale saw them steal all three points at the death, while it was Carley who also popped up to equalise in a 1-1 draw with Bentleigh Greens. A brace followed in the 3-1 win over Northcote City, before he contributed a further two goals and a class assist to Nick Hegarty in the 6-0 win over Melbourne Victory.
Milos Lujic (South Melbourne)
Bar a disappointing FFA Cup exit at the hands of the Bentleigh Greens, it’s been a big upturn in form for South Melbourne who’d experienced a mid-season trough throughout May. Chris Taylor has shuffled the pack after a heavy loss to Heidelberg United in Round 13, which saw some positive performances spread across the back four as they tied for the best defensive record of the month. At the other end was striker Milos Lujic banging in goals, as he thrived on the increased rate of service into his path, laying on a hat-trick in the 3-1 win against Northcote City, while also netting singles against Bulleen Lions and Richmond SC. Looked very productive in those fixtures and were it not for some good goalkeeping, that tally could’ve been much higher.
Chris Oldfield (Hume City)
While Hume have earned plenty of plaudits for their work in the forward third, their stability in defence has seen them hold the equal best defensive record of the month with just three goals conceded, with the Broadmeadows-based outfit conceding no more than one in any given match. Central to this has been the performances of Chris Oldfield, widely regarded as amongst the best keepers in the NPL Victoria. Lightning fast reflexes, and hands as safe as houses, Oldfield made the Team of the Week on three separate occasions, lauded for his brilliant displays against Avondale FC and Bentleigh Greens, while also crucial in keeping a clean sheet against Melbourne Victory with some brilliant shot-stopping, adding an assist to Craig Carley in for good measure.
Davey van ‘t Schip (Pascoe Vale)
Full of tricks, pace and as it’s proved this month, a clinical touch, Pascoe Vale’s flying Dutchman Davey van ‘t Schip has torn apart the competition in recent weeks and has been a major factor in his side’s change in on-field fortunes. Amongst the four most in-form teams in the competition Paco have won three of their last four fixtures and have scored the second most amount of goals in the NPL (10). van ‘t Schip has five of those, netting once in the 3-2 loss to Green Gully, while producing man of the match performances with braces in wins against Northcote City and Port Melbourne Sharks. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, he was a standout in their 2-1 win over Heidelberg United, where he produced a brilliant scoop turn move before assisting for Marino Gasparis’ second half winner.
Jack Webster (Bentleigh Greens)
Tasked with marshalling a makeshift defensive structure in the absence of Ross Archibald, who missed the final two games of June with a shoulder injury, amongst many more partial absentees including Troy Ruthven, Liam McCormick, Wayne Wallace and Luke Pilkington, Webster has stepped up to help Bentleigh collect a return of 10 points out of a possible 12. His experience has been vital in helping new centre-back partner Pilkington adjust to his new role, while he was the best on ground against Richmond SC in Round 15 after repelling a number of dangerous attacks at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. A month of huge adversity for Bentleigh, which they’ve come out of well because of the performances of the centre-half.
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NPL2
Ryan McGuffie (St Albans Saints)
There’s no hiding that St Albans have endured a turbulent time of late. A big mid-season player turnover is nothing new at this level, but throw in coaching staff to the mix and Churchill Reserve has seen some instability of late. One constant, however, has been Ryan McGuffie, with the captain constantly putting in tireless performances at the heart of defence as St Albans still picked up a credible seven points for the month to be in third place and still push the top two. Yet equally impressive has been his goal tally – three in the last month to take his season tally to seven and emerge as the club’s top scorer. In fact, only two players in the West scored more than McGuffie last month, as he takes over the quirky ability for a centre-back to be a prolific scorer at St Albans after the versatile Barry Devlin.
George McHeileh (Bendigo City)
Rewind a month ago and Bendigo City had only managed a solitary win and a draw in 14 games. Now, after the month of June, they trebled both tallies to accrue three wins and three draws in 18. It’s a vast improvement – almost doubling their goal tally from 10 to 18, and cutting their average goals conceded from an average four a game to 1.25 for the month – and while they’ve seen off the likes of Murray and Nunawading, it’s results against Box Hill and Dandenong City that would have been most pleasing for coach Jose Santamarta . The fulcrum of the side continues to be captain George McHeileh. A commanding presence in midfield, his work rate is exceptional, he has been able to marshal a young side to improved results, and also has the ability to pop up and score a winner.
Nick Modaffari (Dandenong Thunder)
Barnes, Colosimo, Sarkies are just some of the names who have become synonymous with Dandenong Thunder’s promotion push this year. Yet for every big name is a tireless hard worker in the team who proves to be just as important a cog in the machine, that may go without the public plaudits, but is just as important to the coach’s plans for the campaign. That has proved to be Modaffari, who is yet to miss a game this season despite often flying under the radar. Yet his contribution from fullback has been one of unrelenting consistency, in which his uncompromising defending has troubled attackers countlessly and led to his nomination this month.
Atilla Ofli (Whittlesea Ranges)
Take away goals scored against Nunawading and Ofli would be leading the NPL2 Golden Boot race against Brandon Barnes. While the two-horse race has Barnes marginally in the lead at 30 to 27, the last month has seen Ofli make massive inroads against the Englishman in match-winning performances that has simultaneously propelled Whittlesea to the top of the table. A hat-trick against Goulburn Valley Suns was impressive enough against a team who are no pushovers. But then, perhaps his most crucial goalscoring performances came against the top two sides in the East, Dandenong Thunder and Kingston City, who up to this point are still considered two of the best outfits in NPL2 overall. A brace against the Thunder in a draw and a hat-trick against City in a win not only stamped Whittlesea’s credentials as promotion and even title contenders in the West, but also showed that Ofli is no flat track bully and is able to dominate high calibre opponents. Ironically, his lowest haul of the month was against cellar dwellers Nunawading – just the solitary strike.
Amir Osmancevic (Dandenong City)
There’s no hiding that the move from crosstown rivals Thunder to City shook up the football world in Dandenong. The move wasn’t without conjecture, with Osmancevic plucked from the state leagues in pre-season and hitting the ground running at George Andrews – he’s already won one Player of the Month gong while still at Thunder. Now that’s history, and he has the chance to repeat that feat with Dandenong City, a club at which he has also hit the ground running since joining mid-season. A goal a game ratio saw him partner up well with fellow new recruit Ross Frame to propel Dandenong City to consolidate third place and have a sniff of second placed Kingston City.
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