Another week has gone by, and there is plenty of action to wrap up with so much football on offer over the past seven days. There was some mid-week action from the Women’s State Knockout cup, with the highlight coming from Darebin where Heidelberg recorded a miraculous come from behind victory against Ashburton in the only all-WPL clash of the round, notching two goals in stoppage time to knock out Ashburton.
But with a lack of information available regarding cup fixtures, we kick off our wrap in the Women’s Premier League, beginning with Box Hill’s Friday night clash against Cairnlea.
Box Hill United 4-0 Cairnlea at Wembley Park
Cairnlea went into the game confident after picking up a tough win away at Monbulk last week, but it was Box Hill’s Natalie Exon who continued her excellent start to the season as she lit up the contest with a pair of quick fire goals in the 22nd and 26th minute, before rounding off her hat trick with a lobbed effort in the 82nd. Ellie Brush capped off the win with a 35 yard stunner as Box Hill rammed home their superiority over Cairnlea.
Bundoora United 5-1 Heidelberg United at Hillview Recreation Reserve
The hosts recorded their first win of the season after draws in their opening two games of the season. They got off to the perfect start when Adelyn Ayton punished Heidelberg’s poor defending with literally seconds on the clock. Rachel Alonso made it two from the spot in the 32nd minute before Julia Nicolaci pulled one back for the visitors. But there wasn’t to be any comeback as an own goal to Alex Bogdanovski, and a strike each to Steph Galea and Gulcan Koca sealed the comprehensive result.
FFV U17s Girls 2-3 Monbulk Rangers at State Football Centre
Monbulk staged a stunning comeback against the National Training Centre girls with three superb goals helping them turn around a 2-0 deficit at the break. Janna Lawson got the U17s off to a great start by tapping in Noel Boersma’s shot while Beattie Goad sprung the offside trap to make it two. The development side had a host of chances to extend their lead but found it evaporated quickly with a pair of wonderful Nikki Ceeney strikes either side of half time. Emily Hulbert then clinched the visitors first win at this level late in the game with a rasping drive of her own.
READ MORE: Quenten Wells: “Getting our first points in Premier League is a good feeling”
Boroondara Eagles 4-1 Ashburton at Knox Regional Football Centre
The Eagles continued Ashburton’s horror start to the season thanks to a hat trick to Racheal Quigley. The midfielder smashed home the opener after just six minutes before doubling her tally in similar fashion half an hour later. Ashburton did actually pull a goal back after Anna Lanning only managed to push Bonnie Barnes’ corner into her own net but Boroondara compounded their misery with a third for Quigley and a long range rifle from Emma Hubbard.
Sandringham 0-0 South Melbourne at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
The rematch of last year’s Grand Final ended in a dour draw as both teams cancelled each other out. Emma Runnalls had the best opportunity for the home side, forcing Beth Mason-Jones into a good save, while Tiff Eliadis and Selin Kuralay were unable to find the target with efforts of their own.
READ MORE: Bill Mihaloudis: “It was a midfield battle”
Bulleen Lions 2-0 Casey Comets at Veneto Club
Bulleen made it two wins in a row after defeating the Comets 2-0, and it could have been a lot more had it not been for the unorthodox keeping of Stephanie Dwyer. Olivia Edwards gave Bulleen the lead after finishing good work from Cindy Lay, while Tessa Sernio put away a spot kick in the 86th minute after the hosts had spurned a number of opportunities to score. Casey meanwhile failed to hit their groove again and ended up with their second consecutive loss.
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Now over to the National Premier League, where Oakleigh kicked off the weekend in spectacular fashion.
Oakleigh Cannons 6-1 Green Gully at Jack Edwards Reserve
Miron Bleiberg’s men continued their unbeaten start with a huge win over 2013 State Knockout Cup champions Green Gully. It wasn’t a good start for Aaron Symons in his new role as head coach as Nate Foster notched a brace with goals in the 15th and 21st minute to being the rout. Andreas Govas then curled in a free kick to make it three before Bosnjak went on a run to make it 4 soon after the break. Mitchell Bissinger headed in to claw the deficit back but Oakleigh ran away with the game after Evan Christodoulou and Goran Zoric recorded goals of their own.
READ MORE: Miron Bleiberg: “NPL adds new dimensions”
Pascoe Vale 0-1 Northcote City at Hosken Reserve
A lone strike to Trent Rixon ended Northcote’s losing streak as they finally kept a clean sheet to pick up the three points away to Pascoe Vale. The home side threatened to take the lead, but found Chris Theodoridis in fine form. Instead, Rixon’s header in the 72nd minute ensured Northcote halted their wretched start to the season, despite Pascoe Vale’s attempts to equalise late in the contest.
Hume City 0-3 South Melbourne at Broadmeadows Valley Park
South Melbourne have opened a two point gap over Oakleigh and Dandenong after four rounds on the NPL after maintaining their 100% record against Hume City. Richie Cardozo hit the post in the first half from a free kick, but South came out strong in the second half and Nick Epifano scored a brace in the 60th and 75th minute to give South control of the game. Milos Lujic added a third in the 78th minute to take him top of the scorers charts, as South ran out comfortable winners in the end.
Goulburn Valley Suns 1-2 Port Melbourne Sharks at McEwen Reserve
The Suns were unable to bounce back from their 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Heidelberg in Round 3, as they fell late on to Port Melbourne. Nick Tzoulis opened the scoring for the visitors with a fine volley before Craig Carley equalised for the hosts in the 66th minute. It wasn’t to be the Suns’ day however as Alessandro Venezia made sure Port Melbourne returned home with a win.
Werribee City 0-1 Bentleigh Greens at Galvin Park
Werribee were unable to go on from their upset against the Knights in Round 3, as they succumbed to a narrow defeat to Bentleigh Greens. A Brent McGrath strike was the difference between the sides, as Werribee struggled to find openings. The match lacked many chances overall between both sides though, and Bentleigh will just be happy to come away with a good result.
Melbourne Knights 1-2 Dandenong Thunder at Knights Stadium
The Knights once again spurned the opportunity to pick up points at home as they fell to Dandenong Thunder on Sunday afternoon. A smart strike from Jake Nakic opened the scoring for Dandenong but Rodrigo Covarrubias equalised for the hosts in the 72nd minute. Brendan Craig had the last laugh though, as he nudged the ball into the back of the net amongst a sea of bodies. Melbourne Knights were left to rue opportunities missed too, as they fell to a second straight loss.
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It was a week of déjà vu for many teams this week, as Box Hill won their fourth game in a row. Brunswick and Springvale continued their losing starts to the campaign, while Bendigo squandered a lead yet again. Bulleen followed up last week’s thriller against Richmond by also giving up an advantage, as well as receiving a red card.
Whittlesea Ranges 2-4 Avondale Heights at Epping Stadium
Avondale kicked off the round with a comfortable 4-2 victory away to Whittlesea. The game was effectively over after Avondale surged to a 4-0 lead, scoring twice in either half. Opeksiy Khrapko led the line for Avondale by netting a brace, and was joined on the goal scorer’s list by Andrew Le Page and Jason Principato.
Whittlesea may have earned some respectability with two late goals to Ahmet Turer and Tomislav Trbuhovich, but the damage was done by then, with the scoreline perhaps even flattering the home side.
Richmond 0-5 Kingston City at Kevin Bartlett Reserve
Kingston City came, saw, and conquered the more fancied Richmond on Saturday, making a mockery of many pundits who predicted a close contest, if not a comfortable win for the home side. Despite a less than impressive run of form from the visitors, losing their last two games, coach Nick Tolios’s pre-match words must have had a profound effect on his players, as they jumped out of the blocks rampant and inspired.
In just the 8th minute of the game, Kingston’s John Maclean had the audacity to dink keeper Matt Hrastov from 25 yards out after the latter came off his line. Richmond’s Tom Cahill could not replicate the perpetual feats of his almost-namesake Socceroo, as he blasted a chance from close range over the bar. Left back George Stavridis then got lucky with a cross-cum-shot that again left Hrastov stranded.
Velibor Mitrovic compounded Richmond’s woes after the break, while Gino Defeo completed the rout with a brace.
Moreland Zebras 3-4 Sunshine George Cross at De Chene Reserve
In what is being dubbed the ‘Thriller in De Chene(r)’ by this author, the visitors Sunshine George Cross came back from two goals down to upset Moreland Zebras 3-4.
While Sunshine’s Muhamad Chawk was the initial beneficiary of the early end-to-end action, scoring after just five minutes, Scott Robson quickly restored parity for Moreland. The Zebras then took the lead through an audacious Simon Tolli volley from 20 yards, and nabbed a third via Evan Batsis after the break.
Sunshine refused to back down, probing Moreland’s defence and earning a penalty, which Delvin Mosibe successfully converted. Chawk then scored his second and Manuell Sadik sensationally scored the winner, which was only secured after a string of Robert Santili saves to deny the home side late in the game.
Brunswick City 0-3 Box Hill at Dunstan Reserve
Box Hill and Brunswick may have both ended this game with four straight, but that’s where the similarities end, with their respective ladder positions painting the picture. Box Hill put away a disappointing Brunswick 3-0 to keep them on top of the NPL 1 table with maximum points, relegating the latter to the bottom.
In a case of déjà vu, Box Hill did it in similar fashion to last week’s 3-0 win over Dandenong City, scoring three goals in quick succession in the first half before shutting up shop again. Kenny Athiu, Rinor Muriqi and George Howard did the damage. While coach Arthur Georgiou was enraged with the 3-0 performance seven days ago, he was more pragmatic after Saturday’s game of the same scoreline. “Today even though the pattern of the scoreboard was similar, I was a lot happier, because we achieved closer to 45 minutes of what our intended target was. The week before we achieved 30-35; today was 45,” the somewhat more appeased perfectionist said.
North Geelong Warrios 2-1 Bulleen Lions at Elcho Park
Bulleen again lost a lead, and a player, in going down 2-1 to North Geelong Warriors in Lara. Fans thought Paul Harvey had Bulleen in front early on when he rounded Geelong ‘keeper Frano Saric, but only managed to hit the side netting with his resulting shot. Joseph Katebian made up for the miss with a goal of his own, which would ultimately prove to be the high point of the game for Bulleen, as everything went downhill from there.
Soon after, Vito Cichello scored a goal of the season contender from 30 yards, which unless somebody filmed, will go down in folklore. After the break, captain Matteo Ballan became the third player sent off in two games for Bulleen, impeding on last man Mark Baleka who was bearing down on goal. The strain of playing with ten men again took its toll on the away side, as they succumbed to a Michael Boyar winner late in the game.
Dandenong City 5-2 Springvale White Eagles at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex
Springvale joined Brunswick on doughnuts as they also succumbed to their fourth straight loss to begin the NPL 1 season. Despite creating decent half-chances in the opening 15 minutes, that’s as much of an impression as Springvale made on the game, as City soon took over proceedings. One may have thought their rocky season would continue as Keegan Ziada had a penalty blocked, and subsequently missed an open goal on the follow up, but Halil Gur ensured they would lead at the break with a concise strike.
In a frenetic 10 minute period after the 60th minute, Dandenong scored three times and Springvale once, as both sides capitulated at the back. However, Dandenong were more clinical up front. Dario Matkovic started proceedings with a wicked free kick, Vojislav Milojevic pulled one back for the visitors, Raymond Lay and Damien Miskulin scored in the next three minutes, and Goran Jozeljic put on the finishing touches five minutes later. Jamie De Smit earned a consolation for Springvale in the 77th minute.
St Albans Saints 2-1 Bendigo at Churchill Reserve
Alarm bells may have been tolling at Churchill Reserve after St Albans went a goal down in the first half against Bendigo, but they remained resilient and mounted a strong comeback to defeat Bendigo 2-1.
The opener was a real sucker punch, as St Albans had the balance of play in the first half, but in pushing men forward to break down Bendigo’s defence, were caught on the counter as a long ball play saw Matthew Breeze sneak through with the first goal. After likely copping a spray from coach Toby Paterson at half time, the home side came out motivated, and scored twice through Craig Sweeney and Adam Nakic to claim the three points. Bendigo have made a bad habit of giving up leads this season, losing vital competition points in the process.
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And of course we had Melbourne Heart, who were unable to hold onto a 2-1 lead against the Western Sydney Wanderers, leaving them to take out the wooden spoon in the Hyundai A-League. Heart also farewelled Harry Kewell, who has now retired from the game.
Melbourne Heart 2-3 Western Sydney Wanderers at AAMI Park
Nikolai Topor-Stanley had given the visitors a lead with a towering header, but Orlando Engelaar had designs on a comeback with the giant Dutchman unleashing a piledriver from 35 yards that barely got off the ground. Jonatan Germano was then adjudged to have brought down Mark Bridge in the box, albeit harshly, but it didn’t matter in the end as Shinji Ono clipped the crossbar with his penalty, sending the ball up and over.
Taking full advantage of their good fortune, Jason Hoffman’s deflected shot then looped over Covic and into the back of the net. But there was more drama in store, as Brendan Santalab got away with a push on Rob Wielart before tapping in from close range to equalise. With momentum with the Wanderers, they stole the points late on as Hersi pounced on some poor defending to secure Wanderers’ second place finish.
READ MORE: Engelaar to quit Heart
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Finally last night a bit of football history happened at “Docklands Stadium”, as Melbourne Victory hosted Guangzhou Evergrande in the AFC Champions League.
Melbourne Victory 2-0 Guangzhou Evergrande at Docklands Stadium
The Victory couldn’t have wished for a better start as Mark Milligan finished off Jesse Makarounas’ through ball, and probably should’ve gone further ahead throughout the match had Kosta Barbarouses and Makarounas himself had their finishing boots on. Nathan Coe kept Victory in the lead following a string of top class saves, and eventually James Troisi secured the monumental result for the Victory, which funnily enough leaves every team in Group G on 7 points, meaning there is everything to play for in Jeonbuk during Matchday 6.
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So there you have it. If you got down this far, congratulations! It has been a seriously busy week in football, and it all continues as the NPL kicks off a midweek round tonight. We’ll be back next week with more of the action in and around Melbourne.
NPL1 Words from Mark Gojsyzk.