This week it’s Mark Gojszyk taking full control of the NPL and NPL 1 Week That Was, and it promises to… be a pretty similar summary format as always.
The Gods were smiling on the Suns as they picked up their first win of the season, while all that glitters is not gold in Ballarat, as the home side couldn’t make the most of their million-dollar redeveloped stadium, going down to South Melbourne FC, or 7/7 FC, or 100% FC, or W-W-W-W-W-W-W FC. Call them what you want, there’s no denying that they are firm title favourites at this stage.
Elsewhere, Oakleigh casually slammed half a dozen goals past Dandenong Thunder, Knights slumped to their fifth loss in a row, and 3-2 seemed to be the flavour of the week, with no less than three games ending in such a high-scoring scoreline.
Oakleigh Cannons 6 -0 Dandenong Thunder at Jack Edwards Reserve
Reminiscent of a tennis scoreline commonly attributed to Roger Federer, Dandenong Thunder were thumped 6-0 by Oakleigh Cannons on Friday. Oakleigh have been trigger happy at home this season, and made amends for an earlier 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture between the two sides with a blistering performance.
Miron Bleiberg showed his wily experience by putting Goran Zoric on the wing and instructing players to play the ball at the feet of Veton Korcari, who proved to be ultimate attacking outlet. Zoric ended up with a brace, Dean Piemonte nabbed a hat trick- incredibly off the bench- and Rama Tavsancioglu turned in an own goal to rub salt in Dandenong’s wound. It didn’t help Dandenong’s cause that David King was dismissed early in the second half, allowing Oakleigh free reign on the ball in midfield.
Green Gully 3-2 Bentleigh Greens at Green Gully Reserve
Jason Hayne’s quickfire double earned the home side a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Bentleigh, making it two wins in a row and a mini-revival for Green Gully, who are slowly recovering from early drubbings and managerial changes to build some winning momentum.
Tasmanian Matt Sanders nodded home the first goal for Gully after just a quarter of an hour, before former Football Superstar reality show winner and Melbourne Victory player Luke Pilkington squared the ledger for Bentleigh with a lovely left footed strike. Bentleigh took the ascendency after the break through Wayne Wallace, with the result looking ominous for Gully. However, Hayne came into his own soon after, slotting home a penalty and scoring a brilliant individual effort in a five minute burst to hand Bentleigh their first loss of the season
Ballarat Red Devils 1-2 South Melbourne at Morshead Stadium
The former gold mining town may boast the beginnings of a million-dollar redeveloped ground, but South Melbourne were worth their weight in gold on Saturday, winning 2-1 on a pristine Morsehead Stadium pitch to extend their NPL streak to seven wins from seven, a club record.
All three goals came in the first half and it was usual suspect Milos Lujic opening the scoring in the 11th minute, maintaining his incredible goal a game ratio this season. Jamie Reed then got on the end of a Michael Eagar low cross to double the lead. Dane Milovanovic pulled one back for Ballarat just before half time with a brilliant curling free kick, but that proved to be the last goal recorded on a rainy day as the scorers remained untroubled for the rest of the game.
Hume City 2-0 defeated Melbourne Knights at Broadmeadows Valley Park
Currently, they are the Melbourne Knights in dented armour. A five minute spell in the second half which yielded two goals to Hume City drove a dagger through the Knights’ hearts, condemning them to their fifth consecutive NPL loss.
It was a tense and goalless first half as the Knights played devoid of confidence. They were undone again in the second half as Baki Efe and Nick Hegarty scored goals in quick succession, securing an easy win for Hume. The Knights are committing countless crimes against the art of defending, and need to sort out their problems quick smart before the season slips away for good.
Northcote City 2-3 Port Melbourne at John Cain Memorial Reserve
Port Melbourne ended a two match losing streak in fortuitous style, defeating defending champions Northcote with most of their goals coming against the run of play.
Despite being the better of the two sides in the early exchanges, Northcote found themselves trailing after an Adrian Chiappetta foul on Lambros Honos in the box led to a Kevin Braniff goal from the spot. The hosts equalised just ten minutes later when Kristian Konstantinidis capitalised on a corner kick.
City deservedly took the lead after half time when James Kalifatidis met a Trent Rixon flick-on from Konstantinidis’s cross. Northcote would pay for not taking more of their chances when Nicholas Krousouratis was in the right place at the right time to meet a parried save, again leveling the contest. Then Honos bought a ticket and won Port Melbourne the raffle when his long range strike was deflected into the back Northcote’s net, earning the away side an unlikely victory.
Werribee City 1-2 Goulburn Valley Suns at Galvin Park
Goulburn Valley Suns broke their drought and recorded their first ever NPL victory, defeating Werribee City 2-1 at Galvin Park. Craig Carley, the forgotten joint top NPL goalscorer alongside the more fancied Milos Lujic, has been scoring for fun in a losing side, and put the visitors up in the 33rd minute when he scored the rebound from his own saved penalty.
Werribee then also went a man down when Oliver Rowland earned his second yellow for dissent, and it was the spark the Bees needed, stinging the Suns with a goal in the 70th minute, when Simon Zappia got on the end of a muffed goalkeeper clearance and scored from 20 yards. The game stayed level for just two minutes as the Suns regained the lead, with Ben Clarke benefiting from a Hernan Espindola run down the wing. The sun shone on the Shepparton-based side, as they held on in the tense final minutes to earn an historic victory.
Heidelberg United 3-2 Pascoe Vale at Olympic Village
Goalless in the first half, this contest between Heidelberg and Pascoe Vale opened up after the break, with five goals in the second half split 3-2 in the hosts’ favour. A brace to Daniel Heffernan gifted Heidelberg a 2-0 lead, before Pascoe vale pegged one back through youngster Matthew Lazirides. Jack Petrie made mince meat of Pascoe Vale with the Bergers’s third goal in the 90th minute, as Michael Ferrante’s 94th minute goal merely consolation for the visitors.
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It paid to be the travelling side this week in the NPL 1 as six of the seven away sides won their games, while Bulleen were just five minutes away from completing the clean sweep, ultimately having to settle for a draw.
Avondale Heights snatched top spot this week as Box Hill continued to drop points after leading the competition early with four from four. Bendigo earned their first win of the season, and Kingston’s kids earned a remarkable victory.
Richmond Soccer Club 3-4 lost to Sunshine George Cross at Kevin Bartlett Reserve
A soggy Friday night at Kevin Barlett reserve saw no Sunshine for Richmond as the Georgies claimed a thrilling, 4-3 extra time victory. The floodgates were open all game as Sunshine’s Eddie Cetkin and Richmond’s Ryan Oppermann both scored from set pieces in the first half.
Tim Purcell stormed the home side ahead after the break, before Manuel Sadik steadied the ship for George Cross. Richmond were f again feeling right as rain when Tom Cahill did a Tim Cahill and headed home a goal, but Nedjet Sahin rained on their parade soon after. Delfin Mosibe then totally dampened the home side’s spirits with Sunshine’s winner in stoppage time.
Moreland Zebras 1-2 Whittlesea Rangers at De Chene Reserve
Ahmet Turer’s 27th minute penalty looked like it would be enough for Whittlesea to claim an away Victory over Moreland, converting from the spot after Kliment Dimitrieski was felled by Moreland captain Mile Medojedovic in the box.
However, Evan Batsis was determined give home fans a reason to celebrate- with Moreland only picking up just four points all season- equalizing in the 75th minute. But just five minutes later Matthew Iuliano consigned the Zebras to their third loss in a row with a cool finish.
North Geelong Warriors 2-3 FC Bendigo at Elcho Park
Bendigo struck gold at Elcho Park, winning their first ever NPL 1 game. They did it the hard way, almost replicating Liverpool’s effort against Crystal Palace, but held on for a 3-2 victory.
Cruising at 3-0 after George Slefendorfas capitalized on a keeper error, and Matthew Breeze (not to be mistaken with the former A-League referee) scored a brace, including a 30 yard rocket. There were a few nervy moments as Matthew Townley and Nikola Jurkovic scored late for the home side. Alas, the equalizer never came, much to the relief of the Bendigo players, not just as it was their first win of the season, but because they had struggled to close out games in similar positions before.
Box Hill United 2-2 FC Bulleen Lions at Wembley Park
Kenny Athiu was again Box Hill’s saviour, and spared the home side from complete embarrassment as his brace salvaged a 2-2 draw against Bulleen.
Having gone four wins from four games to begin the season, Box Hill have only grabbed one point in their last two, and it could have been zero as Taka Nishimoto and Joey Katebian twice put the visitors in the lead; the latter scoring with just five minutes left in regulation time.
However, the 6’4 Athiu rose to head home in the final minute of the game, giving home fans something to smile about, and leaving Bulleen to wonder just what it has to do to stop conceding late goals and giving up vital season points.
Brunswick City 1-3 Springvale White Eagles at Dunstan Reserve
Springvale White Eagles earned their second win on the trot with a 3-1 away victory against Brunswick. Springvale looked the more positive side in the first half and deservedly went into the break 1-0 up through a deflected Dejan Erakovic goal. Scoring hasn’t necessarily been an issue for the White Eagles this season, rather their defence has, and their frailties at the back were on show again as a corner kick ended in the back of their net via an unlucky Vojislav Milojevic own goal.
Feeling somewhat aggrieved at not making the most of their dominance on the game, Springvale looked to make amends and a Jamie De Smit double did the damage. Impressively, all three of Springvale’s goals were assisted by Milojevic, making it two hat-tricks of assists in consecutive games for the winger, coinciding with Springvale’s winning run.
READ MORE > White Eagle soaring high
Dandenong City 1-3 Kington City at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex
Kingston City made it three wins on the trot with an away victory against Dandenong City. The win was made all the more impressive as eight of the starting eleven were under-20 players, with the injury and illness ravaged Kingston struggling to field a side
Deniz Sabanovski, Anthony Stavridis put the visitors two goals up. Dandenong gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a 90th minute goal, but in committing men forward in hope of an equalizer, were left exposed at the back. Gino Defeo, who arrived late to the game after getting lost on the way (not as bad as Andre Wisdom however), found the back of the net in the dying stages and put the result beyond doubt, in what coach Nick Tolios described as his “finest result”.
St Albans Saints 1-2 Avondale Heights at Churchill Reserve
This was a game that would guarantee top spot for the winner and it was St Albans who took the lead after big Barry Devlin nodded home from close range following a spill by the Avondale Heights keeper. The big defender now has three goals for the season, worthy of any striker.
Avondale hit back just before the break when Georgevski struck from distance. Despite having more chances, St Albans would find themselves behind when the prolific Khrapko turned in a cross, and were never able to recover, going down 2-1.
READ MORE > Laurie: We’ll keep improving
Avondale Heights not resting on their laurels
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Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the Women’s Premier League! Tomasz Ng brings you all things women’s football this week, with all the drama from the WPL as well as the State Knockout Cup draw.
Bundoora United continued to surge up the table, defeating a weakened Monbulk outfit 8-0 to kickstart the weekend, while Heidelberg overcame Ashburton 4-1 on a difficult afternoon. The FFV U17s game against South Melbourne was postponed due to the NTC playing an interstate tournament.
Sunday’s only game saw Cairnlea lose 2-1 to Boroondara Eagles in heart breaking circumstances, but more on that later.
Monday night saw a couple of somewhat upsets as Bulleen showed their class against Box Hill in a 3-1 win, while Sandringham were held to a 2-2 draw by Casey Comets.
Bundoora United 8-0 Monbulk Rangers at Hillsview Recreation Reserve
It was business as usual for the home side as Bundoora recorded the season’s first true blow out score. Missing the likes of Emily Hulbert from the start, as well as Eliza Johns, Emma Heckenberg and Alicia McKillen altogether, it proved to be a difficult afternoon for the newcomers against the competition’s favourites.
Enza Barilla got the ball rolling with the first before Rachel Alonso doubled the lead before half time. It got worse for the visitors after the break as Bundoora set out to kill the contest. Gulcan Koca made it three, before Tyla-Jay Vlajnic and Steph Galea scored goals in quick succession to bring the lead to five. Jackie Vogt then made it six, while Amanda Lawless also got in on the act with Bundoora’s seventh. Finally, Koca capped off the win with her brace, and Bundoora won 8-0.
Heidelberg United 4-1 Ashburton at Olympic Village
There was an early scare for Heidelberg, but they managed to comeback to record a convincing win on the day. The game was threatened to be called off due to poor pitch conditions, but it got underway as scheduled and it was Ashburton who struck first through a Penny Bakopoulos own goal.
Heidelberg were struggling for any sort of rhythm in the first half, but ended up scoring through Angie Rassias and Kendra Jones. Ebru Hasan then scored a cracking strike from outside the box to make it three, before Michelle Verzi rounded off a great team move as she made it 4-1 to the hosts, and a seemingly comfortable victory in the end.
Boroondara Eagles 2-1 Cairnlea at Knox Regional Football Centre
It was complete heartbreak for Cairnlea on a cold, wet and windy night in Knox, as they fell to the Eagles late in the match. The match begun brightly, and it looked as if the Eagles were going to take the lead sooner rather than later, but a heroic goalkeeping display by Diarna Cartwright kept Cairnlea in the contest.
The visitors were also threatening on the counter and Aneta Komijat seized an opportunity minutes before the break to side foot Cairnlea into the lead. They managed to hold onto that lead thanks to more fine work from Cartwright, but it was all undone after a couple of contentious refereeing decisions.
Racheal Quigley was the beneficiary of a generous penalty, after being adjudged to have been felled in the box, and she duly slotted a penalty in off the post to equalise. The Eagles then turned it completely around with only a couple minutes left to play when Alex Gummer let fly from outside the area, leaving Cartwright no chance for once.
Sandringham 2-2 Casey Comets at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Casey are still winless after five rounds, but managed to come away with a big point from Kingston Heath after coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Sandringham on Monday night. The hosts took the lead through Emma Runnalls, who beat the offside trap to score a simple finish, and doubled it when Stephanie Tanti slotted the ball past Dwyer.
But Sandringham let slip in a style befitting of Liverpool, and suddenly found themselves back on level terms after Angela Durton-Ryan and Tayla Vlaeminck scored for Casey, capitalising on the home side’s uncharacteristic errors. The match petered out to a scrappy draw in the end, as neither side were able to make any real openings.
Bulleen Lions 3-1 Box Hill United at Veneto Club
Bulleen made the most of a fast start to put an end to Box Hill’s 100% record in the other Monday night clash. Lia Privitelli opened the scoring just eight minutes in, and set about laying on an assist for Dani Gudelj’s first goal in Bulleen colours five minutes later. Box Hill had no answer for the early momentum shown by the Lions, and couldn’t find a way back into the game.
Natalie Exon did score a rebound after Frances Land failed to parry an Elly Curo shot round the post, but they were hit hard by a potentially serious knee injury to Daniela Digiammarco and couldn’t find any real momentum. Instead it was Privitelli who secured her brace, placing a shot out of Melissa Barbieri’s reach.
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The Women’s State Knockout Cup 3rd Round draw was completed on Monday, and here are the fixtures (team’s respective leagues in brackets):
Preston Lions (SL1) vs Warragul United (SL4S)
Melbourne Knights (SL2NW) vs South Melbourne (WPL)
Essendon Royals (SL3W) vs Brighton (SL1)
Box Hill (WPL) vs Heidelberg United (WPL)
Lara (SL3W) vs Bundoora United (WPL)
Sandringham (WPL) vs Monbulk Rangers (WPL)
Boroondara Eagles (WPL) vs Melbourne University (SL1)
Bulleen Lions (WPL) vs Eltham Redbacks (SL2NW)
Fixture times and dates to be confirmed, but will fall on the May 18th weekend.
There are some tasty fixtures are certainly ahead, as Box Hill and Heidelberg do battle in what has been a fierce rivalry in recent years, while Sandringham face off with fellow WPL club Monbulk.
Boroondara will welcome Melbourne University, whom they did the double over in State 1 last year, winning 4-2 and 3-0.
Bulleen’s head coach Bobby McGuinness will host his former club Eltham, who have actually begun their own State League campaign well, and who beat Croydon 2-1 and Elwood 10-2 to get to this point.
Melbourne Knight will play host to South Melbourne, in what is a very rare meeting between these two in women’s football.
That is it for this week, until next time!