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Six rounds in, and South Melbourne have made it six straight wins thanks to Milos Lujic’s late strike against arch rivals Melbourne Knights.
Oakleigh have kept in touch with the leaders with a good 2-0 win of their own against Hume City, while Bentleigh Greens sit third, also maintaining their unbeaten record with a 3-1 win over Dandenong Thunder.
Heidelberg stunned Port Melbourne with a 4-0 rout in the other Friday night clash, and Green Gully ended their wretched run of losses with a 2-1 win over Goulburn Valley Suns.
Northcote have continued to grow in confidence following a rough start to the season, and defeated Werribee City 4-1 on their home patch. The other fixture of the weekend was also a cracker, as Ballarat let slip a 2-0 lead to only draw 2-2 with Pascoe Vale.
For a full wrap up of the NPL round, take a look at The Week that Was.
So with that, let’s get onto the selections then shall we!
GK – John Honos (OC): A consecutive selection in our Team of the Week for Honos and definitely deserved of his spot. The Oakleigh custodian has been decisive in his sides’ unbeaten run throughout the season and reflected in the Cannon’s 2-0 defeat over Hume City. Honos was acknowledged as one of the standout players in his performance against Hume, pulling off some integral saves to earn his third clean sheet of the season.
LB – Les Doumbalis (HU): The second time Heidelberg’s left back has earned selection in the Team of the Week this season. The full back strung together an impressive performance and was a standout a in Heidelberg’s 4-0 rout of Port Melbourne. The team and and ‘keeper Ryan Norval have Doumbalis to thank for an acrobatic goal line clearance which maintained a clean sheet for the Berger’s.
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CB – Daniel Jones (GG): Jones was a solid figure in the Green Gully back four on Saturday as the Cavaliers came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over the Goulburn Valley Suns. Gully have had a horrid run of results in the past month, but Jones and the rest of the defence held firm and was an integral part of the club’s first win since round one.
CB – Adrian Chiappetta (NC): Chiappetta played the role of a marauding defender in his sides 4-1 demolition of Werribee City on Saturday afternoon. He not only kept the Bee’s at bay but the centre back also helped kick start things from the back. Northcote began a lot of their attacks with a slow build up in momentum, with Chiapetta the chief orchestrator. Perhaps at fault for Werribee’s goal, the incident was however the only flaw on an otherwise seamless performance.
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RB – Adrian Talarico (PV): The 22-year-old continued his fine start to the season against Ballarat on Saturday in his sides 2-2 draw. The full back captured the praise of Pascoe Vale coach Vitale Ferrante is recent weeks and backed up his coach’s comments with another strong performance. Moving up and down the pitch as much as he could, the defender stood out with some deft touches whilst doing his best to marshall his troops in defence.
LW – Liam Wooding (NC): An impressive performance out wide for Northcote’s young Socceroo. Wooding provided a lively spark for the hosts throughout their 4-1 rout of Werribee City, chiming in with his sides second goal and assisting Trent Rixon along the way.
CM – Michael Ferrante (PV): Ferrante was instrumental in the centre of midfield in his sides thrilling 2-2 draw against Ballarat. The 33-year-old led his team from the front and provided an anchor in the midfield while also netting a stunning free kick from range.
CM – Luc Jeggo (BG): The midfielder put in an immense Man of the Match performance against Dandenong Thunder on Friday night. Melbourne Victory’s youth captain was involved in the hosts first goal and netted his side’s third in an impressive display. A workhorse in the centre of midfield, the 19-year-old proved dangerous whilst moving forward and resolute in defence combined with some precise passing and fine tackling.
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RM – Daniel Vasilevski (HU): Another one of Heidelberg’s standout in their 4-0 routing of Port. The former Victory man earns his spot this week with a brace on Friday night which included a thunderous volley to put the game well beyond doubt.
FWD – Milos Lujic (SM): This man needs no introduction into our Team of the Week and should be a regular feature throughout the season if he is to continue with this form. A superb performance again for South’s main man, the striker attracted a lot of attention throughout his first Melbourne Derby but came through strong to seal a sublime winner late in the match.
FWD – Trent Rixon (NC): Rixon showed just how good of a striker he is in Northcotes’s thrashing of Werribee. The forward’s performance could’ve been described as ‘textbook goal poacher’ with his brace the result of some fantastic positioning. On numerous occasions Rixon would float his way into the box unmarked after distributing a pass in the midfield, a lethal skill to posses for any potent striker.
Substitutes:
GK – Ryan Norval (HU): Heidelberg’s custodian grabs a spot on the bench in this weeks Team of the Week after a relatively sturdy debut in place of the experienced Griffin McMaster. With a clean sheet on debut, Norval fulfilled all that was expected of him, dealing with everything that came his way.
Dusan Bosnjak (OC): The second of three representatives for Oakleigh this week. Continuing his excellent form, recently named the NPL’s players of the month, Bosnjak earns a spot on the pine after another impressive display against Hume. The attacking midfielder again featured on the score sheet netting his third of the season for Miron Bleiberg’s men.
Nate Foster (OC): A standout for Oakleigh Cannon’s on Sunday afternoon. The Canadian-born forward utilised his pace to good effect against Dandenong, orchestrating and assisting Dusan Bosnjak’s first before scoring his own off the back of an excellent individual effort.
David Stirton (BG): Possibly the unluckiest omission of Round 6s Team of the Week first eleven. Stirton bagged a double for Bentleigh against Dandenong Thunder on Friday night and was nominated as one of the best performers on the pitch, second only to Man of the Match Luc Jeggo.
Wayne Wallace (BG): The skipper rounds out Bentleigh’s trio in our Round 6 edition Team of the Week. Wallace assisted the second goal against the Thunder on Friday night whilst displaying his usual midfield presence and control we’ve come to know and expect.
Special thanks to David Manuca (@davidmanuca), Steven Chang (@Gixibyte), and FFV reporters Moran (@moranshaun), Ahmed Yussuf (@ahmedyussuf10), Matthew McNamara, Julian Buckeridge (@MrJulianB), Julian Trantino (@jtrantino16) and Alen Delic (@AlenDelic) as well as all our own writers for their contributions.