The penultimate round of NPL Victoria action saw some big movement at the bottom end of the ladder as all five of the leagues relegation threatened clubs picked up points.
For Ballarat, Green Gully and Dandenong Thunder, there were crucial wins, while Werribee City and Port Melbourne both picked up a point. Should the Red Devils win their mid-week catch-up game – to which they have 23 minutes to defend a 2-0 lead against Pascoe Vale – it’ll see the regional outfit jump to 11th on the ladder, equal on 27 points with the Sharks and the Bees.
Heading away from the relegation picture and there were two draws at the top end of proceedings, Bentleigh and Hume playing out a 1-1 affair, while the highly anticipated first versus second clashed lived up to the billing as South Melbourne struck in injury time to secure a 2-2 draw against Oakleigh.
Pascoe Vale 1 drew with Port Melbourne 1 at Hosken Reserve
Pascoe Vale made themselves mathematically safe from relegation, while Port Melbourne earned an important point of their own in the pairs clash at Hosken Reserve.
Veteran midfielder Michael Ferrante made room for the shot inside the penalty area before firing low past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 inside 13 minutes.
Young centre-back Milos Ridesic headed home an equaliser from a corner to earn Port Melbourne what could be a crucial away point.
They had to defend that point with caution too, as Nicky McNamara earned himself an early shower after his reckless tackle twelve minutes from time.
Bentleigh Greens 1 drew with Hume City 1 at Kingston Heath
Friday night saw Bentleigh host Hume City in a game that essentially had no bearing on the season proper.
A scoreless opening half was blown open by winger Ryan De Vries, who put Bentleigh a goal to the good before Hume equalised in acrimonious circumstance.
As goalkeeper Alistair Bray placed the ball down for what he thought was a free-kick in the dying stages of the match, Hume forward Johnny Sapazovski quickly reacted to tap the ball home, as no infringement was spotted by the match official.
Northcote City 0 defeated by Green Gully 1 at John Cain Memorial Reserve
Green Gully secured their status in the NPL Victoria with a shock 1-0 win over Northcote City in an incredibly scrappy match.
Matthew Sanders was the match winner for the Cavaliers as his 33rd minute strike ended up the difference between the two sides.
The goal was well taken, as he swung past his defender to place low into the bottom corner.
Ballarat Red Devils 2 defeated Melbourne Knights 0 at Morshead Park
They had to wait for it but Ballarat eventually came away with their most important victory of the season, downing an undermanned Melbourne Knights 2-0 at Morshead.
In front of a home crowd, the Red Devils had to wait until the 81st minute to alleviate the tension atop the balcony in Ballarat, when inspired mid-season signing Paul Harvey struck his most important goal of the year, tapping home a Dom Swinton cross to make it 1-0.
When Sean Harding made it 2-0 with only moments remaining, it was cause to celebrate for the Ballarat locals.
Should they hang on against Pascoe Vale in their catch-up game, safety is entirely in their hands against the stern test of Oakleigh Cannons.
Dandenong Thunder 6 defeated Goulburn Valley Suns 3 at George Andrews Reserve
The fans at George Andrews Reserve were treated to a nine-goal classic as teenage sensations Kieran Dover and Matt Millar ran riot against the Goulburn Valley Suns.
Maligned all year for their inability to take chances, the Thunder acted quickly to make up for lost time, racing to a five goal lead by the break. Melbourne Victory trialist Kieran Dover had a hat-trick and an assist to his name, with Miller setting up two of those as well as adding a brace of his own.
The second half saw another four goals fall, but it was Goulburn Valley who won the half 3-1, thanks to a shining performance from forward Craig Carley. Striking twice in two minutes following on from Riley Hamilton’s first goal in GVS colours, Carley had injected some hope into the travelling support.
In the end it was left-back Kris Kioussis who killed off the contest, with an injury time strike.
Werribee City 0 drew with Heidelberg United 0 at Galvin Park
Werribee went into this clash knowing a win would alleviate some of the pressure going into next week’s monster relegation bout against Port Melbourne.
In the end, they only had themselves to blame for not taking a shock three points from the third placed Heidelberg.
The Sunday afternoon clash saw Griffin McMaster play the role of pantomime villain for the Bee’s faithful as the shot stopper palmed away an 88th minute penalty from Ryan Filipovic to keep the game at a stalemate.
They now head into next week with everything to play for, knowing a loss will more than likely resign them to the NPL1 next season.
South Melbourne 2 drew with Oakleigh Cannons at Lakeside Stadium
A topsy-turvy affair saw both sides hit the lead before the game eventually plateaued at a 2-2 draw.
The game was billed as a potential title decider a few weeks ago, but it was essentially a dead rubber after Oakleigh’s loss to the Knights handed South the 2014 NPL title.
Regardless, both sides were still keen of playing for bragging rights, and it was all the usual suspects that did the damage at both ends. Englishman Jamie Reed continued his good form in blue, netting the opener inside 20 minutes.
Akin to a video game, the response from Oakleigh was swift as Foster ran clean through from kick-off to place the ball past Maynard in goals.
Dusan Bosnjak added his 11th goal of the campaign to put Oakleigh in front, before Milos Lujic had his opportunity to shine, wrapping up the game with an injury time strike, as well as wrapping up the golden boot with it.
NPL fixtures wrapped up by Jordan Lim (@JordanLim24)
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Crazy scenes at Epping Stadium in the NPL 1 this week as Whittlesea and Dandenong City played out an 11, yes you read correctly, 11 goal action fest. All eyes were on Avondale and North Geelong, however, as the two looked to cement promotion. The former were held to a scoreless draw by Box Hill, while the latter toiled hard to put away Moreland. Richmond came back to sink St Albans, who lost vital points in their slim chance to earn promotion, while Bendigo all but ended Bulleen’s charge, upsetting them 2-0 at home.
Whittlesea Ranges 4 defeated by Dandenong City 7 at Epping Stadium
This is a damn rugby score.
Long story short, Filipovic, Matkovic and Miskulin got City off to an early 3-0 lead. Whittlesea narrowed the deficit to one goal by half-time thanks to Peluso and Sotiropulous, before the latter evened up the contest in the 46th minute.
Matkovic and Miskulin then added their second goals to make it 5-3, before Dimitrieski pegged one back via the penalty spot. That’s as close as the hosts got, with the visitors adding another two goals via Reale (own goal) and Matkovic (his hat-trick) to balloon the scoreline to 7-4.
Sunshine George Cross 3 defeated Springvale White Eagles 2 at Chaplin Reserve
Another entertaining contest, albeit only yielding a paltry five goals.
The two sides entered half time at 1-1 after Springvale’s Slaven Vranesevic cancelled out Brandon Zaffina’s 21st minute opener. After the break, Jovanovic and Vranisevic combined for the latter’s brace.
Springvale had chances to put the game beyond doubt but ‘keeper Robert Santilli denied them, sparking Sunshine into action. Kojo Brown nabbed the equaliser, before Chris Oghanna sealed the winner in the 78th minute.
Box Hill United 0 drew with Avondale Heights 0 at Wembley Park
And after all that, we get a 0-0 game to even things out.
What you need to know about this game is that Box Hill and Avondale played out a scoreless draw, delaying Avondale’s inevitable NPL 1 title and promotion to NPL. Usual suspects Rinor Muriqi, Jason Principato and Andrew Le Page all had chances squandered or saved throughout the contest.
St Albans Saints 1 defeated by Richmond SC 2 at Churchill Reserve
It was a clash of two ‘so close but so far away from promotion’ teams, and it was a riveting contest. Hamlet Armenian was sent off in the 22nd minute for kicking out at an opponent, and one of the most prolific goalscoring centre backs in the country, Barry Devlin, made Richmond pay by scrambling home a goal in the 33rd minute.
That’s as good as it got for St Albans, with some words of inspiration from Rick Mensink rallying the visitors and in particular Tom Cahill – who scored a brace – to fight back and snatch the win. That wasn’t before Felix Rosman evened up the contest personell-wise with his second yellow card.
FC Bendigo 2 defeated FC Bulleen Lions 0 at Epsom Huntly Reserve
It’s been a tough initiation for Bendigo into NPL 1 this season, but the regional team gave its active fans something to really shout about, putting away a disappointing Bulleen 2-0. Two early goals to Josh Romein and Alon Blumgart put the hosts on the front foot, with no case of 2-0 being the most dangerous scoreline in football to ensue, as the hosts kept Bulleen at bay for the remainder of the contest.
67 year-old actor turned Bendigo coach Steve Martin said he was pleased with the efforts of his players considering it was their third game in three days.
Moreland Zebras 1 defeated by North Geelong Warriors 2 at De Chene Reserve
Moreland could not have possibly been more profligate in this contest, spurning three golden chances early only to find themselves behind after North Geelong’s Michael Anderson headed home from a corner.
Daniel Sweeney finally netted one for the hosts, scrambling a goal also after a corner to square the ledger. However, the Warriors – all but guaranteed promotion – had the last laugh, when Nathan Long finished with aplomb to show the hosts how it’s done.
Moreland again wasted more chances towards the back end of the contest, with Danilo Bonilla-Ospina hitting the woodwork from distance, and Joel Nikolic also hitting the post on the rebound. More shooting practice required.
Kingston City 4 defeated Brunswick City 0 at The Grange Reserve
As the old adage goes, Brunswick will be Brunswick, slumping to another heavy defeat, this time to Kingston. A Stelios Konstantinidis hat-trick was complemented by John Maclean’s solitary strike.
Brunswick did well to keep themselves in the contest after Konstantinidis scored in the 5th minute, keeping the hosts frustrated until the 77th minute. Only then did the floodgates open as Brunswick committed men forward, with Kingston striking on the counter to score thrice in 13 minutes.
NPL 1 fixtures wrapped up by Mark Gojszyk (@hahahamark)
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With two games uncovered and another abandoned, we are unfortunately a bit light in the WPL department this week.
Tuesday night’s catch-up round saw Casey Comets pull off yet another upset against a top ranked team, defeating ladder leaders South Melbourne 2-1 as NTC girls defeated Cairnlea 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Monday night’s fixture between Sandringham and Heidelberg was also postponed due to lighting issues at Kingston Heath which prevented the match from going ahead.
Casey Comets 3 defeated Monbulk Rangers 0 at Comets Stadium
Probably what you’d expect from two sides with not a lot to play for. Monbulk entered the contest already resigned to relegation whilst Casey’s finals hopes were dashed weeks ago.
The match belonged to the hosts though as they controlled possession and held majority of the play. Tayla Vlaeminck made the break through seven minutes before the break with Angela Durston-Ryan and substitute Candella Ferreyra-Bas adding to the scoreline.
An impressive outing by Vlaeminck and Durston-Ryan on the flanks.
Box Hill United 1 defeated by South Melbourne Women’s FC 3 at Wembley Park
South Melbourne bounced back from a disastrous week after losing both coach Alan Davidson and their State Knockout cup final showdown with a 3-1 victory over Box Hill United.
An early brace from Rhea Schreuder set the pace for the ladder leaders as Lisa Fonua contributed one of her own just before the break.
Box Hill though continue to struggle after losing a few players to W-league duties in recent weeks but managed to nab a consolation as Letizia Sammut found the back of the net with seven minutes to spare.
Boroondara Eagles 3 defeated NTC U17 Girls 0 at Knox Regional Football Centre
Boroondara capped off a stella debut season in the Sportsmart Women’s Premier League, booking a spot in the finals with a 3-0 victory over NTC.
Emma Hubbard was the star of the show, completing the match with a hat-trick as 2014’s fairy tale team dominated large parts of the contest.
“[The win] now guarantees us fourth spot and if results go our way tomorrow maybe even third spot,” Boroondara Eagles coach Fil Simao said.
Bulleen Lions 1 defeated Bundoora United 0 at David Barro Stadium
A Tessa Sernio penalty saw Bulleen Lions scrape out a 1-0 victory over Bundoora United on Monday night.
It was the visitors though who dominated majority of the affair and would have felt unlucky walking away from the contest without any points, especially after turning around a recent form slump.
The wind though earned the three votes on the night, clearly taking it’s toll on the contest.
Bundy had most of the play in the first half before Sernio converted from the spot just before the break and still even controlled large parts of the second interval.
WPL fixtures wrapped up by Sean Ellicott (@SeanEllicott)