Wednesday, 1 February 2006 3:54 PM
By George Kouroumalis
South Melbourne has ended a fantastic pre season campaign with an emphatic win in the final of the Crazy John’s Cup on Tuesday. South was keen to win some pre-season silverware after failing at the last hurdle in the Hellenic Cup final against Oakleigh last Sunday.
Close to 500 eager fans made the long midweek trek to the Knights Stadium in North Sunshine to see a youthful South Melbourne squad take on the experienced and well-known Fawkner-Whittlesea side.
Early in the duel Fawkner-Whittlesea dominated possession with the experienced campaigners in their side running the show.
However, as the half wore on, South slowly managed to claw its way back into the contest and provided the blues with a tougher opponent in the somewhat uneventful first half.
The second half however followed a different script, with South jumping out of the blocks and dominating play from the first whistle. In the 55th minute of play, this domination led to a dangerous ball being played into the path of exciting South forward Santilli, who was brought down by Fawkner-Whittlesea defender Awad.
This also led to Awad being dismissed for a deliberate challenge.
Ten minutes later Santilli, who was having a magnificent game, was played in once again and without any hesitation slotted a tough chance into the back of the net, giving South a well earned 1-0 lead.
For the remainder of the half, South dominated possession, creating numerous clear chances, which were being wasted time and time again.
However, to the relief of the anxious South faithful, the boys lifted an extra gear and were able to score the sealer in injury time. As soon as the ball went back to the center the final whistle was blown, sending the SMFC faithful into raptures, knowing that their side had captured the first silverware of the season.
On top of the fantastic victory, South fans were also pleased to see the form of crowd favourite Billy Natsioulas, who made an appearance off the substitutes bench after a long battle with injury.
With one trophy already in the bag for season 2006, South can now look to challenging for the title of the Vodafone Cup, which begins this Sunday with the trip to Olympic Village to face arch rivals Heidelberg United. Kick off is at 5pm.