South Melbourne FC can further cement its position at the top of the PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria table should it defeat Northcote City at John Cain Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
South will go into the game on the back of two home wins at Lakeside Stadium in the last week, starting with a 1-0 win over Avondale FC 1-0 last Friday 8 May and ending with a 5-0 belting of Dandenong Thunder on Tuesday 12 May. Chris Taylor’s side now enjoy a three point lead over the Bentleigh Greens and Heidelberg United at the top of the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder, however Bentleigh has a game in hand.
Northcote are currently in ninth spot on the ladder with four wins from their opening 12 League matches. Goran Lozanovski’s side have enjoyed relatively good form at John Cain Reserve in recent times, with their most recent home result being a 2-0 win against Werribee City on Saturday 2 May. Last weekend they travelled to Bentleigh Greens and suffered a 4-0 defeat.
Although South will go into this game as favourites to win, Northcote has been somewhat of a bogey team for them ever since Northcote returned to the old Victorian Premier League in 2010. In the 11 League meetings between the teams, Northcote have won five games, South have won only two games and there have been four draws.
Northcote has twice defeated South 5-0 (in 2011 and 2013), though South won the most recent meeting between the teams (2-1) at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday 24 August 2014. In the corresponding match last season at John Cain Reserve played on Saturday 26 July 2014, the teams played out a 1-1 draw.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 3pm at John Cain Reserve.