Day: November 21, 2002

Thursday, 21 November 2002 12:00 AM

Date: Sunday 24 November 2002
Venue: Bob Jane Stadium
Kickoff: 6.00pm AEST

HEAD TO HEAD (Overall):
Played: 50 South Melbourne wins 18, Marconi wins 22, Draws 10

HEAD TO HEAD (at Melbourne):
Played: 23 (Regular Season), South Melbourne wins 14, Marconi wins 9, Draws 0

LAST WEEK:
South Melbourne 4-2 home win Vs Melbourne Knights; Marconi 0-0 away draw Vs Newcastle

Position on Ladder: 7th Vs 11th

SOUTH MELBOURNE SQUAD: E Galekovic (gk), N Tolios, P Kisnorbo, M Durakovic, B Damianos, M Murdocca, D Clarkson, V Lia, P Trimboli, V Coveny, S Pace, R Sekulovski, S Iosifides, S Panopoulos, D Anastasiadis (gk)

IN: S Pace
OUT: P Buljan (suspended – 1 match), M Baird (suspended – 1 match)

MARCONI STALLIONS SQUAD: M Turnbull (gk), C Gibson, T Sekulic, S Webb, D Longo, P Cotte, T Perinich, D McDonald, R Enes, S Bozinovski, A Brosque, M Thwaite, G Last, E Anabalon, S Alogdellis (gk)

IN: S Bozinovski
OUT: J Spiteri (broken arm – 5 weeks), A Costanzo (knee – 1 week), S Fitzsimmons (ankle – 3 weeks), K Gulesserian (knee – 4 weeks)

Thursday, 21 November 2002 12:00 AM

The Melbourne Derby lived up to expectation last Sunday, as South Melbourne scored a 4-2 victory against arch rivals the Melbourne Knights. In front of a vocal crowd of 9,000 spectators, South Melbourne was too strong for their opponents and has now moved within striking distance of the top six.

South couldn’t have dreamt of a better start, when in the first minute of play they were awarded a penalty that Captain Paul Trimboli slotted away. The Knights hit back early after Leon Buhic equalised in the 30th minute.

The Knights equaliser was cancelled out just a minute later, as Peter Buljan scored his fourth of the season and made the scoreline 2-1 in favour of South.

Just 12 minutes after restoring South’s lead, Buljan was given his marching orders after receiving his second yellow card of the game. Buljan’s tackle on Leon Buhic inside the penalty area was enough for referee Brett Hugo to award a controversial penalty to the Knights. Anthony Pelikan stepped up to calmly slot the ball past Eugene Galekovic.

The Knights were reduced to ten men in the dying moments of the first half, with former South midfielder Nick Sabljak also receiving his second caution of the game. Both teams went into break with a man down and the scores level at 2-2.

South Melbourne dominated the second half and created numerous opportunities to score. It wasn’t until the 61st minute when South was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Bill Damianos stepped up to caress a fine curling strike into the top right hand corner of the net and once again give South the ascendency.

Nick Tolios added to the lead, after meeting a Bill Damianos corner with a perfectly timed header to give Martin John no chance in the Knights goal.

The game ended in South prevailing by 4 goals to two and another Derby victory under their belt.

Sunday 17th November 2002, Round 9 NSL – 2002/2003, Bob Jane Stadium
South Melbourne 4 ( P. Trimboli 1’ pen, P. Buljan 31’, B. Damianos 61’, N. Tolios 67’ )
Melbourne Knights 2 ( L. Buhic 30’, A. Pelikan 43’ pen )
Crowd: 8,997