Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:00 AM
At the beginning of the season, New Zealand International striker Vaughan Coveny had scored 59 goals for the Blue and Whites. With one game remaining, the speedy striker has netted a commendable nine goals and is South Melbourne’s top goalscorer this season.
This has lifted him closer to surpassing former crowd favourite Charlie Egan who sits behind Paul Trimboli. The current South captain leads the club’s all-time scoring charts by a whopping 30 goals. Trimboli has scored 113 goals for the Lakeside club.
South Melbourne takes on the Kingz at Ericsson Stadium, Auckland in their last encounter of the season. Coveny will be looking to cap off his season on a high and take his goal-scoring tally into double figures when he travels to his country of birth this weekend.
“I’m satisfied with nine goals so far this season. A couple against the Kingz on Sunday would be nice, but there is no pressure on the team and we will go out onto the park, enjoy ourselves, as well as get a result”.
“Surpassing great players such as Con Boutsianis or Charlie Egan is not an issue for me. My aim is for the team to do well and if exceeding these players happens along the way then it’s a bonus”.
Con Boutsianis is Coveny’s closest opponent on South Melbourne’s overall scoring tally. ‘Boutsi’ as known by his teammates, has scored a total of 104 NSL goals and has netted 70 goals at South.
The 31 year old can equal or go beyond Charlie Egan’s 73 goals this weekend but it will take a huge effort to score a hat trick in the dead rubber. Boutsianis is determined to make sure the club finishes the season positively.
“There’s no pressure on the boys this weekend. We are going out to get a result and play some good football”, says Boutsianis.
“Stranger things have happened. It will be an honour to past Charlie Egan’s scoring record. If it happens on Sunday or next season it doesn’t matter. Records don’t stick in my mind while I am playing”.
Most Goals Scored:
113 – Paul Trimboli
73 – Charlie Egan
70 – Con Boutsianis
68 – Vaughan Coveny
48 – Doug Brown
47 – Michael Curcija
45 – Kimon Taliadoros
37 – Alun Evans
34 – Francis Awaritife
32 – John Anastasiadis