Sunday, 21 September 2003 12:00 AM
By Michael Tsoukalis
South Melbourne has made a positive start to their NSL campaign managing to come away with a fighting 0-0 draw against championship favourites the Parramatta Power.
The Lakesiders can be more than proud of their efforts considering that the Power boast one of the most lethal attacking lines seen in Australian football.
Though the Power had the majority of possession, South Melbourne had the guilt-edged chances. The 2nd minute saw new South captain Vaughn Coveny find himself in some space within the penalty area, Coveny unfortunately rushed his chance and fired across the goalmouth.
The 44th minute saw Con Boutsianis left alone, yet with only new Power keeper Clint Bolton to beat Boutsianis failed to give the Melbourne-based club the lead.
Parramatta Power attempted to push for a result with Simon Colosimo proving instrumental, yet the new-look South defence lead admirably by South debutant Levent Osman did well to stifle any threat.
One negative to come out of the occasion was a hamstring injury to South stalwart Mehmet Durakovic. It is expected that Durakovic could be out for as much as 5 weeks.
Parramatta Power
0 – 0
South Melbourne
Line-Up
Line-Up
1
Clint Bolton (gk)
2
Andrew Durante
3
Alvin Ceccoli (c)
4
Simon Colosimo
5
Michael Beauchamp
6
Matthew Thompson (-85′)
8
Andre Gumprecht
9
Ante Milicic (-66′)
10
Fernando Rech
18
John Buonavoglia (-75′)
21
Ahmad Elrich
20
Eugene Galekovic (gk)
2
Levent Osman
3
Simon Storey
4
Mehmet Durakovic (-18′)
6
Ante Kovacevic
8
Vaughan Coveny (c) (-83′)
10
Con Boutsianis (-83′)
12
Marcus Stergiopoulos
13
Vince Lia
16
Massimo Murdocca
25
Scott Tunbridge
Substitutes
Substitutes
7
Travis Dodd (+66′)
16
Jacek Sobczyk (+85′)
22
Peter Zorbas (+75′)
23
Danny Vukovic (gk)
14
Max Lohy (+83′)
18
Michael Curcija (+83′)
22
Sam Poutakidis (+18′)
30
Michael Theoklitos (gk)
Cautions
Cautions
S Colosimo 28′
A Durante 52′
Red Cards
Red Cards
Referee
Crowd
Venue
Simon Micallef
1861
Parramatta Stadium