Friday, 3 October 2003 12:00 AM
By Michael Tsoukalis
South have kick-started their season with a resounding victory against the Wollongong Wolves. Led by inspirational captain Vaughan Coveny the Lakesiders managed to easily account for the NSW-based club by 4 goals to nil.
It didn’t take long for South to get into gear; a Marcus Stergiopoulos through ball was comfortably dispatched in the 16th minute by Kiwi international Coveny who in netting opened up South’s goal-scoring account for the season not to mention his personal account since taking over the South captaincy.
South controlled the majority of the first half and were hardly pressured, Levent Osman and Simon Storey were proving to be inspirational in defence and the Wollongong attack hardly got a look in.
Coach Munro sent on Sam Poutakidis at the start of the second half for Mehmet Durakovic, an interesting move which can most probably be explained by a relapse of the hamstring injury that Durakovic tore against the Parramatta Power.
South doubled their advantage in the 53rd minute when a stinging cross from Vince Lia was met by Coveny, Coveny’s initial strike was saved by Wolves’ custodian Andrew Crews, however, the rebound fell straight to the South captain who didn’t hesitate in smashing home his second of the evening.
Michael Curcija replaced a somewhat ineffective Max Lohy in the 66th minute, Lohy had been clattered into early on and from that moment looked to be carrying a slight knock. It was an inspired substitution by Munro with Curcija adding a third in the 78th minute. Coveny had passed to Curcija who from within the 18-yard box hammered home South’s third with a stinging drive.
The last ten minutes saw star recruit Michael Panopoulos introduced, he immediately showed his class with some nice touches and a level of assurance in the centre of the park rarely seen in the NSL, Panopoulos remains 2-3 games away from full match fitness.
Ever-developing cult-hero Sam Poutakidis put the icing on the cake for the Lakesiders heading home a 4th – from a Curcija cross – for the Albert Park based club in the 92nd minute.
So a great result for South and one which positions it nicely in the top 6, South’s next game is its opening home fixture against the Brisbane Strikers. The game is scheduled for next Sunday (12/10/03) with kick-off at 3pm.
Wollongong Wolves
0 – 4
SouthMelbourne
V Coveny 16’/53′
M Curcija 78′
S Poutakidis 92′
Line-Up
Line-Up
1
Andrew Crews (gk)
3
Jacob Timpano
4
Mirko Jurilj
5
Adam Hughes
6
Michael Hawrysiuk (-73′)
7
Shane Lyons
8
Nahuel Arrarte
9
Tanju Balabanel
12
Steven DeGiovianniello
(-60′)
13
John Majurovski (-66′)
17
Ben Blake
20
Eugene Galekovic (gk)
2
Levent Osman
3
Simon Storey
4
Mehmet Durakovic (-46′)
6
Ante Kovacevic
8
Vaughan Coveny (c) (-82′)
12
Marcus Stergiopoulos
13
Vince Lia
14
Max Lohy (-66′)
16
Massimo Murdocca
25
Scott Tunbridge
Substitutes
Substitutes
10
Stuart Young (c) (+60′)
11
Liam Austin (+66′)
14
Daniel Cummins (+73′)
20
Scott Whalan (gk)
5
Michael Panopoulos (+82′)
18
Michael Curcija (+66′)
22
Sam Poutakidis (+46′)
30
Michael Theoklitos (gk)
Cautions
Cautions
J Timpano 19′
N Arrarte 86′
S Tunbridge 20′
Red Cards
Red Cards
Referee
Crowd
Venue
Mark Shield
2005
WIN Stadium