Monday, 7 June 2010 10:35 AM
By John Kyrou – Photo by Cindy Nitsos
Northcote City sent South Melbourne FC crashing back to reality by beating the RHB Singapore Cup Quarter Finalists 3-2 at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon. The result has sent Northcote into the top five and keeps South near the bottom of the table, however South still have two games in hand due to participating in the RHB Singapore Cup last week.
South dictated the game early and opened the scoring through Fernando De Moraes in the 24th minute. The Futsalroo was put through on goal and he cleverly rounded Northcote goalkeeper Chris Petropoulos before slotting the ball into the back of the net. The goal re-iterated Fernando’s value to the team, as despite missing the trip to Singapore he was still able to slot back into the senior side and score to extend his lead in the club’s golden boot tally.
Northcote had been dangerous on the counter-attack and had given the South defence plenty of headaches throughout the first half. Their persistence finally paid off ten minutes before halftime when captain Trent Rixon made the South defence pay for failing to clear the ball properly. Rixon blasted in the equalising goal despite goalkeeper Peter Zois’ best efforts to keep the ball out.
The game broke open in the second half, with two goals in a frantic two minutes early on setting the scene for a big finish. Ten minutes into the half, South captain Rama Tavsancioglu conceded a free kick on the edge of the area and Mark McGough sent the Northcote supporters wild with a stunning free kick that soared into the top corner of the net. From the kick-off, South promptly went down the field and leveled when Kyle Joryeff, in his League debut for the club, out-jumped his marker at the back post and headed the ball past Petropoulos to open his scoring account for his new club.
Both teams were now going for the three points, with South enjoying plenty of possession and with Northcote playing a very smart counter-attacking game. With twenty minutes to go, the game was set up for someone to be a hero for their club and that person was Bradley Norton, who received the ball on the left side and fired the ball home to put Northcote in prime position to win the three points. The goal shattered the South players, who until that stage had been looking good to score a third themselves.
There was still time though for South to salvage a draw, and before Norton’s goal coach Vaughan Coveny had already thrown Joe Keenan and Hamid Basma on to try and score. Coveny then introduced Gianni De Nittis to the game, and he combined with the other substitutes to create plenty of chances but for no reward. De Nittis had the best of the chances when he got on the receiving end of a cross but he could only direct his header straight at Petropoulos and the Northcote custodian did an excellent job in keeping the ball out.
South plays the first of its two catch-up matches on Friday night at 8:30pm when the side travels to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex to meet the Bentleigh Greens.
FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 2-3 NORTHCOTE CITY (HT: 1-1)
South Melbourne:
Peter Zois, Rhodri Payne, James Stefanou, Rama Tavsancioglu, Steven O’Dor, Kyle Joryeff (Joe Keenan 67′), Carl Recchia, Marinos Gasparis, Joseph Youssef (Hamid Basma 62′), Daniel Vasilevski (Gianni De Nittis 73′), Fernando De Moraes
(Scorers: Fernando De Moraes 24′, Kyle Joryeff 57′)
Northcote City:
Chris Petropoulos, Hayden D’Agostino, Antoni Jankovski, Adrian Chiappetta, Bradley Norton, Nick Curtis, Jonathan Voulgaris, Mark McGough (Harry Kinigopoulos 87′), Trent Rixon, Eddie Soares, Stuart Nicholson (James Kalifatidis 78′)
(Scorers: Trent Rixon 35′, Mark McGough 56′, Bradley Norton 71′)
SMFC Man of the Match: Steven O’Dor
Venue: John Cain Memorial Park
Date: Sunday 6 June 2010
Crowd: 1,000