Sunday, 18 July 2010 7:43 PM
By John Kyrou
South Melbourne FC has moved to within five points of the top five and sent the Melbourne Knights into the relegation zone following its 3-0 victory at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon. A double from Gianni De Nittis, a tap-in from Marinos Gasparis and superb goalkeeping from Peter Zois led to the victory.
Despite the 3-0 result, the Knights were very competitive in a match that could have been very different had it not been for Zois’ heroics. However it was the home side that opened the scoring five minutes before the break thanks to a wonderfully crafted goal. An excellent long pass from Daniel Vasilevski was controlled well by Gasparis, who then laid the ball off for Gianni De Nittis. The forward hit a stinging shot from outside the area that was too hot for Knights keeper Sebastian Mattei to control, with the ball flying off his hand and into the back of the net.
The second half was similar, with Zois outstanding in goal and with his teammates eventually scoring at the other end. The three points were confirmed in the 74th minute when De Nittis flicked Vasilevski’s near post corner past a stranded Mattei. Three minutes from time South had their third when substitute Sebastian Petrovic’s long ball was collected by Joe Keenan, who fired a low cross for the waiting Gasparis to tap home. Zois summed up the Knights’ miserable day when he parried a shot onto the post with the ball falling perfectly back for him to collect.
South has a difficult match next weekend when the side entertains League leaders Hume City at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday 25 July at 3pm.
FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 3-0 MELBOURNE KNIGHTS (HT: 1-0)
South Melbourne:
Peter Zois, James Stefanou, Steven O’Dor, Eddie Cetkin, Rama Tavsancioglu, Gianni De Nittis, Daniel Vasilevski (Sebastian Petrovic 81’), Joseph Youssef, Joe Keenan, Marinos Gasparis (Marcus Schroen 90’), Hamid Basma (Jason Ricciuti 74’)
(Scorers: Gianni De Nittis 40’, 74’, Marinos Gasparis 87’)
Melbourne Knights:
Sebastian Mattei, Ryan Filipovic, Ben Surey, Liam Cannell (Anthony Colosimo 63’), Josip Magdic (Tomislav Ples 81’), Ivica Praiz (Jacob Colosimo 75’), Kevin Townson, Adrian Zahra, Thomas Skara, Jean Dubois, Danny Tiatto
SMFC Man of the Match: Peter Zois
Venue: John Cain Memorial Park
Date: Sunday 18 July 2010
Crowd: 600