Day: July 22, 2010

Thursday, 22 July 2010 4:04 PM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC hosts second-placed Hume City on Sunday afternoon at John Cain Memorial Park in another must-win match for the home side. South currently sits five points out of the top five and with only four games remaining must start to consistently win games in order to challenge for a finals spot.

South will go into the match confident following the hard-fought 3-0 win over the Melbourne Knights last Sunday. Despite the score line making the match sound like a foregone conclusion, South had to work very hard for the victory against a dangerous Knights outfit. The side had Peter Zois to thank for making some outstanding saves to give South a clean sheet and the three points. Gianni De Nittis returned to the goal scoring charts with a double last Sunday and the South forward will be looking to add to his goal tally against Hume on the weekend.

Hume have every reason to be expecting three points on Sunday as the side currently sits in second place on the League standings, having beaten high-flying Oakleigh 3-1 away from home last Friday night. Hume are in exceptional form having won three matches in succession and have the opportunity to reclaim top spot on Sunday with a positive result over South. With Lou Acevski, South legend Tansel Baser, Richard Cardozo and Zoran Petrevski in the Hume line-up, South has alot to worry about.

The last time the two sides met, South stunned Hume and the entire League with a comprehensive 0-6 drubbing of Hume at Broadmeadows Valley Park on ANZAC day this season. De Nittis scored four goals that afternoon and joined an exclusive list of only nine South Melbourne FC players to have scored four goals in a League match throughout the club’s entire history. Whilst the likelihood of a result like that occurring on Sunday is extremely rare, it will certainly give South confidence to know that they can defeat Hume and keep their finals hopes alive.

The match kicks off at 3pm on Sunday afternoon at John Cain Memorial Park.

Last time we met

Thursday, 22 July 2010 3:40 PM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC vice captain Steven O’Dor will celebrate two milestones in the coming weeks. The centre-half will celebrate 100 overall senior matches for South against Hume City this Sunday, with the milestone taking into account League and RHB Singapore Cup matches. Barring injury and/or suspension, O’Dor will then celebrate 100 League matches with South the following weekend against Richmond.

During South’s National League days, O’Dor played in the club’s Youth teams. Following South’s return to the Victorian Premier League in 2005, then coach John Anastasiadis gave O’Dor his senior debut against Heidelberg United in the first round of the League season on 30 January 2005. O’Dor made a strong impression in his opening season, so much so that he only played three matches in 2006 before going to the Australian Institute of Sport and then A-League franchise New Zealand Knights. This unfortunately meant that the defender missed out on South’s VPL triumph although he was still considered very much a part of the squad.

O’Dor returned to Lakeside Stadium in 2007 but only played for half the season before departing to play professionally for the New Zealand franchise Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. At the conclusion of the 2007/08 A-League season, O’Dor decided that his university studies were more of a priority than playing in the A-League and as a result he returned to Lakeside to continue his career solely with South in the VPL.

In South Melbourne FC’s 50th year in 2009, coach Michael Michalakopoulos appointed O’Dor as joint vice captain along with Vaughan Coveny. O’Dor played in every game and was a key part in helping the club to qualify for the finals for the first time since winning the League in 2006. This season, O’Dor has continued as vice captain and has played in every single League and Cup fixture as well as getting on the score sheet three times.

South Melbourne FC congratulates Steven O’Dor on his upcoming milestone matches for the club and wishes him the very best for the remainder of the season in both the VPL and the RHB Singapore Cup.

Steven O’Dor – SMFC Statistics:

• DOB 28th January 1987
• Debut v Heidelberg United (round 1, 2005 @ Lakeside Stadium, 0-0 draw)
• Squad member of the 2006 VPL championship team
• Member of the 2007 Hellenic Cup championship team
• 2008 Theo Marmaras Medal winner
• 50th match v Oakleigh Cannons (round 17, 2008 @ Lakeside Stadium, 3-1 win)
• Member of the 2009 Hellenic Cup championship team
• Vice Captain in 2009 and 2010

Season Breakdown:

2005 – 17 games (15 starts, 2 subs), 0 goals
2006 – 3 games (3 starts, 0 subs), 0 goals
2007 – 14 games (14 starts, 0 subs), 1 goal
2008 – 23 games (23 starts, 0 subs), 0 goals
2009 – 23 games (23 starts, 0 subs), 1 goal
2010 – 19 games (19 starts, 0 subs), 3 goals*
Total – 99 games (97 starts, 2 subs), 5 goals*

* Includes 1 RHB Singapore Cup match