Monday, 16 August 2010 3:50 PM
By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)
South Melbourne FC has climbed into the top five following a 0-4 away win over Sunshine George Cross at Knights Stadium in the final round of the VPL season on Sunday afternoon. South’s win, along with other results in the League, means that George Cross has been relegated whilst South currently sits in fifth spot.
Both sides had early chances, with both goalkeepers called into action on a very wet and slippery Knights Stadium pitch. Fernando De Moraes eventually opened the scoring on 13 minutes with a beautifully taken left-footed shot from outside the area that gave Martin John no chance of saving. Sunshine almost replied instantly but missed a one-on-one opportunity. Sunshine almost gifted South a second goal with a defensive header that beat John but not the left goal post, with the ball going out for a corner.
In the second half, Sunshine’s urgent need to press forward and score suited South fine, with the away side happy to soak up the pressure and play counter-attacking football. South missed a few good chances to seal the result before De Moraes eventually did so in the 61st minute, when a stinging shot by Gianni De Nittis hit the crossbar and fell perfectly for De Moraes to volley past John for his second of the afternoon.
Carl Recchia added another nail in Sunshine’s coffin with a brilliantly taken free kick twenty minutes from time after a foul on Daniel Vasilevski. Recchia’s wicked shot looped perfectly over the Sunshine wall and into John’s top left corner of the net, leaving the George Cross custodian with no chance. Rama Tavsancioglu ended the rout with South’s fourth goal, after John saved the initial shot but was unable to hold onto the ball, allowing South’s captain to force the ball over the line. Former Georgies player and South substitute Kyle Joryeff could have scored a fifth for South but his attempted chip over John went wide for a goal kick.
FINAL SCORE: SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS 0-4 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-1)
Sunshine George Cross
Martin John, Shaun Romein, Fidel Richards, Leo Shin, Craig Sweeney, Andy Bourakis, Ben Cogger, Tex Apostolikas (Andrew Nabbout 66′), Evan Christodoulou, Barry Devlin, James Blackburn (Peter Koutsoupias 72′)
South Melbourne
Peter Zois, Rama Tavsancioglu, Eddie Cetkin, Steven O’Dor, Rhodri Payne, Joe Keenan, Carl Recchia (Joseph Youssef 74′), Marinos Gasparis, Daniel Vasilevski (Sebastian Petrovic 87′), Fernando De Moraes (Kyle Joryeff 66′), Gianni De Nittis
(Scorers: De Moraes 13′, 61′, Recchia 69′, Tavsancioglu 83′)
SMFC Man of the Match: Fernando De Moraes
Venue: Knights Stadium
Date: Sunday 15 August 2010
Crowd: 500