Sunday, 29 May 2011 10:00 PM
South Melbourne FC has slipped out of the top five following a disappointing 1-0 defeat away to the Bentleigh Greens last Friday night. The result also means that the Greens have overtaken South on goal difference, pushing the Blues down to seventh spot on the Victorian Premier League ladder after 14 rounds of competition. The win was Bentleigh’s first over South in Victorian Premier League competition and was revenge for the 2-1 defeat at John Cain Memorial Park earlier in the season.
South began the match brightly and had several half chances to open the scoring through Steven Topalovic and Jesse Krncevic, with Krncevic forcing a good save from Bentleigh keeper Peter Gavalas. However, it was the Greens who were to break through and score the winning goal after 32 minutes, when Alex Rojas’ free kick found Wayne Wallace, who scored a great header past Zaim Zeneli in the South goal. The goal had come against the run of play.
The away side spent the majority of the half pressing for an equalising goal whilst the Greens were happy to sit back and try to punish on the counter-attack. The home side came close a few times, with the biggest opportunity resulting in Rhodri Payne clearing the ball off the line and out for a corner. South’s best chance came from Tom Matthews, who received a cut-back from the right hand and took a first touch to set himself up before seeing his shot blocked by the Bentleigh defence and cleared.
In the end, the full time whistle signalled the end of a disastrous month of May for South Melbourne FC that has seen the Club win only four points from a possible 15, scoring only two goals and conceding nine. For Bentleigh, the result continues their eight match unbeaten run in the Victorian Premier League, which has seen their fortunes change significantly since South legend John Anastasiadis replaced Andy O’Dell as coach at Kingston Heath earlier in the season.
South Melbourne FC simply must change its fortunues around this week, with a mid-week match against the Victorian Training Centre before a huge derby match against high-flying Heidelberg United at John Cain Memorial Park next Sunday afternoon.
FINAL SCORE: BENTLEIGH GREENS 1-0 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)
Goal Scorer:
1-0: Wayne Wallace (32′)
Bentleigh Greens
1. Peter GAVALAS, 12. Adam FADLJEVIC, 14. Aaron WILFORD, 17. Jack WEBSTER, 20. Luke PILKINGTON, 8. Wayne WALLACE, 11. Alex ROJAS (10. Scott BULLOCH 70′), 16. Ryan DAVIDSON, 22. Stuart NICHOLSON, 23. Ryan DE VRIES, 6. Michael GWYTHER (7. James McGARRY 85′)
South Melbourne FC
21. Zaim ZENELI, 2. Tom MATTHEWS, 3. Rhodri PAYNE, 4. Steven O’DOR, 5. Daniel VASILEVSKI (18. Marinos GASPARIS 82′), 6. Steven TOPALOVIC, 9. Jean DUBOIS, 11. Jesse KRNCEVIC, 13. Ljubo MILICEVIC, 20. Daniel DRAGICEVIC (25. Kyle JORYEFF 63′), 80. Junior CAMARGO (16. Trent WATERSON 80′)
SMFC Man of the Match: Kyle Joryeff
Venue: Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Date: Friday 27 May 2011