Thursday, 23 June 2011 11:42 PM
The Melbourne Knights host South Melbourne FC at Somers Street on Sunday afternoon in what is shaping up to be a huge meeting between two of Australian football’s most successful clubs. Both the Knights and South have enjoyed a strong rivalry since the late 1980s and another chapter is about to be written on the weekend as both sides strive for the three points for contrasting reasons.
South could be on top of the Victorian Premier League table at the conclusion of Sunday’s game should it beat the Knights and both Hume City and Oakleigh lose their respective matches against Green Gully and Heidelberg. Failing that, three points will at the very minimum consolidate South in third spot on the table as the regular home & away season begins to reach its concluding rounds. South had a very good record at Knights Stadium throughout the National Soccer League and this has continued since both teams entered the VIctorian Premier League in 2005, with South managing three wins and two draws from six visits to the ground. South was boosted by the return of Carl Recchia and Fernando De Moraes last week, with Recchia the ‘super sub’ after scoring the winning goal against Oakleigh only six minutes after replacing Marinos Gasparis on the field. In injury news, Kyle Joryeff may be in doubt after going off injured against Oakleigh following an elbow to his forehead. Junior Camargo looks likely to be missing for a month after falling awkwardly on his back when challenging a set piece last Sunday and Rhodri Payne is still injured after hobbling off against Heidelberg on Sunday 5th June. Jesse Krncevic remains suspended.
The Knights are always difficult to beat at home despite South boasting a strong record at Somers Street. This proud club reached the pinnacle of Australian football in the early to mid 1990s with two National League championships as well as producing many champion footballers that went on to represent Australia and Croatia on the international stage. Presently the Knights are struggling in ninth position on the Victorian Premier League table and sit only six points clear of the relegation zone. Three points against their old rivals on Sunday will give the Knights significant breathing space from the drop zone considering its +2 goal difference in comparison to the teams underneath them who all sit on a minimum of -12 in goal difference. The Knights did themselves no favours last week in losing 4-0 against the Bentleigh Greens, however despite the lopsided scoreline the Knights were the better side on the night and conceded the final two goals after going down to 10 men following the dismissal of Shaun Romein.
In the corresponding fixture last year at Somers Street on Sunday 18th April, a fantastic Joe Keenan goal after 29 mintues was enough to give South a precious 0-1 win. In the match between the two sides earlier this year on Sunday 27th March, an early second half Josip Kozic penalty gave the Knights a deserved lead at John Cain Memorial Park before three late goals (Daniel Vasilevski 79′, Jesse Krncevic 81′ and Kyle Joryeff 90+3′) gave South a get-out-of-jail 3-1 victory.
Sunday’s derby kicks off at 3:00pm at Knights Stadium.