Monday, 24 June 2013 12:45 PM
By John Kyrou
Northcote City showed why they were the team to beat in 2013 after defeating a very disappointing South Melbourne FC 3-0 at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon. Milos Lujic opened the scoring in the first half and Kristian Konstantinidis’ header doubled Northcote’s lead after the break before Michael Catalano’s wonder strike confirmed a horror afternoon for the away side.
South started the match brightly and came close to scoring when Rhys Meredith just failed to reach Tyson Holmes’ low cross to the back post. Northcote then had two chances to score, firstly when Peter Gavalas made an excellent save from a Konstantinidis header and secondly when James Kalifatidis got past the South defence before hitting the post. The home side didn’t have to wait much longer to open the scoring however, as Lujic got onto the end of a long ball and slotted past Gavalas. In a further blow to South, the away side had to make two substitutions as Meredith and Joe Keenan both hobbled off injured. Centre-half Shaun Kelly tried an overhead kick to beat Northcote goalkeeper Chris Petropoulos but Michael Eager cleared the ball off the line as Northcote went into the break a goal ahead.
The home side killed off any chance of a South Melbourne comeback with two quick goals in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half. Alex Rojas’ in-swinging corner was powerfully headed home by Konstantinidis before the substitute Catalano scored the goal of the match, unleashing a strike from outside the area that gave Gavalas no chance of stopping. The second half was a complete disaster as South failed to string basic passes together, whilst Northcote were always first to the loose ball and were able to break quickly to put the South defence under constant pressure. The two shining lights for South were Andrew Cartanos and Fernando De Moraes, both substitutes, who managed to get in behind the Northcote defence a few times as the game went on. Gavalas was also solid and had he not made some important stops, the score line could have been even worse.
South coach Peter Tsolakis was extremely disappointed post-match, noting that “we just did not show up today and couldn’t execute the simple stuff. We had 71 turnovers… it is a completely unacceptable performance for a South Melbourne side and we just need to put this behind us and focus on Port Melbourne this coming Sunday.”
South now has five home matches in a row in the Victorian Premier League, starting with Port Melbourne next Sunday 30 June at 3pm.
In the Under-21s, Northcote City and South Melbourne FC played out a 0-0 draw.
FINAL SCORE: NORTHCOTE CITY 3-0 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)
Goal Scorers:
1-0: Milos Lujic (27′)
2-0: Kristian Konstantinidis (56′)
3-0: Michael Catalano (59′)
Key Stats (provided by Steven Orchard)
Shots: Northcote 14 – South Melbourne 11
Turnovers: Northcote 48 – South Melbourne 71
Clearances: Northcote 12 – South Melbourne 3
Shots Blocked: Northcote 1 – South Melbourne 5
Northcote City :
Chris PETROPOULOS (GK), Nick TZOULIS (Steven SIFINOS 68′), Rashid MAHAZI (Michael CATALANO 39′), Dean PIEMONTE (Nick TEREZAKIS 79′), Bonel OBRADOVIC, Michael EAGER, James KALIFATIDIS, Adrian CHIAPPETTA, Alex ROJAS, Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, Milos LUJIC
South Melbourne FC:
1. Peter GAVALAS (GK), 2. Tom MATTHEWS, 7. Joe KEENAN (20. Andrew CARTANOS 35′), 10. Tyson HOLMES, 11. Brad NORTON, 12. Rhys MEREDITH (14. Andy VLAHOS 33′), 13. Luke BYLES (C), 15. Dimi HATZIMOURATIS, 16. Alan KEARNEY , 18. Marinos GASPARIS (8. Fernando DE MORAES 70′), 19. Shaun KELLY
SMFC Man of the Match: Andrew Cartanos
Venue: John Cain Memorial Park
Date: Sunday 23 June 2013