Monday, 1 July 2013 11:10 AM
By John Kyrou
South Melbourne FC suffered its first home loss in 2013 after being defeated 0-1 by Port Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Lambros Honos’ header after only two minutes proved to be the difference between the two sides, even though South enjoyed a wealth of possession and created several chances to level.
The match was only a couple of minutes old when Honos headed home from close range after what seemed to be a mix-up in the South defence. The goal sparked the home side into action and South should have leveled shortly after but Tyson Holmes somehow skied what should have been a back-post tap-in over Adam Hrehoresin’s crossbar. New signing Nick Soolsma looked impressive on debut but like the rest of his teammates struggled to get past the Port defence. Holmes again went close before the halftime break but fired a header over the crossbar.
The second half was all South in terms of possession and chances as Port happily sat back and soaked up the pressure. Despite enjoying an enormous amount of possession and despite goalkeeper Peter Gavalas effectively having nothing to do, South could not break through and level on the scoreboard. Captain Fernando De Moraes twice got close to leveling for South from two separate free kicks; the first one beat Hrehoresin but hit the inside of the post and stayed out, while Hrehoresin got down well on his left side to save the second free kick. In the end, Port held out for the away win. Port Melbourne has now won all three of its encounters against South (one in the League and two in the Cup in 2011 and 2012).
South coach Peter Tsolakis was disappointed post-game, noting that “we again created several chances but couldn’t finish them off… I thought we played well but at the end of the day the supporters want the three points and we weren’t able to do that.”
It was further bad news in the Under-21s, as an own goal gave Port Melbourne a 0-1 victory. Anthony Giannopoulos had a penalty saved in the final ten minutes of the match.
South faces another difficult task next Sunday afternoon when it hosts Green Gully at Lakeside Stadium. Kickoff is at 3pm.
FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 0-1 PORT MELBOURNE (HT: 0-1)
Goal Scorer:
0-1: Lambros Honos (2′)
Key Stats (provided by Steven Orchard):
Shots: South Melbourne (17) – Port Melbourne (6)
Saves: South Melbourne (3) – Port Melbourne (9)
Corners: South Melbourne (11) – Port Melbourne (2)
Shots Blocked: South Melbourne (10) – Port Melbourne (2)
South Melbourne FC:
1. Peter GAVALAS (GK), 6. Dimi TSIARAS, 8. Fernando DE MORAES (C), 10. Tyson HOLMES (14. Andy VLAHOS 85′), 11. Brad NORTON, 12. Rhys MEREDITH, 15. Dimi HATZIMOURATIS, 16. Alan KEARNEY , 17. Nick SOOLSMA, 18. Marinos GASPARIS (20. Andrew CARTANOS 70′), 19. Shaun KELLY (22. James KARVELIS 73′)
Port Melbourne : 1. Adam HREHORESIN, 2. Peter ROBERTS (6. Christopher GROSSMAN), 3. Martin MASON, 5. Felix ROSMAN, 7. Amadu KOROMA, 10. Graham HOCKLESS, 12. Phillip RICCOBENE, 18. James RICCOBENE, 19. Daniel VISEVIC, 26. Lambros HONOS, 32. Jake NAKIC (9. Luke BOWEN)
SMFC Man of the Match: Dimi Tsiaras
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 30 June 2013