U12s lost 1:4
Goal: Dusan Pavlovic
U13s won 2:1
Goals: Alan Fogel and Hayden Korn
U14s won 2:1
Goals: Keegan Garrow and Tristan Meaker
U15s won 1:0
Goal: Julian Zinni
U16s lost 1:4
Goal: Tom Baker
U18s won 3:1
Goal: Edwin Stangherlin and Kalebh Horrocks
By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)
South Melbourne FC extended its lead at the top of the National Premier League Victoria competition with a comfortable 2-1 victory against Port Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday evening. South’s win, coupled with Oakleigh’s 1-1 draw against Heidelberg last night, gives Chris Taylor’s side a six point lead at the top of the NPL Victoria ladder with 11 League matches remaining.
Following the disappointing Dockerty Cup loss against the Melbourne Knights midweek, South were keen on winning the Port Melbourne game in order to officially move on from its exit in the Cup. Taylor made three changes from the Knights game as he started with Jamie Reed (for Leigh Minopoulos), Stephen Hatzikostas (for Tyson Holmes) and new left-back signing Shaun Timmins (for Brad Norton) as the other three players took up a spot next to Dimi Tsiaras and Chris Maynard on the substitutes’ bench.
After a slow start to the match, Port Melbourne took the lead when a stray square pass by the South defence was intercepted by the away side and the ball was played through for Zois Galanopoulos to slot past the advancing Jason Saldaris and into the back of the net. South levelled only minutes later when Tim Mala played the ball to Reed on the right side of the penalty area and the striker cut the ball back for centre-forward Milos Lujic to tuck past Stjepan Gal and into the back of the net. From there, South took control of the game and were awarded a spot kick less than five minutes from the halftime break when Iqi Jawadi was brought down in the area by Stefan Nigro after
taking on and beating the defender for pace. Reed was under a great deal of pressure to score the spot kick after his penalty was saved against Goulburn Valley two weeks ago and he coolly stepped up and blasted the ball past Gal to complete the scoring on the night.
South were dominant in the second half but could not score another goal to wrap up the three points, thanks to both wayward finishing and excellent saves by Gal. Nevertheless, the job had been done in the opening half and the South defence were minimally troubled as the home side confirmed its second League win in a row. Taylor was relieved post-match and thought his side thoroughly deserved the three points. “Wednesday night was very disappointing, however it was good to bounce back with a win tonight and put that Cup game behind us. We can now focus on the League and making sure we stay at the top of the ladder come the end of the season.” With regards to his new signings and rotating his squad, Taylor added that “now is the time of the season to start rotating the squad a bit more, we have brought in some new guys (Hatzikostas and Timmins) who both played well, which is good because it keeps everyone else on their toes.”
In the NPL 20s match, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne played out a 1-1 draw, with Stefan Zinni the goal scorer for South.
South’s next match is against Green Gully on Sunday 6 July at Lakeside Stadium. Kick-off is at 5PM.
Goal Scorers:
0-1: Zois Galanopoulos (11′)
1-1: Milos Lujic (13′)
2-1: Jamie Reed (41’p)
Key Stats (Provided by Steven Orchard):
Shots: SMFC (14) – PMFC (3)
Turnovers: SMFC (69) – PMFC (77)
Balls into Final Third: SMFC (35) – PMFC (11)
Clearances: SMFC (7) – PMFC (14)
South Melbourne FC:
1. Jason SALDARIS (GK), 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 7. Nick EPIFANO (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS 79′), 8. Mathew THEODORE, 9. Milos LUJIC (10. Tyson HOLMES 90′), 12. Iqi JAWADI, 14. James MUSA, 17. Jamie
REED, 25. Shaun TIMMINS (11. Brad NORTON 72′), 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS.
Port Melbourne:
1. Stjepan GAL (GK), 3. James RICCOBENE, 6. Chris GROSSMAN, 8. Zois GALANOPOULOS (4. Timothy PATON 77’), 9. Nicky MCNAMARA (23. Connor REDDAN 67’), 11. Nicholas KROUSORATIS (19. Anthony Ianchello 90’) 15. Stefan NIGRO, 17. Phillip RICCOBENE, 20. Milos RIDESIC, 26. Lambros HONOS, 27. Andrew MILICEVIC.
SMFC Man of the Match: Jamie Reed
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 29 June 2014
By Skip Fulton
South Melbourne FC U20s walked away with a point following a 1-1 draw with Port Melbourne Sharks at a wet Lakeside Stadium on Sunday afternoon. A second-half goal to Stefan Zinni was the equaliser in a match where the teams pace and passing game was restricted by the conditions.
Coach Sasa Kolman made two changes to the team that drew at home 1-1 with Heidleberg United last week. Alexandru Sporea and Eric Hauser coming into the starting lineup in the place of Angel Taravillo and Sam Kagioglou.
The home team started on the front foot with opportunities coming early. Stefan Zinni made a blistering run down the left flank from the half way line all the way into the area only to push his shot across the face and just wide. Port Melbourne rallied and in the 30th minute some relaxed marking in the box resulted in a cross finding a free man for a tap into the top left corner of the net. The Sharks almost scored a second just minutes later only to be prevented by a good save from South goalkeeper Jason Giccominato.
Ryan Barbare was in good form picking holes in the Port Melbourne midfield. The wet slow conditions were however limiting South’s style of play and the usual sweeping attacks on both wings were limited.
In the second half, Port continued to press in attack but were held out by a strong defence. Zinni was impressive down the wing, finding his way in behind the defenders and looking to strike. In the 66th minute, he would again be in the action, this time on the receiving end of a superb cross from Joshua Markovski. An easy tap in for Zinni and South had the equaliser.
The remainder of the match settled into a battle of the midfield with Port Melbourne the more aggressive. A superb Port strike from outside area forced an equally impressive save from Giccominato who’s fingertip touch was enough to push the ball up and into the crossbar to keep South in the match.
With a few minutes remaining South launched on the counter. The last man was taken down by a Port defender with the ball spilling free. The referee played advantage giving South a one-on-one with the keeper. A fake left and push right wasn’t quite enough to beat the rushing glove man and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
A disappointed South Melbourne coach Sasa Kolman spoke to smfc.com.au after the match saying “that was a really bad game, we couldn’t play our football. The game could have gone either way. They had a couple of really good chances, we were lucky. But at the end we had a really good chance too.I believe we have a very good team. Well done to the boys, it was a good fight”.
South remain in eighth on the ladder and next week take on Green Gully at Lakeside Stadium. The team will be looking to reverse the 2-0 loss to the Cavaliers in Round Three.
Goal Scorers:
0-1 Senisios Frangos (31’)
1-1 Stefan Zinni (67’)
South Melbourne FC:
22. Jason Giccominato (GK), 13. Ryan Babare, 23. Andy Kecojevic, 28. Peter Constantinou, 29. Alexandru Sporea (42. Massimo Pesce 59’), 31. Dion Paola, 34. Ioannis Avramidis, 35. Stefan Zinni, 37. Eric Hauser (38. Juan Igic 63’), 41. Timothy Kakoliris, 43. Joshua Markovski (36. Angel Taravillo 74’)
Port Melbourne Sharks:
23. Alexander Connell (GK), 2. Darcy Rapa, 4. Aaron Maclean, 5. Blaine Burrell, 6. Nicholas Kozdra, 7. Sensios Frangos, 8. Stace Pagounis, 9. Tolumay Cokacar, 12. Billy Arggros, 17. Peter Michael, 18. Anthony Ianchello (10. Lisandro Paz 29’)
SMFC Man of the Match: Stefan Zinni
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 29 June 2014