By Skip Fulton
South Melbourne FC U20s put on a clinical display of quality attacking football and earned a 5-0 victory over Hume City at Albert Park on Sunday afternoon. Eric Hauser put two into the back of the net in a best on ground performance and he was assisted by goals to Joshua Markovski, Alex Sporea and Joshua Meaker.
Sasa Kolman’s side went into the match without a win from their last four outings. Following last weeks 1-2 loss to Green Gully, Kolman made two changes to the starting line-up. Sam Kagioglou and Jordon Moncrieff join the team on the pitch in place of Timothy Kakoliris and Massimo Pesce who were on the bench.
South Melbourne were on the attack from the opening whistle with Andy Kecojevic looking strong in the early stages. In the twelfth minute Hauser made the first of what would be many significant plays of the match. His run down the right flank and into the area bought the keeper rushing off his line. A well timed cross into the centre of the box found Joshua Markovski who slotted it into the vacant net to open the scoring.
The majority of the first half was played out with balanced possession through the midfield. Hume City had a number of chances up front with four corners during which they were unable to convert. South goal keeper Jason Giccominato made a number of quality saves in what turned out to be a clean sheet performance. Just two minutes before the break Hauser was again dominating down the right flank getting in behind the defence. In this instance he made his way into the area with just the keeper to beat and with a left foot strike found the net doubling the home teams lead.
Hauser was at it again early in the second half with a strike going just wide and Markovski was in a similar position a few minutes later with a shot going over the crossbar. Ryan Barbare was active down the left flank also causing problems for Hume City. In the sixty fourth minute a cross came into the area with Markovski trapping turning and shooting only to have the strike blocked by the Hume City keeper. Hauser was right on hand to pounce on the loose ball and it was his left boot again which put the ball into the back of the net.
As the three goals put South Melbourne in a commanding position, coach Kolman looked to the bench to provide some fresh legs and by the seventy seventh minute had made all five substitutions.
Early in the last ten minutes of play it was Alex Sporea off the bench who scored for the home team with a classy strike from the edge of the six yard box. A few minutes later Joshua Meaker was cruising near the top of the box when his strike found its target in the back of the net delivering the fifth goal and a somewhat short and subdued celebration.
The whistle would sound marking a 5-0 win for South Melbourne. Whilst the glory often goes to the goal scorers, this match also delivered the third clean sheet of the season for the U20s. Credit goes to Giccominato in goal and the defenders who stood up strongly to tough opposition in Hume City and held out to a number of strong attacks from the visitors.
Coach Kolman was understandably positive after the match talking to smfc.com.au reflecting on the performance saying “after the last three games, it was good to win, especially when you win with five goals. We are South Melbourne! We need to win every week. I am really proud of these boys, they all deserve to wear the South Melbourne shirt. ”
Double goal scorer Eric Hauser also spoke to smfc.com.au after the match saying “I thought we played well from the beginning, pressed hard and high, we got the result. Today we were more determined to win our game.”
Next week the team returns to Lakeside Stadium for a big match against Melbourne Knights. South Melbourne will be looking to continue the form on display in this win but also replicate the result from earlier in the season when they defeated Knights 4-1.
FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 5-0 HUME CITY (HT: 2-0)
Match Photos: http://on.fb.me/U8nbJy
Goal Scorers:
1-0 Joshua Markovski (12’), 2-0 Eric Hauser (43’), 3-0 Eric Hauser (64’), 4-0 Alex Sporea (82’), 5-0 Joshua Meaker (87’)
South Melbourne FC:
Jason Giccominato (GK), Ryan Babare (Massimo Pesce 74’), Andy Kecojevic, Peter Constantinou (Timothy Kakoliris 77’), Juan Igic (Joshua Meaker 50’), Eric Hauser (Stefan Zinni 75’), Sam Kagioglou, Dion Paola, Joshua Markovski (Alex Sporea 67’), Ioannis Avramidis, Jordan Moncrieff.
Hume City:
Cameron Dyer (GK), Melad Goro, James Dafoski, Allam Bosha, Danny Federico, Kristian Trajceski, Emin Sele, Ebubekir Capar, Burak Durnaoglu, Reis Aygun, Baran Karagoz.
SMFC Man of the Match: Eric Hauser
Venue: Albert Park
Date: Sunday 13 June 2014