South Melbourne FC will be looking to keep the pressure on the teams above them on the PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria ladder when it travels to CB Smith Reserve to face Pascoe Vale on Saturday night.
South sit in third position on the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder, a point behind Heidelberg United and five points away from the Bentleigh Greens. They will face a tough test in the form of the sixth placed Pascoe Vale, who pushed South all the way earlier in the season at Lakeside Stadium in a match that finished 1-0 to the defending Champions.
South’s last League match was the 2-1 defeat to the Melbourne Knights on Sunday 12 July. Despite losing that game, Chris Taylor’s side come into the Pascoe Vale match full of confidence after defeating rivals Heidelberg United 2-1 in their Dockerty Cup semi final tie on Wednesday15 July.
In a match that could prove to be a turning point in South’s season, Nick Epifano scored a late brace against the Bergers to keep his side alive in all competitions this season. Despite missing a number of games, Epifano has scored nine goals across all competitions in 2015 and shapes as the key man if South are to get the points this weekend.
Barring the absences of Kristian Konstantinidis and Dane Milovanovic, who are both recovering from long term injuries, Taylor will have a full squad to choose from for the Pascoe Vale match.
Saturday night’s match is the first in an incredibly important week for the Club. Following the Pascoe Vale game, South travels to the Gold Coast for their round of 32 Westfield FFA Cup game against Palm Beach SC before flying back to Melbourne for the Dockerty Cup final against the Oakleigh Cannons on Sunday 2 August.
Saturday night’s match kicks off at 7pm at CB Smith Reserve, Fawkner. Those unable to make the game can follow it with live updates on the South Melbourne FC Facebook page and on the Club’s official Twitter @smfc with the hashtags #PS4NPL and #SMFC