South Melbourne FC progressed to the Sixth Round of Westfield FFA Cup qualifying thanks to a 3-0 victory over Altona Magic at Paisley Park on Wednesday night.
There were six changes made from the starting eleven against Oakleigh, with Amadu Koroma, Stephen Hatzikostas, Chris Irwin, Andy Kecojevic, Tim Mala and Marcus Schroen back in the side. Kristian Konstantinidis was initially in the starting eleven but was replaced at the last minute by Luke Adams after pulling up sore in the warm-up. Brad Norton, Mathew Theodore and Leigh Minopoulos were completely rested whilst Matthew Foschini and Nick Epifano were on the substitutes’ bench.
Altona were the better side in the first half, restricting South to a couple of long-range shots whilst almost scoring themselves. Goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic kept the scores level firstly by denying Ben Clarke with a one-on-one save before later scrambling back to tip another goal-bound effort over the bar and out for a corner. With experienced VPL/NPL players throughout their side, Altona enjoyed a solid first half performance but it yielded no goals.
South improved in the second half and were awarded a penalty just after the hour mark when Irwin was fouled in the area by Joseph Sieh. Before Schroen could take the penalty kick, the Paisley Park lights – which had been playing up during the pre-game – stopped working and therefore play was suspended in order to fix them. After a 25 minute delay, the match finally resumed at the 64 minute mark and Schroen put South 1-0 up by tucking away his spot kick.
Altona should have had a penalty themselves in the 71st minute when Clarke went down in the area following a challenge by Michael Eagar but referee Lucien Laverdure instead booked Clarke for diving. Milos Lujic punished Altona even further just six minutes later when he pounced at the back post to score past Antony Loncaric and make the score 2-0. To make matters worse for the home side, captain Slave Bozinovski was given his marching orders just a minute later after committing a second bookable offence.
Defensive midfielders Foschini and Iqi Jawadi came on in the final ten minutes to steer South through the final stages of the match, with Jawadi making his first appearance in the team since 14 March. Deep into injury time, Lujic scored his second of the night with a tap-in, giving the big centre-forward ten goals from 10 games across all competitions in 2016.
South returns to NPL Victoria action on Sunday when it hosts the Melbourne Victory Youth at Lakeside Stadium. Kick-off is at 5pm.
FINAL SCORE: ALTONA MAGIC 0-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-0)
Goal Scorers:
0-1: Marcus Schroen (64’p)
0-2: Milos Lujic (77′)
0-3: Milos Lujic (90+3′)
Altona Magic FC:
1. Antony LONCARIC (GK), 4. Steven THOMSON, 6. Joseph SIEH, 7. Cem CIL (13. Lewis FIELD 57′), 10. Ben CLARKE, 11. Jason HAYNE, 19. Slave BOZINOVSKI (C) (sent off 78′), 20. Scott ROBSON, 23. Jonathan MUNOZ (14. Daniel PENDOVSKI 84′), 27. Marinos GASPARIS, 88. Adamson AJAYI (12. James STEFANOU 75′).
Unused Subs: 15. Bobby EFIMOSKI, 25. Sebastien BECHAUD.
South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 5. Luke ADAMS, 12. Amadu KOROMA / 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS / 14. Chris IRWIN (99. Iqi JAWADI 87′), 18. Matthew MILLAR, 17. Marcus SCHROEN / 22. Andy KECOJEVIC (23. Matthew FOSCHINI 81′), 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 6. Filzgerald MBAKA, 7. Nick EPIFANO.
SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Amadu Koroma
Venue: Paisley Park
Date: Wednesday 20 April 2016