South Melbourne FC

The Blue and White Forever

Derby Preview – NPL R14 – Heidelberg v SMFC

Derby Preview – NPL R14 – Heidelberg v SMFC
1982 Vince Bannon and Steve Blair v Heidelberg at Olympic Park

South Melbourne FC begins the second half of its PS4 NPL Victoria season with a trip to the Olympic Village to face Heidelberg United this Sunday evening.

South got its 2016 season off to the best possible start back in February with a 6-0 demolition of Heidelberg at Lakeside Stadium, historically the club’s biggest ever winning margin against the Bergers since the sides first met competitively back in 1964.

Since that defeat, George Katsakis’ side have been very impressive in the league, only losing two other times in their opening 13 matches and their 4-2 win against Melbourne Victory’s NPL side last Sunday elevated them over Green Gully (on goal difference) into third spot on the NPL Victoria ladder. Playing finals football and winning the NPL Victoria Championship is what will drive the Bergers for the rest of the season following their elimination from the FFA Cup after a 2-0 loss to Green Gully in their Sixth Round FFA Cup tie.

Chris Taylor’s side will travel to the Olympic Village hoping to do the double over Heidelberg in 2016, plus win a second consecutive match on the road following the hard-fought 0-1 win at Green Gully last Saturday. In terms of league games only, South has five home games in a row following Sunday’s derby, giving the team a great opportunity to consolidate their position at the top of the table.

With the FFA Cup Sixth Round tie against North Geelong coming up next Wednesday night, it is crucial that South continues winning matches as the season heads into the busy June/July period.

A win on Sunday will put South five points ahead of the Bentleigh Greens, who will then be under pressure themselves to defeat the Bulleen Lions when they visit Veneto Club on Monday night. On the other hand, if both Heidelberg and Bentleigh win, Bentleigh will overtake South by a point on the ladder and Heidelberg will reduce their deficit against South to just five points.

The margins are close at the very top of the ladder but the good news is that South has its fate in its own hands at the moment.

Sunday’s match at Olympic Village kicks off at 6pm.


SMFC v Heidelberg – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 82
Wins (SMFC): 41
Wins (HUFC): 22
Draws: 19

First match: South Melbourne 2-1 Heidelberg (30 March 1964, Middle Park)
Last match: South Melbourne 6-0 Heidelberg (21 February 2016, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 6-0 (21 February 2016, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (HUFC): 5-2 (3 July 1977, Olympic Park)

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 7 (7-3 win) – (2 April 1967, Middle Park)
Most Goals in a Match (HUFC): 5 (5-2 win) – (3 July 1977, Olympic Park)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): 4-2 (21 October 1984, Olympic Park)
Biggest Finals Win (HUFC): 4-1 (18 October 1980, Olympic Park)

 

VSL Home Away Finals

1964

2-1 3-1

1966

2-0 4-2

1967

7-3 1-1

1968

3-2 3-2

1970

1-0 2-1

1971

0-0 1-0

1972

0-0 1-0

1973

2-4 1-0

1974

4-0 0-1

1975

0-1 0-2

1976

2-1 2-1
NSL Home Away Finals

1977

1-1 2-5

1978

1-1 1-4

1979

0-1 0-3

1980

0-0 2-1 1-4

1981

2-1 0-0

1982

0-1 0-2

1983

1-1 3-2

1984

2-0
2-0
2-0 4-2

1985

1-0 1-0

1986

0-1 2-3

1987

1-1 1-1

1989

4-1 1-1

90/91

2-1 2-2

91/92

 5-0 3-1

92/93

1-2 2-0

93/94

4-0 3-2

94/95

4-1 3-1
NPL Home Away Finals

2005

0-0 0-0 0-1

2006

3-1 2-0

2007

3-3 0-3

2008

1-2 1-2

2009

0-1 0-1

2010

1-1 0-2

2011

0-0 2-2 1-0

2012

2-1 5-2

2014

3-0 3-0

2015

 1-2 1-1

2016

6-0 ? ?

Heidelberg was not in the same division as SMFC in the following seasons: 1965, 1969 (State League); 1988, 1989/90, 1995/96 to 2003/04 (National League); 2013 (Premier League)

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