(Photo by Cindy Nitsos)
Two goals in the first ten minutes set Avondale FC on their way to inflicting a first ever defeat on South Melbourne FC in their match played at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday.
Veteran centre-half and captain Jeffrey Fleming – a man with many years of experience playing in the state leagues – got his side off to a dream start when he got on the end of Massimo Murdocca’s cross to glance a header past the stranded Nikola Roganovic.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side when Avondale forced Marcus Schroen from an attacking position back to the halfway line before winning the ball and quickly playing the ball over the top for Jonatan Germano. The striker cleverly created space between Tim Mala and Michael Eagar before firing an unstoppable shot past Roganovic for Avondale’s second goal of the afternoon.
South had two excellent chances to score before the break, with both chances falling to Matthew Millar. His first effort was a shot from near the penalty spot that was off-target, with the second a more difficult chance coming from an unmarked header that went wide of Chris May’s goal.
Roganovic had to be substituted shortly before the halftime interval after being concussed and was replaced by Zaim Zeneli, who had to be called into action straight away and make an outstanding fingertip save to deny an acrobatic effort from Oleksiy Khrapko.
Spaniard Manolo was introduced for the second half and immediately set about getting South back into the match with some positive attacking play. Despite huffing and puffing, South were unable to break through the Avondale defence and were then dealt with a bitter blow when Germano pounced on a failed clearance from captain Michael Eagar to score his second and his side’s third goal.
Manolo pulled a goal back for South late in the game after cutting in from the left and hitting a goal-bound shot that took a sizeable deflection off James Cumming, beating May at his near post and giving South a consolation goal. A minute later, the home side felt they had strong claims for a penalty turned down by the referee after Milos Lujic went down in the penalty area with Fleming holding his shirt.
Nevertheless, it was too little too late as South crashed to its third league loss in four outings and is now in third position on the ladder with three matches remaining.
There was good news in the Under 20s, with Giordano Marafioti’s goal giving South Melbourne a 1-0 win over Avondale FC.
South hosts the Melbourne Knights next weekend in the second original Melbourne derby of 2016. Kick-off is at 4pm next Sunday 7 August at Lakeside Stadium.
FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 1-3 AVONDALE FC (HT: 0-2)
Goal Scorers:
0-1: Jeffrey Fleming (4′)
0-2: Jonatan Germano (10′)
0-3: Jonatan Germano (53′)
South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) (21. Zaim ZENELI 44′) / 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 3. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 18. Matthew MILLAR / 17. Marcus SCHROEN (15. Manuel HERRERO 46′), 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS (77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 72′), 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Amadu KOROMA, 22. Andy KECOJEVIC.
Avondale FC:
1. Chris MAY (GK), 2. Nicholas SYMEOY, 3. James CUMMING, 5. Jeffrey FLEMING (C), 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 9. Oleksiy KHRAPKO, 10. Jonatan GERMANO, 11. Jem BERKANT (37. Abrahim YANGO 80′), 12. Mathew SANDERS (13. Yitay TOWNS 87′), 17. Phillip RICCOBENE (6. Anthony STRANO 71′), 31. Michele CRAZIA.
Unused Subs: 4. Baki EFE, 40. Evan MARKOGIANNAKIS.
SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Manuel Herrero
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 31 July 2016