South Melbourne FC hosts the Melbourne Knights in the original Melbourne derby on Sunday afternoon. Three points are crucial for Chris Taylor’s side in their quest to finish the home & away season as high as possible on the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder.
South are currently in third spot, eight points behind Bentleigh and one behind Heidelberg United, with those two sides facing each other on Friday night. South can overtake the Bergers with a win over the Knights and if the Bergers don’t get maximum points in their meeting with Bentleigh.
South had a horrific July period, recording only four points from a possible 15 that month and losing any realistic hope of securing the Premier’s Plate for a third successive season. More worrying is the fact that the side has hit bad form results-wise just before the finals series, something that needs to be immediately rectified. In further bad news, captain Michael Eagar will miss Sunday’s derby after accumulating five yellow cards in the league this season.
One positive from the awful home defeat to Avondale FC last Sunday was the performance of Spanish forward Manolo, who replaced Marcus Schroen at halftime and constantly threatened the Avondale defence. He eventually scored a wonderful individual goal – via a deflection – to give South a consolation goal and do his reputation no harm as he seeks a starting berth for Sunday’s derby game.
The Melbourne Knights – like Avondale – will visit Lakeside Stadium with no pressure on them. Andrew Marth’s side cannot make the finals series but they also cannot be relegated, meaning they are a dangerous proposition if they choose to take risks and play open, attacking football.
The Knights will have one eye on their upcoming FFA Cup match just a few days after the derby and it will be interesting to see their team selection on Sunday. One thing for certain is that the Knights always give South a difficult match no matter which players represent them and they will be keen on getting revenge for their 5-2 loss against South at Knights Stadium back in early May.
Sunday’s original Melbourne derby kicks off at 4pm at Lakeside Stadium.
SMFC v Melbourne Knights – Head to Head (League & Finals)
Matches Played: 98
Wins (SMFC): 49
Wins (MKFC): 26
Draws: 23
First match: SC Croatia 1-2 South Melbourne Hellas (2 April 1960, Corio Oval)
Last match: Melbourne Knights 2-5 South Melbourne (6 May 2016, Knights Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 7-0 (11 June 2006, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (MKFC): 4-0 (3 May 1989, Olympic Park / 23 February 2001, Knights Stadium)
Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 7 (7-0 win) – (11 June 2006, Lakeside Stadium)
Most Goals in a Match (MKFC): 5 (5-3 win) – (16 April 1972, Olympic Park)
Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): 4-1 (27 April 1997, Knights Stadium)
Biggest Finals Win (MKFC): 3-2 (30 April 1995, Olympic Park)
| Div 1 | Home | Away | Finals |
|
1960 |
6-0 | 2-1 | – |
| VSL | Home | Away | Finals |
|
1963 |
1-0 | 1-1 | – |
|
1965 |
1-0 | 2-3 | – |
|
1966 |
1-1 | 2-0 | – |
|
1967 |
4-3 | 2-2 | – |
|
1968 |
1-3 | 2-1 | – |
|
1969 |
1-0 | 0-2 | – |
|
1970 |
2-0 | 3-3 | – |
|
1971 |
2-0 | 1-1 | – |
|
1972 |
2-0 | 3-5 | – |
| NSL | Home | Away | Finals |
|
1984 |
1-0 3-0 |
2-0 | 3-2 |
|
1985 |
1-2 | 1-1 | – |
|
1986 |
1-0 | 1-0 | – |
|
1987 |
2-1 | 2-0 | – |
|
1988 |
1-1 | 1-0 | – |
|
1989 |
0-4 | 3-4 | – |
|
89/90 |
2-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 (6-7p) |
|
90/91 |
1-1 | 3-0 | 0-1 1-1 (5-4p) |
|
91/92 |
1-1 | 1-0 | 0-0 (3-5p) |
|
92/93 |
1-1 | 2-1 | – |
|
93/94 |
1-1 | 1-2 | 1-2 2-2 |
|
94/95 |
1-1 | 0-3 | 2-3 |
|
95/96 |
1-0 | 0-1 1-1 |
– |
|
96/97 |
1-1 | 0-1 | 4-1 3-0 |
|
97/98 |
2-2 | 1-1 | – |
|
98/99 |
3-1 | 1-0 | – |
|
99/00 |
3-0 | 4-0 | – |
|
00/01 |
4-1 | 0-4 | – |
|
01/02 |
0-1 | 3-2 | – |
|
02/03 |
4-2 | 0-1 | – |
|
03/04 |
4-0 | 5-0 | – |
| NPL | Home | Away | Finals |
|
2005 |
0-1 | 1-1 | – |
|
2006 |
7-0 | 2-0 | – |
|
2007 |
0-3 | 2-0 | – |
|
2008 |
2-2 | 0-2 | – |
|
2009 |
2-1 | 1-1 | – |
|
2010 |
3-0 | 1-0 | – |
|
2011 |
3-1 | 0-1 | – |
|
2012 |
1-2 | 2-2 | – |
|
2013 |
2-2 | 1-2 | 1-0 |
|
2014 |
4-3 | 1-0 | – |
|
2015 |
2-1 | 1-2 | – |
|
2016 |
? | 5-2 | – |
SC Croatia*/Melbourne Croatia/Knights weren’t in the same division as SMFC during the following seasons:
1961 to 1962, 1964, 1973 to 1983