(Photo by Cindy Nitsos)
South Melbourne FC cruised into the PS4 NPL Victoria Semi Finals thanks to a 3-0 home Elimination Final victory over Hume City at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday evening. First-half goals to Marcus Schroen and Milos Lujic got South underway and Leigh Minopoulos finished off the scoring late in the game.
Theo Markelis had an early chance to put Hume ahead but from then on it was all South. Schroen got the scoring underway – against his former side – after four minutes with a left-footed effort past Chris Oldfield. Chris Taylor’s side then doubled their advantage just before the half hour mark when Lujic headed a back-post cross over Oldfield and into the opposite corner of the goal for his 32nd goal across all competitions in 2016.
In what was a dominant second half, South had numerous chances to add to their two goals but Oldfield produced some excellent goalkeeping to deny them. South finally had their third goal for the night on 81 minutes when Minopoulos initially hit a shot that rocked the crossbar before the ball was eventually bundled over the line. Stephen Hatzikostas’ late introduction to the game as a substitute brought up his 50th appearance for South across all competitions as South cruised to victory.
Prior to the match, South’s Senior Women’s team thrashed Eltham 5-0 to confirm the Women’s State League One (North/West) Championship. Caitlin Greiser scored yet another hat-trick to bring up an incredible 31 goals across all competitions, with youngsters Lauren Boyd and Sanja Trajcovska scoring the other two goals.
South now faces a huge Semi Final away to traditional rivals Heidelberg United next Saturday evening. Kick-off is at 6:30pm at the Olympic Village.
FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 3-0 HUME CITY (HT: 2-0)
Goal Scorers:
1-0: Marcus Schroen (4′)
2-0: Milos Lujic (28′)
3-0: Leigh Minopoulos (81′)
South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 2. Tim MALA, 3. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON (77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 80′) / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 18. Matthew MILLAR / 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS (14. Chris IRWIN 86′), 17. Marcus SCHROEN (22. Andy KECOJEVIC 90′), 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 4. Michael EAGAR, 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK).
Hume City FC:
1. Chris OLDFIELD (GK), 5. Peter FRANJIC, 6. Rama TAVSANCIOGLU, 8. Theo MARKELIS (17. Danny DIXON 60′), 9. Tom CAHILL (14. Kym HARRIS 46′), 11. Craig CARLEY, 12. Daniel CLARK, 13. Shane REXHEPI (21. Kristian TRAJCEVSKI 84′), 15. Charlie BEVERLY, 22. Deniz YILDIZ, 39. Nick HEGARTY (C).
Unused Subs: 2. Daniel CHAABANI, 20. Jordan FRANKEN (GK).
SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Kristian Konstantinidis
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 28 August 2016