Author: John Kyrou

Pascoe Vale v SMFC – CB Smith Reserve – Friday 16 March 2018 at 8:15pm

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights

2017 (R24): Pascoe Vale 2-0 SMFC (CB Smith Reserve)
2017 (R11): SMFC 3-0 Pascoe Vale (Lakeside Stadium)
2016 (R25): Pascoe Vale 1-4 SMFC (CB Smith Reserve)
2016 (R12): SMFC 0-1 Pascoe Vale (Lakeside Stadium)
2016 (SF): SMFC 3-2 Pascoe Vale (Lakeside Stadium)

Overall Head to Head (League):
Played: 11
SMFC Wins: 7
Pascoe Vale Wins: 2
Draws: 2

NPL MEN / BOYS

 
NPL WOMEN / GIRLS

Paige Zois takes on Anita Les of Bayside United. (PHOTO: Cindy Nitsos).

South Melbourne FC suffered its first NPLW Victoria defeat of 2018 on Sunday afternoon, losing 3-2 against Bayside United at the Kingston Heath Complex.

With several senior players still unavailable and Sofia Sakalis away with the Young Matildas, coach Socrates Nicolaidis gave a full league debut to 14-year-old Sophie Papatsanis, whilst 16-year-old forward Kathryn Vlahopoulos also earned a first-team starting spot following two strong performances in the Under 19s.

The first half was a disappointing affair as South conceded a penalty that was converted by Connie Lewis on 12 minutes. On 41 minutes, Rina Hirano lobbed goalkeeper Cassandra Zaffina for Bayside’s second before Molly Burke’s corner right on the halftime break found its way through everyone and into the back of the net.

16-year-old Maryam Anvari – who had played for the SMWFC community club last year – was introduced in the second half, as was Melina Ayres on the hour mark. South performed much better in the second half and had a goal back on 75 minutes when 14-year-old Paige Zois scored past Melissa Maizels, who managed to get a hand to the ball but couldn’t prevent it hitting the back of the net. Bayside’s keeper could do nothing about South’s second goal five minutes later when Ayres found herself one-on-one and shot the ball into the far corner of the net. South pushed hard for the final ten minutes but ultimately fell just short of another memorable comeback.

Post-match, Nicolaidis said he was pleased with the effort of his young players. “Some mistakes were made in the first half but it’s good to give games to these younger players. We have the senior players to come back over the next few weeks which the younger ones will definitely benefit from.”

Fullback Aimee Medwin also added her thoughts. “I have to give a lot of credit to [acting captain] Jamie Pollock, at halftime she kept encouraging the [younger] girls, saying we can find a way back into this game and we almost did.”

South travels to Olympic Village to play Heidelberg United next Saturday 17 March, with kickoff at 3pm.

FINAL SCORE: BAYSIDE UNITED 3-2 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 3-0)

Goals:
1-0: Connie Lewis (12’p)
2-0: Rina Hirano (41′)
3-0: Molly Burke (45′)
3-1: Paige Zois (75′)
3-2: Melina Ayres (80′)

Bayside United:
1. Melissa Maizels (GK), 4. Anita Les, 7. Kirstie Shearing (17. Emily Harbis 72′), 8. Sienna Fogarty, 9. Emma Runnalls (29. Grace Norbury 66′), 10. Candela Ferreyra Bas (c), 11. Jessica Au, 16. Connie Lewis, 20. Molly Burke, 23. Rina Hirano (3. Bronte James 87′), Stephanie Parton.
Unused Substitute: 15. Sarah Walsh, 88. Celia Kelsall.
Yellow Card: Les 60′

South Melbourne:
1. Cassandra Zaffina (GK), 2. Marianna Anthony (35. Maryam Anvari 46′), 4. Leah Scroggie, 5. Aimee Medwin, 7. Chelsea Blissett, 8. Jamie Pollock (c), 9. Julia Nicolaci, 12. Sarah Richardson, 31. Sophie Papatsanis (7. Melina Ayres 59′), 34. Paige Zois, 40. Kathryn Vlahopoulos (49. Emily Rayment 86′).
Unused Substitutes: 11. Alexia Karatzikos (GK), 27. Irene Paracki.
Yellow Card: Medwin 67′.

Bayside United v SMFC – Kingston Heath – Sunday 11 March 2018 at 5:30pm

South Melbourne FC’s senior women’s side go into Sunday evening’s match chasing three straight wins from three NPLW games in 2018. Keen to prevent that are Bayside United, a team that South defeated in all three league encounters in 2017, although the one match that was played at Kingston Heath (Sunday’s venue) was a tight affair. South needed an injury-time winner from Caitlin Greiser to win all three points in that particular meeting last year.

Although South is two wins from two league matches in 2018, they have twice conceded the opening goal to their opponents, and against Box Hill United last weekend actually conceded the opening two goals. Coach Socrates Nicolaidis acknowledges this as an area to be improved within his team, with the high-risk, high-reward tactics he has implemented during his time at the club having paid off so far.

Melina Ayres was the saviour against Box Hill when she came off the bench (in her first appearance of 2018 following a rest post W-League season) in the final half hour to set up a goal and then score the winning goal in injury time. Nicolaidis is excited about her fulltime return to the side, with even more senior players due to return. “I honestly think that with everyone back fit and firing…honestly we’re maybe 4-5 players short of [being a competitive] W-League team.”

Previous Meetings – click individual game for highlights
2017 (R22): SMFC 11-0 Bayside United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R13): SMFC 2-0 Bayside United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R04): Bayside United 2-3 SMFC (Kingston Heath Soccer Complex)

Overall Head to Head:
Played: 3
SMFC Wins: 3
Bayside United Wins: 0
Draws: 0

SMFC team photo before kick-off against Oakleigh Cannons, Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday 9 March 2018. (PHOTO: Goal! Weekly).

South Melbourne FC suffered its first competitive defeat in 2018, losing 4-1 against the Oakleigh Cannons at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night.

Sasa Kolman’s side began the match strongly but the final ball in the area let South down throughout the first half. They were made to pay for this early in the second half when Dean Piemonte expertly chipped Keegan Coulter to open the scoring for the home side. Substitute Oliver Minatel had South level minutes later with a goal that the match officials thought he had scored with his head when it fact it was with his hand.

The controversy surrounding the goal mattered little as the Cannons retook the lead shortly after through a Ryan Paczkowski header. There was five minutes of madness as South conceded two more goals in the space of two minutes, firstly with an unmarked Giuseppe Marafioti tap-in at the back post before Kristian Konstantinidis was caught trying to dribble out of defence, with the ball eventually falling to Goran Zoric to score Oakleigh’s fourth and final goal.

Post-match, Kolman remained upbeat. “We had a 10-15 minute period where we were poor. On another night it could have been 2-0 to us [in the first half, instead of 0-0]. That’s football. We have only been together a short time and will keep working on our structure.”

In the Under 20s match played prior to the Seniors, South Melbourne missed an injury time penalty as it drew 2-2 with the Oakleigh Cannons. Andrew Mesourouni and Tristan Meaker scored South’s goals.

FINAL SCORE: OAKLEIGH CANNONS 4-1 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-0)

Goals:
1-0: Dean Piemonte (47′)
1-1: Oliver Minatel (50′)
2-1: Ryan Paczkowski (52′)
3-1: Giuseppe Marafioti (72′)
4-1: Goran Zoric (74′)

Oakleigh Cannons:
1. John Honos (GK) (c), 2. Tom Matthews, 7. Ryan Paczkowski, 8. Dusan Bosnjak, 10. Dean Piemonte (26. Thomas Podaridis 84′), 17. Giuseppe Marafioti, 18. Steve Pantelidis (16. Mehdi Sarwari 19′), 19. Goran Zoric (11. Wade Dekker 77′), 21. Konstantinos Stratomitros, 22. Anthony Rizk, 23. Shayan Alinejad.
Unused Substitutes: 4. Wayne Wallace, 95. Evan Kraloglou (GK).
Yellow Cards: Marafioti 18′, Stratomitros 23′, Piemonte 42′, Sarwari 65′.

South Melbourne:
1. Keegan Coulter (GK) / 23. Matthew Foschini, 3. Kristian Konstantinidis (20. Ajdin Fetahagic 88′), 39. Christos Intzidis, 11. Brad Norton (c) / 12. Iqi Jawadi (8. Luke Pavlou 75′), 18. Matthew Millar / 17. Andy Brennan (19. Oliver Minatel 46′), 7. Nick Epifano, 27. Leigh Minopoulos / 9. Milos Lujic.
Unused Substitutes: 16. Josh Hodes, 21. Amir Jashari (GK).
Yellow Cards: None.

Oakleigh Cannons v SMFC – Jack Edwards Reserve – Friday 9 March 2018 at 8:30pm

South Melbourne FC go into Friday night’s clash with Oakleigh brimming with confidence following the massive 9-0 win at Dandenong Thunder last Saturday night. Coach Sasa Kolman and his team come up against a wounded Oakleigh side that lost their opening two NPL Victoria fixtures in 2018. Peter Tsolakis’ side opened their season with a 3-2 loss at the Melbourne Knights before conceding a late goal for a 0-1 home loss against the Bentleigh Greens last Friday night.

Whilst some might feel that it’s a good time to play against Oakleigh, it needs to be remembered that South has not beaten Oakleigh at Jack Edwards Reserve since 2013. In fact, the results in games between the two clubs over the last few seasons indicate that the home side wins. Discipline has also been a problem for South in its last four visits to Oakleigh, with red cards issued to Brad Norton (2014), Michael Eagar (2015), Kristian Konstantinidis (2016) and Luke Pavlou (2017).

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights

2017 (R19): SMFC 1-0 Oakleigh Cannons (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R06): Oakleigh Cannons 1-0 SMFC (Jack Edwards Reserve)
2016 (GF): SMFC 3-2 Oakleigh Cannons (Lakeside Stadium)
2016 (R21): Oakleigh Cannons 4-3 SMFC (Jack Edwards Reserve)
2016 (R08): SMFC 4-1 Oakleigh Cannons (Lakeside Stadium)

Overall Head to Head (League):
Played: 28
SMFC Wins: 14
Oakleigh Wins: 10
Draws: 4

Julia Nicolaci and Sofia Sakalis celebrate as South level 2-2 on Sunday against Box Hill. (PHOTO: Cindy Nitsos)

NPL MEN / BOYS

NPL WOMEN / GIRLS

Socrates Nicolaidis’ SMFC Women’s side overturned a 2-0 deficit after 79 minutes to record a memorable 2-3 victory over Box Hill United at Wembley Park on Sunday afternoon. Melina Ayres, on her return to SMFC following W-League commitments over the summer, came off the bench and was instrumental in the comeback.

Many senior players were still missing due to either injury or rest following the W-League season. This meant starting berths for several young players again, including Sofia Sakalis, who was selected in the Young Matildas squad earlier in the week. Sakalis had come off the bench to score a brace in the 5-1 win over Senior NTC last Saturday and was rewarded with a starting berth against Box Hill.

South started brightly but soon found themselves on the back foot in scenes reminiscent of the opening-round 3-0 loss at Wembley Park in 2017. Erin Clout was in the right spot to take advantage after goalkeeper Cassandra Zaffina parried the ball in her path, putting the ball into the back of the empty net as the home side led 1-0 at the break. On the hour mark, Box Hill looked to be in cruise control when Melania Camilleri hit a spectacular long-range shot that smashed the back of the net to put Box Hill 2-0 ahead.

On came Ayres and Sophie Papatsanis as Nicolaidis bolstered the attacking urgency in his high risk, high reward strategy of playing the ball out of defence quickly and pressing high to attack the opposition defence. It eventually paid off when Sakalis tucked away a cross on the volley to pull the score back to 2-1. A minute later it was 2-2 when goalkeeper Alyssa Dall’Oste initially did well to block Ayres in a one-on-one but then spilt a Julia Nicolaci shot into the back of the net.

Ayres finally got the goal she deserved when she beat the offside trap before slotting the ball across the goalkeeper and into the net for what proved to be the winner on 90 minutes. South were lucky to hang on however as Box Hill missed a golden back-post opportunity to score an equalising goal, with the ball going over the crossbar.

Post-game, Nicolaidis was very pleased with the result. “I told the girls after the game that we are ahead of where we were after two games last season, both in terms of points won and goals scored.” On his high-risk, high-reward strategy, he added that “I told the girls not to worry if they made mistakes playing out from the back, eventually the opportunities would present themselves. I think some of the girls were a bit scared of making a mistake but eventually it paid off.”

FINAL SCORE: BOX HILL UNITED 2-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)

Goals:
1-0: Erin Clout (21′)
2-0: Melanie Camilleri (59′)
2-1: Sofia Sakalis (79′)
2-2: Julia Nicolaci (80′)
2-3: Melina Ayres (90′)

Box Hill United:
1. Alyssa Dall’Oste (GK), 2. Kristina Hall, 3. Leia Varley, 4. Madeaine Breakspear, 6. Ellen Wines, 8. Melanie Camilleri, 9. Saphrie Lines, 10. Cindy Lay, 16. Emma Littlewood (c) (24. Anouk Meereboer 89′), 17. Katherine Fotopoulos (7. Tayla Mure 76′), 20. Erin Clout (11. Elaina Vatcky 61′).
Unused Substitute: 23. Hayley Geurts.
Yellow Card: Vatcky 77′.

South Melbourne:
1. Cassandra Zaffina (GK), 2. Marianna Anthony, 4. Leah Scroggie (27. Irene Paracki 90+1′), 5. Aimee Medwin, 7. Chelsea Blissett, 8. Jamie Pollock (c), 9. Julia Nicolaci, 16. Sofia Sakalis, 24. Christina Stefanou (31. Sophie Papatsanis 63′), 34. Paige Zois (6. Tayla Stevens 76′), 36. Betti Michael (17. Melina Ayres 60′).
Unused Substitute: 11. Alexia Karatzikos (GK).
Yellow Card: Medwin 82′.

The calm before the (thunder) storm. SMFC team photo before kick-off against Dandenong Thunder, George Andrews Reserve on Saturday 3 March 2018. (PHOTO: Smile for Peter).

South Melbourne FC won its first game of the 2018 season in devastating style, defeating promoted Dandenong Thunder 9-0 at George Andrews Reserve on Saturday night. A hattrick from Milos Lujic, doubles from Andy Brennan* and Nick Epifano and singles to Matthew Foschini and Leigh Minopoulos completed the rout.

South led 0-4 at the halftime break before scoring another five in the second half. To rub salt into the wounds, goalkeeper Sermin Sadikovski was sent off late in the match after the Thunder had used up their three substitutes. This meant they were forced to complete the match with veteran outfield player Veton Korcari in goal and in the process conceded the ninth and final goal of the night.

Another big positive was coach Sasa Kolman giving his former U20s champioship player Josh Hodes game time for the final 20 minutes of the match. Post-match, Hodes spoke with SMFCTV and shared his thoughts on the game. “It was good to be out there as it’s been a while since my last senior game [cup match against Monbulk in March 2017]. We had a big lead and Sasa just told me to go out there and have fun.”

Looking back into the history books, the 9-0 scoreline equalled South’s highest ever aggregate winning margin in league competition, having beaten Moonee Ponds 10-1 (at Middle Park on 30 April 1960) and Corio 9-0 (at Middle Park on 10 September 1960). South has also previously scored 9 goals in a league fixture against Melbourne University (9-1 at Middle Park on 9 April 1960) and Triestina (9-1 at Olympic Park on 25 July 1965).

In the Under 20s match played prior to the Seniors, South Melbourne defeated Dandenong Thunder 2-1 thanks to goals from Tristan Meaker and Luke Barforosh. 

FINAL SCORE: DANDENONG THUNDER 0-0 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-4)

Goals:
0-1: Andy Brennan (5′)
0-2: Milos Lujic (13′)
0-3: Nick Epifano (21’p)
0-4: Andy Brennan (35′)*
0-5: Milos Lujic (48’p)
0-6: Leigh Minopoulos (60′)
0-7: Matthew Foschini (78′)
0-8: Milos Lujic (80’p)
0-9: Nick Epifano (90+2′)

Dandenong Thunder:
40. Sermin Sadikovski (GK) (sent off 89′), 6. Nicholas Modaffari (9. Veton Korcari 67′), 8. Theo Markelis, 10. Brandon Barnes, 12. Brendan Elmazovski (c), 13. Hamish Millar, 14. Zois Galanopoulos, 15. Mersim Memeti, 18. Samuel Catherine, 20. Sevdim Ismaili (19. Nicholas Glavan 46′), 21. Christopher Dib (11. Godfrey Okello 46′).
Unused Substitutes: 1. Noah Calamatta (GK), 16. Nashir Hussainy.
Yellow Cards: Dib 21′, Catherine 37′, Millar 48′.

South Melbourne:
1. Keegan Coulter (GK) / 23. Matthew Foschini, 3. Kristian Konstantinidis, 39. Christos Intzidis, 11. Brad Norton (c) / 12. Iqi Jawadi (8. Luke Pavlou 55′), 18. Matthew Millar / 17. Andy Brennan (16. Josh Hodes 72′), 7. Nick Epifano, 27. Leigh Minopoulos (19. Oliver Minatel 63′) / 9. Milos Lujic.
Unused Substitutes: 20. Adjin Fetahagic, 21. Amir Jashari.
Yellow Cards: Epifano 32′, Foschini 58′.

*The referee’s official match report credited Andy Brennan for a second goal in the 35th minute, however SMFC TV replays have shown the goal was an own goal.

Box Hill United v SMFC – Wembley Park – Sunday 4 March 2018 at 3pm

Coach Socrates Nicolaidis is looking forward to another tight tussle with Box Hill United on Sunday. “Last year we played them three times in the league for one win, one loss and a draw. At Wembley Park (the venue for Sunday’s game) we played there twice last year, winning once and losing once. Box Hill have always been difficult opponents for us and last year’s results proved that.”

Soc was pleased with his predominantly young team’s opening round win over the Senior NTC last Saturday and is keen to keep the momentum going. “We have some senior players to come back over the next few weeks but it’s great having so many of the younger players step up into the senior side. An experienced player in Julia (Nicolaci) scored one of our five goals against NTC; the rest were scored by girls who were 16 years old or younger. That’s really encouraging… we want to play the South way and score goals to entertain everyone. Let’s hope for more goals and another win against Box Hill on the weekend.”

“Paige Zois and Betti Michael will keep their starting positions and Mini Matilda, Sofia Sakalis, will start her first game. Melina Ayres will be in the squad this week.”

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights (2017 only)
2017 (R19): Box Hill United 1-2 SMFC (Wembley Park)
2017 (R10): SMFC 1-1 Box Hill United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R01): Box Hill United 3-0 SMFC (Wembley Park)
2015 (R18): Box Hill United 1-3 SMFC (Wembley Park)
2015 (R07): SMFC 3-2 Box Hill United (Lakeside Stadium)

Overall Head to Head (since 2011):
Played: 13
SMFC Wins: 7
Box Hill United wins: 5
Draws: 1