Author: John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC returned to winning ways with a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory’s NPL side at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.

Milos Lujic got South off to a dream start on four minutes when he headed Matthew Millar’s back-post cross across Victory goalkeeper Lucas Spinella and into the goal. Victory were on level terms just eight minutes later though when Michael Holden found space down the left side before crossing low for captain John Maclean to score past Nikola Roganovic. The South custodian got a glove to the ball but was unable to keep it out of the net.

South continued their pressure in the second half and eventually got the all-important second goal on 72 minutes. Leigh Minopoulos had gone close to scoring three times in the opening half but he was not to be denied when he created space and hit a stinging goal-bound shot that deflected off Spinella and flew into the net.

The three points were wrapped up when Lujic’s header was parried by Spinella straight into the path of substitute Manolo and the Spaniard made no mistake in scoring South’s third goal. Lujic finished off the scoring on 90 minutes when he won and then converted a penalty, sending Spinella the wrong way from the penalty spot for South’s fourth and final goal of the afternoon.

The win keeps South in second place on the NPL Victoria ladder, five points behind the Bentleigh Greens with four home & away matches remaining.

The Under 20s match between the two sides was postponed and will be played at a later date to be advised by Football Federation Victoria.

South returns to Lakeside Stadium next weekend when it hosts Avondale FC, with kick-off at 4pm on Sunday 31 July.

FINAL SCORE: MELBOURNE VICTORY 1-4 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-1)

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Milos Lujic (4′)
1-1: John Maclean (12′)
1-2: Leigh Minopoulos (72′)
1-3: Manuel Herrero (79′)
1-4: Milos Lujic (90’p)

Melbourne Victory FC (NPL):
1. Lucas SPINELLA (GK), 2. John VAKIRTZIS, 3. Callum GOULDING (13. Ryan LAMBERT 69′), 4. Ben CARRIGAN, 5. James XYDIAS, 7. Andre McNAMARA (16. Christian THEOHAROUS 50′), 8. Anthony DUZEL, 10. Cameron McGILP, 11. John MACLEAN (C), 12. Dion PAOLA (15. Josh HOPE 46′), 14. Michael HOLDEN.
Unused Subs: 9. Pierce WARING, 20. Brandon OSIPOV (GK).

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 12. Amadu KOROMA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 2. Tim MALA, 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI / 18. Matthew MILLAR (15. Manuel HERRERO 58′), 17. Marcus SCHROEN, 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC, 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS (22. Andy KECOJEVIC 90′).
Unused Subs: 14. Chris IRWIN, 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 99. Iqi JAWADI.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Matthew Foschini
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Date: Sunday 24 July 2016

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 3-4 Oakleigh Cannons (Own Goal 23′, Minopoulos 30′, Lujic 72’p)
U20s: SMFC 3-1 Oakleigh Cannons (Hussainy 53′, 68′, 85′)
U18s: SMFC 2-3 Bentleigh Greens (Hawthorne, Crisp)
U16s: SMFC 1-0 Bentleigh Greens (Own Goal)
U15s: SMFC 3-1 Bentleigh Greens (Garrow x2, Di Sisto)
U14s: SMFC 5-1 Bentleigh Greens (Mitsonis x4, Abdou)
U13s: SMFC 5-4 Bentleigh Greens (Chong x2, Panakos x2, Polymenopoulos)
U12s: SMFC 2-3 Bentleigh Greens (Athanasakis, Durso)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 4-2 Bundoora United (Greiser 32′, 70′, Alberici 55′, Martineau 84′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 3-0 Bundoora United (Sotiropoulos, Mazzeo, Delorenzis)
SL2: SMFC 3-2 South Springvale (Goal Scorers TBC)
SL3: SMFC 0-2 Dandenong City
SL4: SMFC 1-3 Brighton Bobcats (Goal Scorer TBC)
U16s: SMFC 1-1 Peninsula Strikers (Goal Scorer TBC)
U14s: SMFC 4-0 Brighton Sharks (Goal Scorers TBC)
U12s: SMFC 4-0 Monash City (Goal Scorers TBC)

(Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

The Oakleigh Cannons continued their excellent recent form with a tough 4-3 win over a gallant ten-man South Melbourne FC at Jack Edwards Reserve on Sunday night.

Kristian Konstantinidis returned to the first team for the first time since suffering an injury against Avondale on 29 April. His comeback was only twelve minutes old before he was given his marching orders by referee Lucien Laverdure after bringing down Dean Piemonte as he was through on goal. The decision was correct, however it appeared that the linesman had missed an earlier offside call just prior to the red card. From the resulting free kick, former South junior Dusan Bosnjak hit a superb free kick over the wall and past Nikola Roganovic for the opening goal to continue his excellent 2016 season.

South fought back and were 2-1 ahead by the half hour mark. Nine minutes after Bosnjak’s goal, Milos Lujic pounced on a poor back-pass by Perry Lambropoulos and was cleaned up by Oakleigh captain and goalkeeper John Honos after trying to dribble the ball past him. As the fans were screaming for Honos to receive a red card and for Lujic to be awarded a penalty, the ball deflected off Steve Pantelidis and rolled into the empty net to draw South level.

On the half hour mark, Leigh Minopoulos intercepted another poor defensive pass – this time by Aron Wilford – and cooly slotted past the advancing Honos to give South the lead. The home side were back on level terms deep into first half injury time when another former South player Dimitri Hatzimouratis – who scored against South when the sides met earlier this season at Lakeside Stadium – got in between Roganovic and captain Michael Eagar to head Oakleigh and make the score 2-2 at the break.

Matthew Foschini had to be subbed at halftime after injuring himself late in the first half, meaning that South played the entirety of the second half with ten men and only two recognised defenders. Oakleigh looked to have finally taken advantage of this when two goals in three minutes saw them race to a 4-2 lead by 65 minutes. Bosnjak got on the end of a cut-back by Hatzimouratis to finish nicely past Roganovic on 62 minutes and then three minutes later substitute Sean Lovemore – who had only been on the field for five minutes –  weaved his way past several South players before making it 4-2 and seemingly game over.

South bravely fought back again and when Nick Epifano slipped the ball through for Lujic to go one-on-one with Honos, Pantelidis brought the big striker down as he went to shoot. South were furious that Pantelidis only received a caution in a situation that seemed a replica of the one that had seen Konstantinidis given his marching orders earlier in the game. Honos dived the wrong way as Lujic rolled the ball into the bottom right corner to give South a lifeline.

It wasn’t enough though and the Cannons recorded a 4-3 win in a very entertaining match for neutral observers. South are now five points behind first-placed Bentleigh and surely must now need to win all five of their remaining matches to have any chance of winning the Premier’s Plate. Of concern also is the fact that Heidelberg are now only two points behind South, with Oakleigh only four points behind.

In the Under 20s match played following the conclusion of the seniors, Nashir Hussainy scored a second half hat-trick as South Melbourne defeated Oakleigh 3-1.

There is no room for error now as South simply must defeat the Melbourne Victory NPL team in its next match to keep a distance from Heidelberg and Oakleigh and try to reduce the margin at the top of the table.

FINAL SCORE: OAKLEIGH CANNONS 4-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 2-2)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Dusan Bosnjak (14′)
1-1: Steve Pantelidis Own Goal (23′)
1-2: Leigh Minopoulos (30′)
2-2: Dimitri Hatzimouratis (45+2′)
3-2: Dusan Bosnjak (62′)
4-2: Sean Lovemore (65′)
4-3: Milos Lujic (72’p)

Oakleigh Cannons FC:
15. John HONOS (GK) (C), 4. Dominic D’ANGELO, 5. Aron WILFORD, 6. Ioannis GEORGOPOULOS (2. Adriano CHIAPPETTA 86′), 8. Dusan BOSNJAK, 10. Dean PIEMONTE, 11. Dimitri HATZIMOURATIS, 16. Anthony RIZK, 18. Steve PANTELIDIS, 19. Goran ZORIC, 26. Perry LAMBROPOULOS (7. Sean LOVEMORE 60′).
Unused Subs: 1. Evan KRALOGLOU (GK), 14. Konstantinos STRATOMITROS, 21. Abdalla OKUD.

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 3. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS (sent off 12′), 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 23. Matthew FOSCHINI (99. Iqi JAWADI 46′), 12. Amadu KOROMA / 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS (14. Chris IRWIN 83′), 18. Matthew MILLAR / 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS, 17. Marcus SCHROEN, 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Leigh Minopoulos
Venue: Jack Edwards Reserve
Date: Sunday 17 July 2016

South Melbourne FC will be looking to complete a 2016 league double over the Oakleigh Cannons when it travels to Jack Edwards Reserve on Sunday evening.

Chris Taylor’s side surrendered top spot on the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder last Friday night, with three late goals by Bentleigh seeing them defeat South 3-1 at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex. That result took Bentleigh two points ahead of South at the top of the league standings, with six matches remaining before the finals series.

Despite suffering its fourth league loss of the season, Taylor – who served a touchline ban against Bentleigh but will be back in the dugout on Sunday – will be strongly encouraged by the excellent performance of his team last Friday. South were by far the better team on the night despite playing nearly an hour with ten men and playing the match without the suspended pair Milos Lujic and Tim Mala.

Leigh Minopoulos was South’s man of the match against Bentleigh, scoring South’s goal and enjoying an excellent individual performance that will surely see him feature up front alongside the returning Lujic against the Cannons on Sunday. Tim Mala misses Sunday’s game as he serves the second of his two-game suspension, whilst Luke Adams misses the game as he serves a one-match ban for his red card against Bentleigh.

Co-coaches Peter Tsolakis and Con Tangalakis have overseen a strong season from Oakleigh so far, with the Cannons registering 11 wins, 4 draws and only 5 losses from their twenty league matches in 2016. Oakleigh are currently in sixth place on the ladder, a whopping nine points clear of the seventh-placed Melbourne Knights and only two points behind third-placed Heidelberg United. Sunday presents them an excellent opportunity to further consolidate their position in the top six and push for a top-three finish.

Oakleigh will go into the game in good form, having won their last two league matches. The key men to watch out for are Dusan Bosnjak and Dimitri Hatzimouratis, with both players having scored 15 and 12 goals respectively this season. Dean Piemonte has also chipped in with seven goals, giving Oakleigh some dangerous attacking options capable of punishing South if they are not careful.

SMFC and Oakleigh have played against each other every season since South returned to the State League in 2005. The two sides have also met each other twice in the Dockerty Cup (2013 and 2015), with South prevailing 3-0 both times. The 2015 meeting was in the Dockerty Cup final, which South won with a second-half double from Lujic and a further goal from Minopoulos.

Sunday’s match kicks off at 5:30pm at Jack Edwards Reserve. 

SMFC v Oakleigh Cannons – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 24
Wins (SMFC): 12
Wins (OCFC): 4
Draws: 8

First match: Oakleigh Cannons 0-1 SMFC (4 March 2005, Jack Edwards Reserve)
Last match: South Melbourne 4-1 Oakleigh Cannons (17 April 2016, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 3 goals (5-2 win, 27 July 2007, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (OCFC): 3 goals (3-0 win, 6 June 2014, Jack Edwards Reserve)

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 5 (5-2 win, 27 July 2007, Lakeside Stadium)
Most Goals in a Match (OCFC): 3 (3-0 win, 6 June 2014, Jack Edwards Reserve)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): None
Biggest Finals Win (OCFC): 1-0 (21 August 2011, Jack Edwards Reserve)

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 1-3 Bentleigh Greens (Minopoulos 27′)
U20s: SMFC 0-0 Bentleigh Greens
U18s: SMFC v Northcote City – Postponed
U16s: SMFC v Northcote City – Postponed
U15s: SMFC v Northcote City – Postponed
U14s: SMFC v Northcote City – Postponed
U13s: SMFC v Northcote City – Postponed
U12s: SMFC v Northcote City – Postponed

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 5-3 Yarra Jets (Alberici 9′, 58′, Greiser 17′, 23′, 53′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 3-0 Yarra Jets (Forfeit win to SMFC)
SL2: SMFC 2-0 Mooroolbark (Stoic, Sinclair)
SL3: SMFC 5-0 Kingston City (Van Den Bulk x3, Moloney x2)
SL4: SMFC 1-1 Glen Eira Sirens (Vrljic)
U16s: No game
U14s: SMFC 12-0 Keilor Park (Stringfellow x6, Louloudis x4, Nickolaus, Wicks)
U12s: No game

Bentleigh overtook South on top of the 2016 Ps4 NPL Victoria ladder with a late 3-1 win at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Friday night.

South went into the game without right-back Tim Mala (sent off against Hume), centre-forward Milos Lujic (fifth yellow card against Hume) and coach Chris Taylor (sent from the touchlines against Hume). Leigh Minopoulos and Manuel Herrero both started up front as South went for a more attacking line-up against Bentleigh.

Minopoulos justified his place in the starting eleven just short of the half hour mark when he bundled the ball across the line following an excellent cross from Marcus Schroen. South went down to ten men just before the halftime break when centre-half Luke Adams was given a straight red card as last defender, having fouled Chris Lucas as the striker went through on goal.

The away side continued to play well in the second half, even with the disadvantage of one less player. Things seemed to swing back into South’s favour when Bentleigh substitute Kamal Ibrahim – who had only been on the field for a short amount of time – was given a straight red card for an apparent elbow on Matthew Millar. Minopoulos put substitute Chris Irwin through on goal with a brilliant flick but Bentleigh goalkeeper Ryan Scott made a vital save to prevent his team going 2-0 down.

The save proved crucial as Bentleigh scored all their goals late in the game to secure the three points and undo the fantastic work of the South players, who played for over an hour with ten men. Jack Webster levelled the scores with a header on 79 minutes, before Lucas played through substitute Matthew Thurtell to finish past Nikola Roganovic and put the Greens ahead. With South pushing forward in search of an equalising goal, Tyson Holmes scored in the fifth minute of injury time to seal the result.

Bentleigh currently lead South on the NPL Victoria ladder by two points. Both clubs have six matches remaining before the finals series, with 18 points up for grabs and with it the Premier’s Plate.

In the Under 20s, Bentleigh and SMFC drew 0-0.

South travels to Jack Edwards Reserve next Sunday 17 July to play the Oakleigh Cannons, with kick-off at 5:30pm.

FINAL SCORE: BENTLEIGH GREENS 3-1 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-1)

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Leigh Minopoulos (27′)
1-1: Jack Webster (79′)
2-1: Matthew Thurtell (86′)
3-1: Tyson Holmes (90+5′)

Bentleigh Greens FC:
1. Ryan SCOTT (GK), 5. Jack WEBSTER, 8. Wayne WALLACE (C) (6. Liam McCORMICK 74′), 9. Chris LUCAS, 10. Tyson HOLMES, 11. Dion KIRK, 12. Joshua BRINDELL-SOUTH (18. Matthew THURTELL 74′), 16. Troy RUTHVEN, 22. Ryan PACZKOWSKI (14. Kamal IBRAHIM 55′ [sent off 59′]), 24. Luke PILKINGTON, 26. Lambros HONOS.
Unused Subs: 2. Nick APOSTOLOPOULOS, 21. Kile KENNEDY (GK).

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 12. Amadu KOROMA (8. Mathew THEODORE 74′), 4. Michael EAGAR, 5. Luke ADAMS (sent off 41′), 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI / 17. Marcus SCHROEN, 18. Matthew MILLAR, 7. Nick EPIFANO / 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS (22. Andy KECOJEVIC 84′), 15. Manuel HERRERO (14. Chris IRWIN 56′).
Unused Subs: 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Leigh Minopoulos
Venue: Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Date: Friday 8 July 2016

Arguably the match of the round for Round 20 of PS4 NPL Victoria action will take place at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Friday night when the Bentleigh Greens host South Melbourne FC.

The match is of vital importance to both sides in the race to secure the 2016 Premiership – South’s third in a row should it finish the regular season in first place. Chris Taylor’s side will maintain its current one-point lead over John Anastasiadis’ men with a draw on Friday night but can extend their lead to four points in what would be a huge win. Should Bentleigh win, they will secure a two-point lead over South with seven league matches remaining before the finals series.

Bentleigh has lost only once to South in seven meetings between the two sides across all competitions. The sides have already met three times in 2016 as Bentleigh secured the FFV Community Shield in February with a 3-0 win and then embarrassed South 4-0 in the final round of FFA Cup qualifying last month. Sandwiched in between these two meetings was a 2-1 league win for South in NPL Victoria action at Lakeside Stadium back in April. Kristian Konstantinidis and Mathew Theodore scored South’s two goals and goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic pulled off two magnificent saves from two late Bentleigh penalty kicks to secure three points for his side.

The key Bentleigh players to watch out for are captain Wayne Wallace, former South championship winner Tyson Holmes and striker Chris Lucas. All three were magnificent in Bentleigh’s FFA Cup triumph against South as they constantly harassed and forced South’s players to give the ball away cheaply, which lead to their four unanswered goals. All three will have to be shut out if South are to gain maximum points on Friday night.

Tim Mala was sent off late in the game as South drew 2-2 with Hume City at Lakeside Stadium last Friday night and will serve the first of his two-match suspension against the Greens this Friday. Prolific goal scorer Milos Lujic picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Hume and must serve the mandatory one-match suspension against Bentleigh. Taylor was sent off from the coaching bench in the Hume game and he will serve a one-match touchline suspension on Friday night.

The losses of Mala and Lujic will be felt heavily by South but this presents an excellent opportunity for other players within the squad to step up and replace those players. Manuel ‘Manolo’ Herrero was superb off the bench against Hume as he provided a perfect assist for Lujic’s second goal and he is expected to feature prominently in South’s attack on Friday night.

Friday night’s match kicks off at 8:15pm at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.

SMFC v Bentleigh Greens – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 16
Wins (SMFC): 7
Wins (BGFC): 6
Draws: 3

First match: Bentleigh Greens 0-1 SMFC (15 May 2005, Kingston Heath)
Last match: SMFC 2-1 Bentleigh Greens (10 April 2016, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 2 goals (3-1 win, 21 August 2005, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (BGFC): 3 goals (4-1 win, 21 July 2013, Lakeside Stadium)

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 3 (21 August 2005, Lakeside Stadium)
Most Goals in a Match (BGFC): 4 (21 July 2013, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): None
Biggest Finals Win (BGFC): 3-1 (13 September 2015, Lakeside Stadium)

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 2-2 Hume City (Lujic 45+3’p, 78′)
U20s: SMFC 1-2 Hume City (Marafioti 1′)
U18s: SMFC 3-0 Bulleen Lions (Karasawa, Garran, Layton)
U16s: SMFC 1-2 Bulleen Lions (Kolaj)
U15s: SMFC 1-0 Bulleen Lions (Singh)
U14s: SMFC 6-0 Bulleen Lions (Abdou x5, Baker)
U13s: SMFC v Bulleen Lions – Postponed to Saturday 20 August
U12s: SMFC 2-0 Bulleen Lions (Durso, Dzadey)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 12-2 Yarra Jets (Gleadell 1′, 13′, 25′, 36′, 40′, Alberici 9′, 65′, Greiser 21′, 47′, Laszczak 52′, 61′, Johnson 82′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 9-0 Yarra Jets (Mazzeo 19′, 58′, Sotiropoulos 22′, Taliadoros 25′, 39′, 43′, Delorenzis 27′, Broadbent-Hogan 84′, 90′) 
SL2: No Game (catch-up round)
SL3: No Game (catch-up round)
SL4: No Game (catch-up round)
U16s: SMFC 3-1 Glen Waverley (Trajkovska x3)
U14s: In Canberra for Kanga Cup
U12s: SMFC v Dandenong City – Postponed

(Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC and Hume City played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in an action-packed Round 19 PS4 NPL Victoria match at Lakeside Stadium on Friday night. It was the first time since September 2014 that Chris Taylor’s side had drawn a league match at Lakeside, with Friday’s result keeping South at the top of the NPL Victoria ladder by one point.

Hume should have had an early lead following a poor back-pass from Luke Adams but Nikola Roganovic raced out to block Craig Carley’s shot. Theo Markelis then sent South a warning with a clever chipped shot from outside the box that Roganovic tipped over, before Kristian Trajcevski opened the scoring for the away side with a nice finish past Roganovic that went in off the far post.

Milos Lujic had an earlier one-on-one chance with Hume goalkeeper Chris Oldfield saved but got his side back on level terms deep into first half injury time after the referee spotted a handball in the area. Lujic tucked his penalty past Oldfield for his 61st league goal in South Melbourne colours, seeing him overtake Michael Curcija in outright seventh position on South’s all-time leading league goal scorers of all time.

South had Matthew Foschini to thank for a desperate goal-line clearance to deny Hume, before Taylor made a double-change just before the hour mark to bring captain Michael Eagar and Spanish forward Manolo onto the field. On 78 minutes, Manolo worked himself into a good crossing position on the near grandstand side before providing a perfect cross for Lujic to clip over Oldfield and into the back of the net, sparking wild celebrations by the players and the home fans.

South had done the hard work to edge the advantage after initial being 0-1 down but the hard work was undone straight from the kick-off. Hume worked the ball down the right side before the ball was fired to an unmarked Markelis to tap home at the back post, setting up a grandstand finish to the match.  An all-in scruffle erupted between the players following a foul on Marcus Schroen that saw right-back Tim Mala shown a straight red card by the referee. Members of both team’s coaching staff were also sent off with emotions very high on the pitch.

With only ten men, it was expected that South would sit back and be content with a 2-2 draw. That was not the case, as South created three very late chances that would have dramatically won them the match. Former South captain Rama Tavsancioglu cleared the ball off the goal line before Lujic was put through on goal and beat Oldfield but the ball trickled agonisingly wide of the far post. With the match deep into the five minutes of injury time, Schroen hit an unstoppable shot from outside the area that left Oldfield rooted to the spot but the ball smashed into the crossbar and stayed out as the match ended 2-2.

South’s Under 20s started brilliantly against Hume thanks to Giordano Marafioti’s goal after just 19 seconds. Unfortunately, Hume scored two goals of their own in the second half to defeat Brian MacNicol’s side 1-2.

South heads to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex next Friday night for what is undoubtedly the match of the round against the Bentleigh Greens. With just a single point separating the two sides on the league table, Bentleigh will overtake South in first place should they win but South will remain on top by avoiding defeat.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 2-2 HUME CITY (HT: 1-1)

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Kristian Trajcevski (33′)
1-1: Milos Lujic (45+3’p)
2-1: Milos Lujic (78′)
2-2: Theo Markelis (80′)

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 12. Amadu KOROMA (4. Michael EAGAR 57′), 2. Tim MALA (sent off 84′), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON (C) / 23. Matthew Foschini, 18. Matthew MILLAR / 17. Marcus SCHROEN, 22. Andy KECOJEVIC (15. Manuel HERRERO 57′), 7. Nick EPIFANO/ 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS, 99. Iqi JAWADI.

Hume City FC:
1. Chris OLDFIELD (GK), 3. Jeremy WALKER, 5. Petar FRANJIC, 6. Rama TAVSANCIOGLU, 8. Theo MARKELIS, 9. Tom CAHILL, 11. Craig CARLEY, 13. Shane REXHEPI (C), 17. Daniel DIXON (15. Charlie BEVERLEY 62′), 19. Declan HARGREAVES, 21. Kristian TRAJCEVSKI (12. Daniel CLARKE 70′).
Unused Subs: 10. Joe FRANJIC, 14. Kym HARRIS, 20. Jordan FRANKEN (GK).

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Matthew Foschini
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Friday 1 July 2016

South Melbourne FC will be aiming for three wins in succession when it hosts Hume City at Lakeside Stadium on Friday night. Three points over Lou Acevski’s side will ensure South remains at least three points clear of Bentleigh in the PS4 NPL Victoria Premiership race, whilst a Hume win could see Bentleigh overtake Chris Taylor’s side.

South goes into the game on the back of four consecutive league wins at Lakeside Stadium, with the most recent being the 3-2 win over Richmond last Friday night. Milos Lujic opened the scoring with his 14th league goal of the season (and 20th across all competitions), Andy Kecojevic scored South’s second with a nice chip over the goalkeeper and Spanish substitute Manolo scored what proved to be the winning goal just eight minutes after coming onto the field.

There are just eight matches remaining in the 2016 NPL Victoria regular season (including the Hume game). With only a three-point lead over Bentleigh but with a lesser goal difference, South knows there is very little margin for error, especially ahead of the trip to Kingston Heath next Friday night. Wins over both Hume and Bentleigh will give Taylor’s men a commanding position as the regular season reaches its conclusion, whilst losses will see South’s current advantage diminish.

Incredibly, South has won all six meetings with Hume in the Chris Taylor era at the club, with the most recent being back in April with a tough 2-1 win at ABD Stadium. Matthew Millar scored both goals that night but South was made to work very hard by a ten-man Hume that battled right until the final whistle. With dangerous players such as Theo Markelis, captain Nick Hegarty and the recent transfer window signing Craig Carley, Hume will be more than confident of achieving something from their visit to Lakeside Stadium.

Friday’s game will have extra significance for Hume defender Shane Rexhepi as he joins forces with SMFC off the field to promote his SR13 Appeal, helping to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Please visit smfc.com.au/SR13 for more details and to donate.

Friday night’s match at Lakeside Stadium kicks off at 8:30pm, with the Under 20s kicking off at 6:15pm.

SMFC v Hume City – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 18
Wins (SMFC): 12
Wins (HCFC): 5
Draws: 1

First match: South Melbourne 1-2 Hume City (24 February 2008, Lakeside Stadium)
Last match: Hume City 0-1 South Melbourne (2 April 2016, ABD Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 6 goals (6-0 win, 25 April 2010, Broadmeadows Valley Park)
Biggest Winning Margin (HCFC): 5 goals (5-0 win, 17 April 2011, Broadmeadows Valley Park)

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 6 (25 April 2010, Broadmeadows Valley Park)
Most Goals in a Match (HCFC): 5 (17 April 2011, Broadmeadows Valley Park)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): None
Biggest Finals Win (HCFC): 2-0 (23 August 2009, Epping Stadium)