Author: John Kyrou

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 1-0 Green Gully (Epifano 42’p)
U20s: SMFC 0-4 Green Gully
U18s: SMFC 0-1 Heidelberg United
U16s: SMFC 0-3 Heidelberg United
U15s: SMFC 1-0 Heidelberg United (Garrow)
U14s: SMFC 5-0 Heidelberg United (Mitsonis x2, Rosemond x2, Rosenzweig)
U13s: SMFC 2-2 Heidelberg United (Polymenopoulos, Chong)
U12s: SMFC 1-1 Heidelberg United (Sdregas)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 2-1 Preston Lions (Alberici 9′, Martineau 60′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 1-0 Preston Lions (Singleton 90′)
SL2: SMFC 1-0 Old Xaverians (Sinclair)
SL3: SMFC 2-2 Monash University (Farmer, Weller)
SL4: SMFC 2-2 Peninsula Strikers (Owen, Hubbard)
U16s: SMFC 4-4 Brighton Athletic (Boyd, Karp, Stoic, Trease-Hemming)
U14s: SMFC 4-2 Brighton Sharks (Scolaro x2, Ciancio-Knauer, Louloudis)
U12s: SMFC 9-0 Monash City (Goal Scorers TBC)

South Melbourne FC is pleased to announce that Matthew Millar has extended his playing contract at the club and will remain at Lakeside Stadium until the conclusion of the 2017 NPL Victoria season.

The midfielder was signed from Melbourne City on the final day of the NPL transfer window back in February and became an instant hit with SMFC fans with a fine performance in the 6-0 home win against Heidelberg United in the opening round of 2016. He scored his first two goals for the club in the 10-0 win against Keysborough in the FFA Cup Fourth Round in March before scoring his first two league goals in the 2-1 win against Hume City in early April.

A former Australian youth international, Millar has been used by Coach Chris Taylor in both central midfield and on the right wing so far this season. Using his quick pace to get behind defenders, he has so far scored seven goals in 14 appearances across all competitions, with five league goals from the opening 12 rounds.

SMFC Football Director Nicholas Maikousis spoke with smfc.com.au about Millar’s contract extension. “We have been intending to keep Matthew at the club and we are very pleased that we have managed to do so. With Milos Lujic also extending his contract last week, our intention is always to lock down our important players at the club in order to have the best chance of continued success.”

South Melbourne FC will be seeking an immediate return to winning ways when it travels to Green Gully Reserve to face Green Gully on Saturday afternoon.

Chris Taylor’s side suffered only its second league defeat of the season last Friday night with a very disappointing home loss (0-1) against Pascoe Vale at Lakeside Stadium. Despite the poor result, South still remains on top of the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder and will stay there should they win Saturday’s match.

Centre-half Luke Adams will be missing for the next 4-5 weeks after being called up to represent the New Zealand National Team. South will be forced to reshuffle the defence, with Adams’ natural replacement at centre-half, Kristian Konstantinidis, not available as he continues to recover from a minor injury sustained in the 2-0 win against Avondale. Right-back Tim Mala has also been missing from the squad for the last few weeks as he also recovers from injury and is a 50-50 proposition for the Gully match. Matthew Foschini may be forced to take up a defensive position should Mala not play on Saturday.

Arthur Papas’ Green Gully side started with mixed results in their opening six league matches of the season but in traditional and typical Green Gully style, they have hit mid-season form and currently sit in third place on the ladder. Gully have won five of their last six league matches and are also just one win away from qualifying for the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 thanks to a 2-0 win against Heidelberg United in their Sixth Round tie on Tuesday night.

Should Gully win on Saturday, it will bring them to within two points of South on the league table, proving what a crucial match Saturday is shaping up to be for both sides.

Saturday’s match at Green Gully Reserve kicks off at 3pm. 

SMFC v Green Gully – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 31
Wins (SMFC): 15
Wins (GGFC): 11
Draws: 5

First match: Green Gully 0-2 South Melbourne (11 March 1984, Green Gully Reserve)
Last match: South Melbourne 3-2 Green Gully (7 July 2015, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 5 goals (5-0 win) – (22 June 1986, Middle Park)
Biggest Winning Margin (GGFC): 3 goals (3-0 win) – (6 April 2008, Lakeside Stadium)

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 5 (5-0 win) – (22 June 1986, Middle Park)
Most Goals in a Match (GGFC): 3 (four times) – (2008, 2011 to 2014) 

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): 3-0 (1 September 2006, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Finals Win (GGFC): 0-0 (5-4p) (3 September 2005, Green Gully Reserve)

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 0-1 Pascoe Vale
U20s: SMFC 3-0 Pascoe Vale (Layton 28′, Martindale 56′, Iradukunda 73′)
U18s: SMFC 2-1 Murray United (Marafioti, Crisp)
U16s: SMFC 2-0 Murray United (Kolaj, Ahmeti)
U15s: SMFC 6-0 Murray United (Barforosh x2, Chinnama, Papazisis, Andreadis, Garrow)
U14s: SMFC 7-0 Murray United (Abdou x3, Baker, Giannakarios, Lewis-Hanafin, Rosenzweig)
U13s: SMFC 7-1 Murray United (Polymenopoulos x4, Panakos x2, Khan)
U12s: SMFC 5-1 Murray United (Durso x2, Markovski x2, Sdregas)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 3-2 Lara United (Gleadell 16′, Alberici 25′, Rebholz 90′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 2-1 Lara United (Singleton 70′, Cachia 83′)
SL2: SMFC 1-1 Monash University (Scorer TBC)
SL3: SMFC 2-0 Casey Panthers (Farmer, Moloney)
SL4: SMFC 1-2 Elwood City (Vrljic)
U16s: SMFC 5-1 Monbulk Rangers (Shata x2, Trease-Hemming x2, Karp)
U14s: SMFC 8-1 Keilor Park (Nickolaus x3, Louloudis x3, Marsh, Stefanos)
U12s: SMFC 3-0 Dandenong City (Scorers TBC)

Pascoe Vale defeated South Melbourne FC in league competition for the first time following a fighting 0-1 victory and despite playing the majority of the game with only ten men. Former South man Joseph Youssef’s goal just after the hour mark settled a match that South can only blame themselves for throwing away.

Goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic has been one of South’s best players in 2016 and he denied Vitale Ferrante’s side from opening the scoring in the first half when he made a near-post save from Davey Van’t Schip’s shot.

Shortly afterwards, Pascoe Vale goalkeeper Alexander Pavlidis collected the ball, with the last touch coming from his defender Mark Pistininzi and the referee blew the whistle for an indirect free kick against Pascoe Vale amid fierce protest from their players. Chaos ensued from the free kick, when Nick Epifano’s initial shot hit the post and then Matthew Millar’s follow-up shot was cleared off the line. The ball then fell back to Epifano and his goal-bound shot was handled on the goal line by Tomi Milardovic, with the player shown a straight red card by the referee and South awarded with a penalty kick.

Milardovic’s decision to handball on the line was justified when Pavlidis guessed the right way and denied Epifano from the penalty spot for the first time in his South career. That entire incident seemed to galvanise ten-man Pascoe Vale as they continued to create opportunities despite playing with a man less. Roganovic again denied Van’t Schip, this time from a header, whilst at the other end of the field Pavlidis saved a Luke Adams header on target.

Pavlidis made another save to deny a long-range Matthew Theodore effort at the start of the second half before his side took the lead with what ultimately was the winning goal. Luca Santilli found space down the right side and hit a low cross initially intended for Van’t Schip, however the big striker cleverly dummied a shot and the incoming Youssef timed his run perfectly to beat Amadu Koroma to the ball and score past Roganovic.

South missed a great opportunity to level when Brad Norton fired a near-post shot well over the crossbar after Pavlidis had initially spilled Epifano’s shot into his path. South went close again shortly after but Peter Deng cleared Millar’s shot off the goal line and away from danger.

As South threw more men forward, Pascoe Vale searched for a second goal to completely kill the game off. Roganovic was on hand to block Santilli’s shot before making an incredible double-save to firstly deny substitute Luke Prelevic from point-blank range and then the follow-up shot from Michael Ferrante.

South had one final chance to salvage a point but Millar’s weak attempt was easily saved by Pavlidis as Pascoe Vale defeated South for the first time in eight league attempts.

The news was better in the Under 20s as South Melbourne defeated Pascoe Vale 3-0 thanks to goals from Charly Layton (28′), Cody Martindale (56′) and substitute Thierry Iradukunda (73′).

South must re-group before getting back on the road to face another tough test away at Green Gully next Saturday. Kick-off is at 3pm at Green Gully Reserve.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 0-1 PASCOE VALE (HT: 0-0)

Goal Scorer:
0-1: Joseph Youssef (63′)

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 12. Amadu KOROMA (14. Chris IRWIN 88′), 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 8. Mathew THEODORE (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS 61′) / 17. Marcus SCHROEN (99. Iqi JAWADI 70′), 18. Matthew MILLAR, 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC.

Pascoe Vale FC:
1. Alexander PAVLIDIS (GK), 2. Adrian TALARICO, 4. Adam NAKIC, 7. Luca SANTILLI (20. Luka PRELEVIC 84′), 8. Joseph YOUSSEF (C), 10. Davey VAN’T SCHIP, 13. Matthew LAZARIDES (22. Yusei KITADE 79′), 15. Mark PISTININZI (18. Andrew MIANO 74′), 16. Tomislav MILARDOVIC (sent off 19′), 21. Michael FERRANTE, 23. Peter DENG.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Nikola Roganovic
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Friday 13 May 2016

South Melbourne FC will be aiming for eight straight wins across all competitions when it hosts Pascoe Vale at Lakeside Stadium on Friday night.

South goes into the game confident following a big 5-2 win against the Melbourne Knights at Knights Stadium last Friday. Striker Milos Lujic scored two goals and celebrated further with news of a two-year contract extension during this week, keeping him at Lakeside Stadium until the end of the 2018 season.

Pascoe Vale won their opening two PS4 NPL Victoria matches but have not won a league match since 27 February. Since then, Vitale Ferrante’s side have only picked up three points and sit third-last on the ladder. Their most recent result was a 3-1 home loss against Melbourne Victory’s NPL side last Friday night.

Despite the difference between the two sides in league positions, South will need to be wary of a Pascoe Vale side that have always been very tough to overcome since they joined Victoria’s top flight in 2013. In the last meeting between the two side in 2015, South came back from a 1-2 deficit in extra time to overcome Pascoe Vale 3-2 in an epic NPL Victoria semi final. Will there be another classic on Friday night?

Friday night’s match at Lakeside Stadium kicks off at 8:30pm. 

SMFC v Pascoe Vale – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 7
Wins (SMFC): 5
Wins (PVFC): 0
Draws: 2

First match: Pascoe Vale 0-0 South Melbourne (1 June 2013, Hosken Reserve)
Last match: South Melbourne 3-2 Pascoe Vale (4 September 2015, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 3-0 (1 August 2014, Hosken Reserve)
Biggest Winning Margin (PVFC): None

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 3 (3-0 win) – (1 August 2014, Hosken Reserve)
Most Goals in a Match (PVFC): 2 (2-3 loss) – (25 Aug 2013 / 4 Sep 2015, Lakeside Stadium)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): 3-2 (4 September 2015, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Finals Win (PVFC): None

South Melbourne FC is thrilled to announce that Milos Lujic has signed a tw0-year extension to his contract, with the big striker to remain at the club until the conclusion of the 2018 season.

Lujic first arrived at Lakeside Stadium from Northcote City at the end of 2013, having scored 21 goals in the Victorian Premier League (including finals) that season. He made his SMFC debut on Thursday 13 March 2014 at the Olympic Village against Heidelberg United and scored his first goal for the club after only 21 minutes as South won 3-0.

From his first SMFC game, Lujic has been a goal-scoring champion and has scored a staggering 55 goals in 67 league matches, with 69 goals in 81 total appearances across all competitions. This includes 24 total goals in 2014, 31 in 2015 and 14 so far in 2016.

Lujic’s 55 league goals puts him outright ninth on South’s all-time leading league goal scorers and his goals played a big role in South’s NPL Victoria Championship in 2014, plus winning both the Dockerty Cup and the Premier’s Plate (finishing first) in 2015.

His impressive list of individual achievements whilst with SMFC include the following:
FFV Gold Medal Winner 2014
FFV Players’ Player of the Year 2014
FFV Golden Boot Winner 2014, 2015
SMFC Golden Boot Winner 2014, 2015
SMFC Media Best Player 2014, 2015
SMFC Hall of Fame Member 2014 (Championship winner)

Lujic spoke with smfc.com.au about the new contract extension. “To be quite honest I was never going anywhere else and can see myself retiring at this club. I absolutely love it here at South Melbourne and I want to help get this club back playing in the national league. I know how much our fans love their club and every time I play I try my best to score as many goals as possible for them. Hopefully there are many more goals to come over the next few seasons.”

SMFC Football Director Nicholas Maikousis also spoke to smfc.com.au. “Milos is a proven performer and a club man who is loved by all at South Melbourne. We are excited to have him back on board for the next two seasons, as we try to achieve our goals”.

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 5-2 Melbourne Knights (Lujic 8′, 43′, Millar 11′, 80′, Adams 79′)
U20s: SMFC 1-1 Melbourne Knights (Layton 7′)
U18s: SMFC 4-1 Nunawading City (Marafioti x3, Egan)
U16s: SMFC 2-1 Nunawading City (Johnson, Kolaj)
U15s: SMFC 5-1 Nunawading City (Chinnama x2, Singh x2, Hird)
U14s: SMFC 2-1 Nunawading City (Cevik, Lupancu)
U13s: SMFC 3-0 Nunawading City (Panakos x2, Chong)
U12s: SMFC 3-1 Nunawading City (Asani, Athanasakis, Markovski)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 2-1 Bundoora United (Laszczak 39′, Greiser 60′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 5-0 Bundoora United (Delorenzis 11′, 12′, 75′, Sotiropoulos 31′, Taliadoros 43′)
SL2: SMFC 0-0 South Springvale
SL3: SMFC 5-0 Dandenong City (Belanger, Maynard, Moloney, Van Den Bulk, Weller)
SL4: SMFC 1-1 Bayside Argonauts (Scorer TBC)
U16s: SMFC 13-1 Peninsula Strikers (Trease-Hemming x5, Shata x2, Karp x2, Trajkovska x2, Stoic)
U14s: SMFC 8-2 Kensington (Nickolaus x2, Louloudis x2, Marsh, Wicks, Own Goal)
U12s: SMFC 3-1 Boroondara Eagles (Scorers TBC)

South Melbourne FC further consolidated top spot on the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder following an excellent 5-2 victory over the Melbourne Knights in the original Melbourne derby on Friday night. Milos Lujic and Matthew Millar both scored doubles whilst centre-half Luke Adams scored the other goal to win the three points at Knights Stadium.

It was just over 25 years to the day that the two sides faced off in one of the most dramatic domestic Grand Finals of all time. Friday night’s game provided plenty of highlights in the latest chapter of the derby, with five goals in the first half, a red card and seven goals overall in the match. It was the second of two consecutive successful Friday night visits to Knights Stadium for South, with the goal of two wins achieved.

Like in the 1991 Grand Final, it was the Knights that took the lead on Friday night, when Jacob Colosimo got on the end of Stipo Andrijasevic’s cross to head the ball past Nikola Roganovic in only the third minute of the game. South were behind on the scoreboard for only five minutes before Lujic met Marcus Schroen’s cross to score past Knights goalkeeper Michael O’Farrell with a perfect header to level proceedings and give the derby an explosive start.

Chris Taylor’s side then took the lead three minutes later when an initial Schroen shot deflected off a Knights defender, hit the post and rebounded fortuitously to the incoming Millar, who beat Anthony Katiforis to the ball before scoring from close range. South only had the lead for ten minutes before Andrew Marth’s men drew level thanks to an unmarked James McGarry header from yet another excellent Andrijasevic cross that gave Roganovic no chance.

The first half had been an end-to-end affair, with both sides having numerous chances to score more goals. Roganovic stood tall and made a near-post block as the Knights pressed to take the lead again. O’Farrell denied Lujic at the near post and then the Knights had to scramble to clear the ball off the goal line from an Adams header as South started to gain some control.

Shortly before the halftime break, Nikola Jurkovic’s attempted pass forward was intercepted by Brad Norton, who found some space on the left side of the box before firing a perfect low cross for an unmarked Lujic to tap home his second of the night from close range. South could have gone into the sheds even further ahead had O’Farrell not produced an excellent save with his leg to deny Nick Epifano. Schroen also hit a stinging shot that went just wide of the goal.

The match swung further into South’s favour on the hour mark when Epifano – who was just inside his own half – latched onto Schroen’s ball over the top of the Knights defence and sprinted towards goal before being brought down just outside the area by defender Damien Miskulin, who was given his marching orders by the referee as the last defender. Miskulin’s sacrifice was justified when O’Farrell palmed Schroen’s resulting free kick over the crossbar to keep the ten-man Knights just a goal behind on the scoreboard.

The three points were secured with a further two goals in the space of two minutes. On 79 minutes, Adams beat O’Farrell to Schroen’s in-swinging corner and headed into the empty net before South regained possession from the kickoff and streamed forward again against a three-man Knights defence. The ball eventually fell for Millar to score his second of the night despite the best efforts of Joshua Brekalo to clear the ball off the line.

In the Under 20s match played prior to the Seniors, Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne played out a 1-1 draw. Charly Layton scored South’s only goal after 7 minutes.

South returns to Lakeside Stadium next Friday night when it hosts Pascoe Vale. Kick-off is at 8:30pm.

FINAL SCORE: MELBOURNE KNIGHTS 2-5 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 2-3)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Jacob Colosimo (3′)
1-1: Milos Lujic (8′)
1-2: Matthew Millar (11′)
2-2: James McGarry (21′)
2-3: Milos Lujic (43′)
2-4: Luke Adams (79′)
2-5: Matthew Millar (80′)

Melbourne Knights FC:
1. Michael O’FARRELL (GK), 5. Milan BATUR (C), 6. Damien MISKULIN (sent off 60′), 8. James McGARRY (10. Marijan CVITKOVIC 71′), 9. Jacob COLOSIMO, 11. Nikola JURKOVIC (2. Luke JURCIC 81′), 13. Anthony KATIFORIS (17. Robbie ZADWORNY 64′), 16. Jason HICKS, 18. Joshua BREKALO, 19. Nick GLAVAN, 21. Stipo ANDRIJASEVIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Anthony DEZIC, 20. Hrvoje CARAKUN (GK).

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 12. Amadu KOROMA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 8. Mathew THEODORE (99. Iqi JAWADI 83′) / 17. Marcus SCHROEN (77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 90′), 18. Matthew MILLAR, 7. Nick EPIFANO (14. Chris IRWIN 76′) / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Amadu Koroma
Venue: Knights Stadium
Date: Friday 6 May 2016

South Melbourne FC makes a second successive Friday night trip to Knights Stadium, this time to face old rivals the Melbourne Knights in the original Melbourne derby.

South goes into the derby having won six straight matches across all competitions in the month of April, with the most recent being last Friday night’s tough 2-0 win on the road against Avondale FC. Chris Taylor’s men have consolidated a three-point lead at the top of the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder and enjoyed a full seven-day break between games this week, something they did not have the recent luxury of doing.

Andrew Marth’s Melbourne Knights side go into the derby in winning form, having secured a late 2-1 win against Melbourne Victory’s NPL side at Epping Stadium last Saturday. That lifted the Knights to eighth spot on the NPL Victoria ladder and a derby win on Friday night could further elevate them as high as fourth spot if other results also go their way.

Ladder positions mean absolutely nothing in matches between the two sides, with the lower-ranked team defeating the higher-ranked team on many occasions in the past. This occurred as recently as last season, when Chris May saved David Stirton’s penalty kick deep into injury time to secure a memorable 2-1 win for the Knights. The Knights have a solid recent home record against South – with two wins from the last three derbies at Knights Stadium – and will no doubt be using this as inspiration to get one over their old foes.

Season 2016 marks the 33rd consecutive season that SMFC and the Knights have played against each other in league competition, following Melbourne Croatia being promoted into the National Soccer League in 1984. There have been many great derby games in the past and those heading to the game on Friday will be hoping to witness another classic.

Friday night’s match at Knights Stadium kicks off at 8:30pm. 

SMFC v Melbourne Knights – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 97
Wins (SMFC): 48
Wins (MKFC): 26
Draws: 23

First match: SC Croatia 1-2 South Melbourne Hellas (2 April 1960, Corio Oval)
Last match: Melbourne Knights 2-1 South Melbourne (12 July 2015, 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)

SC Croatia*/Melbourne Croatia/Knights weren’t in the same division as SMFC during the following seasons:
1961 to 1962, 1964, 1973 to 1983
(*with thanks to Pave Jusup for his assistance)