Author: SMFC Media

Monday, 10 April 2006 2:12 AM

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne overcame a committed Richmond on Sunday in what can only be described as a fiery match that could have been confused with an Essendon – Hawthorn AFL game of the 80’s rather than a game of Vodafone Cup football.

South, with new boys Oliviera, Djulbic and Naglieri came out running, dominating possession in the early stages of the contest.

However to the astonishment of the South faithful, Richmond through energetic striker
Veton Korcarevski managed the first goal of the game in the 16th minute.
Korcarevski took hold of possession just outside the area and launched a low drive that struck the post and found the back of the net.
Immediately from the restart, Andreas Oliviera in his first game for South Melbourne confused the Richmond defence weaving his way into the box, only to be fouled by the Richmond defender winning the penalty for his new club.
Moraes then stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net.

With the game evenly poised, an innocuous foul on Tansel Baser threatened to turn the contest into a wrestling match.
South players took offence to the treatment of Baser and responded by telling Richmond player Simon Webster what they thought of his treatment of Baser.

This however lead into an all in brawl, with both sets of players confronting each other over the incident, with pushing and verbal insults being exchanged.
To the outrage of the home crowd, only one player in South fullback Ramazan Tavsancioglu was sent off, with numerous other players given a yellow card.

Leading up to half time with the game in a bit of a quiet period following the incident, Moraes came close to breaking the deadlock with a powerful strike from 20 yards that tested the Richmond keeper.

In the second half both sides came out cautiously with no real chance falling until the 61st minute when Baser and Naglieri combined to set up the Ivory Coast native in Jonas Salley, who launched a amazing drive from 30 yards.

Although the South faithful and Salley himself thought the ball was headed to the top corner, it swirved late and missed the target by a coat of paint.

In response Richmond pushed forward through former Heidelberg player Brendan Beni, who had two clear cut chances on goal in the 68th and 72nd minutes respectively.

The first chance was well held by Dean Anastasiadis in the South goal, however the second caused confusion in the South area with Beni having two cracks at the target only for his shot to strike the cross bar.

This close call sparked South Melbourne who through a well placed shot from new player Naglieri came close to breaking the deadlock in the 77th minute.

However once again the strike was only inches away from finding the back of the net.

In pushing for the winner a deflected pass from Salley lead for an inviting ball to fall between Kevin Nelson and Richmond keeper, who under pressure opted to punch the ball out of the area into the clear.

Unfortunately for the youngster the ball fell to South midfielder MacNicol, who from 30 yards steered a volley into the empty net sending the small but vocal crowd into raptures.

This was the last chance of the game with referee Senko Rasticic blowing for full time moments later.

The much needed win sent South Melbourne into sixth place on the table, but only one point behind fourth placed Heidelberg United with a game in hand, while Richmond were sent to the bottom of the Vodafone Cup Standings.

Both teams have a two week break for Easter before the next round of games.

Friday, 7 April 2006 1:28 AM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne returns to Bob Jane Stadium this weekend looking to get their season back on track after three consecutive disappointing results have landed John Anastasiadis’s men outside the top 6 for the first time this season.

Coach Anastasiadis is likely to include new recruits Antonio Naglieri and Andreas Oliveira in the squad with both players keen to make an impression after having a hit-out last week with the Under-21 side.

Conversely, Richmond will be keen to get a positive result as they currently languish in the bottom two but due to the closeness of the Vodafone Cup a win could see Dean Hennessy’s men steer clear of the drop zone.

Richmond hasn’t tasted victory since the opening round of the season, while South’s last triumph was against Preston in round 4.

With both sides out-of-form, returning to Bob Jane Stadium could not have come at a better time for South who will be looking to win convincingly to restore supporter faith as well as build confidence in front of goal, as similarly to last season, the team is consistently carving out decent openings, however, without the expected efficiency on the scoreboard.

Players South must look to contain in the Richmond camp include the talented Brendan Beni who moved from Heidelberg in the off-season. Beni has quality technique with the ability to turn games with his vision and willingness to run at defenders through the middle of the park.

Furthermore, striker James Robinson found some form last week, bagging a double against Fawkner-Whittlesea to bring his season tally to three.

In the South camp, Naglieri and Oliveira will hopefully inject some freshness and with Captain Vaughn Coveny scoring last week against Altona and the markedly improved performance of Kevin Nelson off the bench, South should have plenty of attacking presence and goal-scoring ability on the park.

Finally, one area of concern this season for South has been the increase in goals conceded. With Arthur Tsonis out for the rest of the season and Con Blatsis still at least a couple of weeks away, added pressure and expectation will be placed on the shoulders of youngsters James Stefanou and Sammy DeVito. Both did reasonably well last week against Altona, but with South at home, a clean sheet must be the aim.

Sunday, 2 April 2006 12:23 AM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne have continued their worrying form slump going down 3-1 to a determined Altona Magic outfit after Vaughn Coveny had put the visitors ahead with a 14th minute strike only to see referee Jim Ouliaris award a speculative penalty on the stroke of half time, allowing for Sash Becvinovski to equalize.

In the 2nd half Altona capitalized on a strong tailwind with Becvinovski fortunate to see his 75th minute strike rattle off the crossbar and onto Dean Anastastasiadis’s back with the ball eventually trickling over the line, whilst Igor Arsovski wrapped things up in the 84th minute with a close range effort.

With injury and form forcing Coach John Anastasiadis’s hand this week, a couple of personnel changes and positional adjustments were made to the starting lineup.

Trinidad and Tobago native Kevin Nelson started on the bench with the season-ending knee injury suffered by Arthur Tsonis seeing young defender James Stefanou making his first full debut for the club. Postionally, Tansel Baser was moved to a central defensive role with Ivory Coast defender Jonas Salley playing in defensive midfield. Finally, young left back Sammy DeVito also made a comeback to senior action.

South’s starting 11 read as follows, Dean Anastasiadis in goal, a central defensive pairing of Tansel Baser and James Stefanou with Rama Tavsancioglu and Sammy DeVito playing the right and left back positions.

In the centre of the park, Jonas Salley played in a defensive midfield role with Scot MacNicol the more attack-minded midfielder. On the flanks Vasilios Natsioulas and George Tzirtis played on the right and left respectively with Brazilian Fernando Moraes having a free roaming attacking role in behind Captain Vaughn Coveny who led the line up front.

The Magic started brightly creating a quality opening after only 2 minutes when an angled strike from the right-hand side of the box was well saved down low by Anastasiadis.

Then in the 6th minute Altona should’ve gone ahead after a superb cross down the left flank was met with a firm header 8 or so yards out. Anastasiadis did well to get a glove on the attempt and was somewhat fortunate to see the ball balloon up and onto his chest with the South custodian planted on his back.

A minute later South produced a counter attack with George Tzirtis finding space down the left hand side of the Altona box with his subsequent angled-drive requiring a sharp save from Altona custodian Bojo Jevdjevic.

The frenetic pace continued when a 9th minute free kick from South was sent deep into the Altona box with Tavsancioglu meeting the ball around the penalty mark, sending a sharpish header crashing onto the crossbar.

Altona then broke on the counter finding some space down the right and sending a deep back-post cross that Tomi Razov failed to connect with after the striker managed to lose Stefanou, finding himself 8-10 yards out and in plenty of space.

Thirteen minutes in and South took the lead. A searching ball was caught by the wind wrong-footing Altona defender Levent Osman and allowing Coveny to out-muscle the ex-South defender and latch onto the opportunity. Faced with only Jevdjevic to beat, Coveny made no mistake, sending a powerful drive comfortably past the Altona custodian.

The goal seemed to have a calming effect on the pace of the game, chances stopped being created and South looked destined to head into the change rooms with a valuable advantage.

However, on the stroke of half time the game was turned on its head, a hopeful through-ball over the top by the Magic caught the South defence flat-footed allowing for an Altona player to get in-behind. Faced with only Anastasiadis to beat a chip was attempted with Anastasiadis seemingly trying to punch the ball away, the ball was destined to cross the line when South managed to scurry back and clear at the last moment, only for referee Ouliaris to point to the spot. Ouliaris must’ve ruled that Anastasiadis had somehow made contact with the player, but to the majority of the crowd, the incident seemed to be a genuine attempt to get the ball.

Altona leading marksman Sash Becvinovski stepped up and comfortably slotted past Anastasiadis, hitting his drive low and firmly into the bottom left corner, leveling the ledger and giving Altona the advantage with a large tailwind awaiting them in the second half.

The 2nd half was evenly balanced possession wise, however, Altona looked the more likely to score. A 63rd minute strike from just outside the box had Anastasiadis beaten with the veteran keeper saved by the left upright.

Then in the 72nd minute, a deep back-post cross from the left was sliced by the arriving Altona player, when a shot on target would’ve heavily tested Anastasiadis.

South should’ve gone ahead in the 74th minute after excellent work down the right by substitute Kevin Nelson saw the diminutive striker produce a superb back-post cross that left Coveny with the easiest of tap-ins from 2 or so yards. Coveny however seemed to underestimate his finish, sticking out a toe but with far too little power allowing for the desperate Jevdjevic to lunge at full stretch and smother.

Immediately after Coveny’s miss Altona made South pay with Becvinovski latching onto a cross from the left by Tomi Razov, Becvinovski saw his looping headed attempt cannon off the crossbar with Anastasiadis struggling at full stretch to get a glove onto the effort. As the South keeper was falling back the ball ricocheted off his back and trickled its way over the line sending the Magic ahead.

Altona then wrapped up proceedings in the 84th minute after a searching switch of play saw a desperate lunging attempt by Tavsancioglu fail narrowly, allowing for Altona to break into the South box down the left flank with the subsequent cutback being comfortably finished by Igor Arsovski who from 6 yards out couldn’t miss.

Friday, 31 March 2006 7:20 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

After disappointing consecutive performances against Essendon and Sunshine, South Melbourne travel to Paiseley Park this Saturday night to take on the undefeated and 2nd placed Altona Magic.

Coached by ex-South player and member of the coaching staff Ken Murphy, the Magic have started the season in outstanding fashion, producing 4 wins and 3 draws to sit only one point behind top-of-the-table Kingston City.

The Magic lost several quality players in the off-season, with goalkeeper Martin John moving to Sunshine, attacking midfielder Cameron Pino to Oakleigh and dogged defensive midfielder Marcus Stergiopoulos to Kingston.

However, Altona have managed to cover these losses, signing the likes of experienced Premier League and former NSL custodian Bojo Jevdjevic, handy midfield brotherly pairing Ivan and Tommy Razov, as well as securing the services of classy winger Daniel Vasilevski from A-League club Perth Glory.

In Sasho Becvinovski, the Magic have one of the most experienced goal-getters in the league, Becvinoski has already netted 5 times this season and will have to be closely watched if South are to keep a clean sheet.

Furthermore, twins Koce and Kole Delev are two of the more exciting players in the league with Koce Delev posing a genuine goal-scoring threat from the centre of the park.

Ex-South Melbourne players Levent Osman, Agim Sherifovski and Alfonso Opazo add quality and provide a solid spine in the defensive, midfield and forward areas of the pitch, topping off an extremely strong and competent Altona line-up.

Conversely, South Melbourne have shown worrying signs over their past two matches, lackluster displays and in-efficient finishing have cost John Anastasiadis’s men points in their last two encounters with a win – against Altona – crucial for South as it would consolidate their position in the top 6.

During the week South have moved swiftly in the transfer market in a bid to rectify their early season deficiencies, signing Western Australian natives and ex-Perth S.C. players Andreas Oliveira (striker), Antonio Naglieri (attacking midfielder) and Dino Djulbic (defender).

All three players will immediately come into contention for selection, especially with the lack of goals scored so far this season and the injuries to defensive stalwarts Con Blatsis and Arthur Tsonis.

In the case of Oliveira, he has already scored 3 goals in this season’s Vodafone Cup for the Frankston Pines, hence it is hoped that the he will be able to quickly acclimatize himself to South’s system of play and continue the good form he has shown in the league thus far.

A knee injury sustained in last week’s game against Sunshine will keep Arthur Tsonis out for the rest of the season with the colossal defender needing a knee reconstruction. James Stefanou will most likely take his place in the first 11 against the Magic.

Friday, 31 March 2006 12:15 PM

South Melbourne has moved swiftly to strengthen its playing squad obtaining the services of Western Australian natives Andreas Oliveira, Antonio Naglieri and Dino Djulbic.

Oliveira is a 25 year old striker who has scored almost 100 goals in the past 5 seasons for Perth S.C. in the Western Australian Premier League. Last season he finished a credible fifth in the competition’s player of the season award.

Oliveira began the current Vodafone Cup season at Frankston Pines where he has managed to score 3 goals in 5 games and will no doubt go a long way in bolstering South’s attacking stocks.

At 23 years of age Naglieri is considered a quality attacking midfielder with the ability to both score and create goals. Naglieri finished second in Perth’s best and fairest last season, a superb effort considering it was his first season in the colours of Perth S.C.

Naglieri has been signed with the view of providing more penetration from the centre of the park, allowing for Coach Anastasiadis to have greater flexibility in his midfield selection.

Finally, 21 year old Djulbic is a product of the Perth S.C. youth system. A defender who is very comfortable on the ball, Djulbic progressed from reserves action at the start of last season to a fully fledge member of the starting eleven by season’s end. With injuries to Con Blatsis and Arthur Tsonis, Djulbic will be looked upon to provide defensive cover.

Sunday, 26 March 2006 9:51 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

A 10th minute close range header from Trent Waterson has proved enough to give the Sunshine Georgies a much needed 3 points and crown new Coach Joe Montemurro’s debut in the sweetest possible manner.

Montemurro was the South youth coach as recently as last week but switched allegiances after being handed his first senior coaching job at Premier League level.

South made only one change from their starting line-up against Essendon with veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis returning between the uprights after overcoming an arm injury.

South lined up as follows, Dean Anastasiadis in goal defended by a back three consisting of Jonas Salley, Arthur Tsonis and Rama Tavasancioglu. In the centre of the park Tansel Baser played in the defensive midfield position with Scot MacNicol and Brazilian Fernando Moraes the more advanced midfielders. On the flanks, George Tzirtis and Vasilios Natsioulas played on the left and right respectively with both players instructed to drop back and defend their flank where appropriate. Up front, Captain Vaughn Coveny resumed his new found partnership with import striker Kevin Nelson.

Sunshine began strongly finding space down the left and producing a quality cross that recent signing Fidel Richards headed over from 12 or so yards.

A minute later Ivan Filipovic produced a decent strike from outside the box that failed to test Anastasiadis.

Ten minutes in and Sunshine were ahead after Richards found acres of space down the left flank and produced a quality ball into the heart of the South box. Up popped up an unmarked Trent Waterson who from 8 yards out sent an angled header comfortably past a hapless Anastasiadis who was left stranded by his defence.

Eighteen minutes had been played when South should’ve drawn level after intelligent play from Moraes saw the Brazilian play Nelson in behind the Georgies defence. With only Sunshine keeper Martin John to beat, Nelson took the ball towards his un-favored left foot, yet instead of striking with his left, the Trinidad and Tobago native tried to poke the ball past John with his right foot, seeing the Sunshine keeper save with his feet.

General play was slightly in South’s favor; however, Coach Anastasiadis’s charges were well below their best as Montemurro kept instructing his players to work hard and continue to soak up South’s attack.

Thirty-five minutes in and John produced a stunning save to deny South and Kiwi international Coveny an equalizer. South had won a free kick slightly on the left hand side, 25 yards out. Moraes stood over the ball and produced a neat lay off to Coveny who proceeded to unleash a brilliant low drive headed for the bottom left corner that John saved superbly at full stretch.

South continued to press and a hastily cleared corner in the 38th minute fell to Tavsancioglu who proceeded to unleash a volleyed attempt that caused havoc in the Georgies 6 yard box with the home side eventually clearing.

Just before half time, South produced their best opening of the half. A weaving run down the right by Moraes saw the Brazilian work his way into the Sunshine box and produce a perfect cutback for Nelson who from 6 yards out could only blaze his 42nd minute strike over when the goal was at his mercy.

South began the 2nd half in a positive manner. Fifty-one minutes had been played when Natsioulas produced a quality ball from the right. The ball fell to Coveny who did well to fashion a chance for himself, turning his marker sharply and producing a low drive that looked certain to level the tie only for John to produce another outstanding save down low.

Sunshine continued to soak up the pressure and largely relied on counter attacking play and individual efforts to threaten South’s goal. In the 57th minute Sunshine substitute John Cvetanovski connected well with a 20 yard effort that Anastasiadis did well to glove.

Six minutes later Sunshine striker Tony Neceski almost capitalized on a South defensive lapse, getting in behind the defence and almost managing to round Anastasiadis who was thankful that Neceski ran out of space with the ball going beyond the goal line and out for a goal kick.

South’s final decent opening arrived in the 65th minute after a good cross from the left fell to Nelson in the Sunshine box, who unfortunately for the visitors, produced a poor first touch, allowing for the Georgies defence to adjust their positioning and block his eventual effort.

The final 20 minutes saw the visitors drop their overall performance. Sunshine were happy to soak up the play whilst South seemed to lack a leader who could fashion something to galvanize the team.

The Georgies almost capitalized on South’s seemingly uninspired play when Richards broke down the left in the 87th minute and sent a deep cross into the South box that was met by the intelligent late run of Waterson who produced a looping header that had Anastasiadis scurrying, only for the effort to nestle on the top of the net.

Friday, 24 March 2006 10:22 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

After a week hiatus due to the Commonwealth games making Bob Jane Stadium unavailable, South Melbourne return to Vodafone Cup action against a Sunshine Georgies outfit in desperate need of 3 points.

The Georgies have recorded only one win in their opening six encounters and find themselves in the relegation zone on a meager three points.

Adding further intrigue to the encounter is the appointment of former South youth coach Joe Montemurro as the new head coach of the Georgies. Montemurro replaces Chris Taylor who paid dearly for Sunshine’s poor start to the season.

In the Georgies camp, midfielder Tony Neceski is an experienced campaigner with the ability to score goals. Neceski has netted three times so far this season with his contribution having to be well managed if South is to take control of the midfield battle.

In goalkeeper Martin John the Georgies posses one of the league’s best shot-stoppers. John has had vast experienced playing at the highest level in the NSL and provides an intimidating final barrier.

Defensively, Colin Azzopardi brings some much needed experience with youngster Emanuel Muscat given the Captain’s armband after barely a season under his belt at Premier League level.

The Georgies have also added two British players to their ranks in recent times. The first, Fidel Richards, has moved from Heidelberg after spending last season at Richmond. Richards was on the bench when South played the Bergers in the opening round of the season. The second acquisition is a 21-year old English striker by the name of Mark Draycott. Draycott has played second division football in the U.S. and represented the Republic of Ireland at Under 15 level. He possesses a tallish frame and will provide the Georgies with a target man up front.

Conversely, coming off a week’s break South will be looking for the three points to cement their spot in the top 6. John Anastasiadis’s men were particularly impressive in the first 20 minutes against Essendon but lost their way after conceding against the run of play. Anastasiadis will be looking for a consistent performance throughout the entire 90 minutes.

On the injury front, midfielder George Tzirtis may miss after coming off against Essendon with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. His and the long-term injury of Con Blatsis aside, coach Anastasiadis has a near full list of players to choose from with his brother and veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis expected to return after resting his arm injury over the past two weeks.

South’s major concern remains its ability to score goals. With only 6 goals in 5 games, the same problem that plagued the team last season has resurfaced this campaign. However, with captain Vaughn Coveny back from his A-League stint, it is hoped that the Kiwi marksman can form a good understanding with strike partner Kevin Nelson and bring the much needed goal supply to Lakeside.

Saturday, 11 March 2006 1:35 AM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne has come away with a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Essendon after a free-flowing and pulsating encounter at the Veneto Club saw the visitors miss a host of chances whilst appearing extremely vulnerable on the counter.

On loan from Perth Glory, Solomon Islands international Henry Fa’Arodo scored a brilliant individual goal in the 21st minute totally against the run of play after South had played its best football of the season in the first 20 minutes.

South winger George Tzirtis managed to level just after the break, but extended periods of pressure from South could not yield a decisive goal with the Royals unlucky not to score themselves on a couple of occasions.

Club captain Vaughn Coveny returned after his A-League stint, bolstering the South frontline and commencing his eagerly anticipated partnership with Kevin Nelson.

The South starting eleven read as follows, Con Dimitropoulos started in goal after veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis succumbed to an arm injury. The central defensive pairing saw Arthur Tsonis link-up with Ivory Coast native Jonas Salley with Rama Tavsancioglu and Vasilios Natsioulas playing in the left and right wingback positions respectively. In the centre of the park Scot MacNicol and Tansel Baser played in the attacking and defensive midfield positions whilst George Tzirtis and Fernando Moraes were deployed on the left and right flanks. Up-front Trinidad and Tobago import Kevin Nelson partnered South Captain and Kiwi international Vaughn Coveny.

South began the game playing superb free-flowing football and it wasn’t long before the chances started to arrive. In the 4th minute Coveny’s shot from just outside the box was easily saved by the Essendon keeper.

Four minutes later and a superb through ball by Baser was latched onto by Nelson who took a touch and unleashed a powerful drive that sailed narrowly wide.

Then in the 10th minute some excellent work down the left flank saw MacNicol produce a quality back-post cross that for a few inches would’ve found Nelson all alone and unmarked. At full stretch Nelson failed to get his boot onto it.

South’s opening 20 minute avalanche continued, this time Brazilian Moraes unleashed a thunderous 14th minute drive that the Royals’ keeper did well to parry. Fernando was at it again in the 20th minute after a powerful and swerving strike couldn’t be held by the keeper. The ball fell to Nelson who from a tight angle on the right whipped the ball across the face of goal, the ball was quickly played back into the heart of the Royal’s defence seeing an unmarked Moraes, from 5 yeards out, failing to direct his header either side of the keeper with the Essendon keeper gloving thankfully when he should’ve been retrieving the ball from the back of the net.

South paid dearly for their lack of productivity in front of goal when Fa’Arodo turned Salley inside out, threw a shot-fake which drew Dimitropoulos out of his goal area and left the Soloman Islands international with an empty net to power the ball into. Fa’Arodo made no mistake with his 21st minute strike immediately deflating South’s confidence.

South nearly leveled in the 33rd minute after a Moraes free kick from the left-hand side fell to Salley on the back-post who rushed his strike and blazed over.

Fa’Arodo however continued to be Essendon’s main attacking threat, this time the diminutive striker used his immense speed to create some space for himself down the left, producing a quality ball into the heart of the South area that found an unmarked team-mate who fortunately for the visitors, failed to make decent contact with his glancing header with the ball trickling just wide.

South best chance of the half came in injury time after a free kick from the right by Moraes expertly picked out an unmarked Coveny 8 yards out. The Kiwi international rose and sent an angled header crashing against the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

The visitors needed to respond early in the 2nd half and managed to do so via George Tzirtis. The super fit midfield/winger timed his run superbly, latching onto a 49th minute ball from the right that evaded the Essendon defence and fell to the ex-Frankston player who one-on-one with the Royals’ keeper, calmly slotted through the keeper’s legs to level proceedings.

Two minutes later and South nearly went ahead after a quality ball from the left by Moraes found Coveny’s deep run down the right side of the Essendon box with the South skipper sending his volleyed effort narrowly wide.

Essendon had been playing on the counter all night and wasted two guilt edge chances in the 58th minute. First a glorious run down the right saw an Essendon player nutmeg Tzirtis and enter the box in a dangerous crossing position, only to see his subsequent low cross pass through a sea of legs with the ball eventually being scrambled off the line by the South defence only for the assistant referee to flag offside. A moment later an Essendon attack down the left saw a great cross find an unmarked Royals’ player 6 yards out with the subsequent header straight at Dimitropoulos who no doubt breathed a sigh of relief.

In the 65th minute Fa’Arodo once again caused problems for South after cutting in from the right and producing a quality strike that Dimitropoulos did well to parry away.

South could’ve snatched all three points in the 79th minute when the once again excellent Moraes slotted Nelson in down the left only to see Nelson’s angled drive fail to test the keeper.

Essendon almost took maximum points 8 minutes from time after a low cross from the right was flicked on towards goal with Dimitropoulos showing excellent reflexes to stick an arm out and deflect away.

Wednesday, 8 March 2006 3:35 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

The Vodafone Cup resumes this Friday night when South Melbourne make the short trek to the Veneto Club to face Luciano Trani’s Essendon Royals.

The Royals find themselves amongst a group of four teams on the edge of the top six and must win against South to sustain pressure on the teams above them or risk falling two games behind.

The Royals have lost key personnel in the off-season with 2005 Vodafone Cup top-scorer Michael Curcija moving to Kingston with his ex-South team-mate Steve Iosifidis also following in his footsteps.

Essendon have had an inconsistent start to the season. A first round 2-3 loss to newly promoted Richmond was followed with a solid 1-1 draw against the rampant Melbourne Knights with a 1-0 win against the Sunshine Georgies in round 3 their first win of the season.

However, just as momentum was building a 3-2 round 4 loss to Altona Magic has left Trani’s men with some ground to make up.

Midfielder Leonardo Catalano is the club’s top-scorer with two goals from the first 4 games and is looking like Essendon’s midfield enforcer.

The Royals have two experienced defenders in Serdar Pir and Nathan Thomas whilst pre-season recruit David Pilic brings NSL experience (Brisbane Strikers) to the Royals’ midfield.

Conversely, after performing a last minute snatch-and-grab against Preston, South Melbourne will be looking towards consolidating a position in the top 6 as well as applying pressure to the top 3 with a win on Friday.

Coach John Anastasiadis will have some interesting selection headaches to overcome after youngsters Gianni De Nittis and Vasilios Natsioulas produced outstanding displays to help South overcome their eternal rivals. De Nittis of course hit a stunning injury time winner from outside the box whilst Natsioulas sparked a lackluster South with his 60th minute introduction providing width, flair and imagination down the right flank.

With Captain Vaughn Coveny agreeing a new one year deal with the Lakeside outfit, it will be interesting to see whether De Nittis can manage to hold onto his starting role.

Furthermore, with Natsioulas impressing greatly against Preston, the ex-Melbourne Knights winger is knocking on the door for first eleven inclusion.

Finally, veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis is likely to miss after succumbing to an injury that was aggravated against Preston giving a chance to reserve keeper Con Dimitropoulos.

Wednesday, 1 March 2006 4:39 PM

The South Melbourne Football Club would like to announce that the winner of the 2006 Signed Guernsey Promotion is Mr. Ian Syson of Carlton North.

The promotion which involved all members signed up before December 31st 2005 was drawn on Sunday, with Mr. Syson the lucky member to receive the shirt.

Mr. Syson purchased a “South Gold” membership in December and was elated to find out that he had won such a fantastic prize signed by his heroes.

If you wish to purchase your membership for season 2006 it is not too late as memberships are still on sale through the club.

For further information please call the club during business hours on (03) 9645 9797.