Category: News

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC has the opportunity to extend its lead at the top of the National Premier League Victoria ladder to ten points with a win against Pascoe Vale at Hosken Reserve tonight. Chris Taylor’s side are currently seven points clear of second-placed Oakleigh Cannons with seven League matches remaining in the season. The best case scenario at the conclusion of this round (South defeat Pascoe Vale and Oakleigh lose against Northcote City) is South being ten points clear with six rounds left; the worst case scenario is having its lead cut down to just four points.

South Melbourne goes into tonight’s match having had its five match winning run in the League broken with the 1-1 draw against Northcote City at John Cain Reserve last Saturday. It was a cruel blow as Milos Lujic had put South ahead 0-1 in the 73rd minute, only for the referee to controversially award a penalty to Northcote that Jonathan Munoz converted after 80 minutes. Vitale Ferrante’s Pascoe Vale come into tonight’s game in inconsistent form, with three draws, one win and a loss from their last five League matches. Their most recent result was a mid-week 0-2 home loss against Werribee City on Tuesday night. Despite that loss, Pascoe Vale are currently in seventh spot with 26 points from 19 League matches, nine points clear of the relegation zone and in relative mid-table comfort.

South should have a full squad to choose from, with right-back Tim Mala returning after serving his automatic one match ban against Northcote following his accumulation of five yellow cards this season. With Mala expected to go straight back into his usual right back position, it remains to be seen whether Shaun Timmins or Brad Norton start the match at left-back. Norton occupied the position last weekend as Timmins switched to right-back to cover Mala’s absence. Striker Jamie Reed was substituted last week after suffering a leg injury, however he is expected to be fit for tonight’s match.

Pascoe Vale’s squad feature names familiar to South fans, with former South players Stefaan Sardelic, Carl Recchia and Joseph Youssef usually in their starting eleven. Goalkeeper Sardelic was on the bench in mid-week as Yaren Sozer filled in between the sticks and it remains to be seen if the former South custodian will return tonight. Pascoe Vale have many dangerous players such as Tomi Milardovic, Jonathan Voulgaris, Jake Nakic and Michael Ferrante and with the match being played at their home ground, they will no doubt provide seriously tough competition for South tonight in a match that many see as a danger match for Taylor’s side.

The two sides met earlier this season at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday 18 May, where a first half goal from Mathew Theodore proved to be the difference as South won 1-0. In the corresponding match played between the two sides on Saturday 1 June 2013 at Hosken Reserve, Pascoe Vale held on for a 0-0 draw against South despite playing the match with ten men for the majority of the game following Luca Santilli’s sending off after only ten minutes.

Tonight’s game kicks off at 7:30PM at Hosken Reserve. Those unable to make the game can follow it with live updates on the South Melbourne FC Facebook page and on the Club’s official Twitter @smfc with the hashtags #NPLVIC and #PVvSM.

By Skip Fulton

After last weeks one goal loss against traditional rivals Melbourne Knights, the U20s impressed across the field to win away from home. Up front the finishing was polished whilst the defenders provided a solid barrier at the back supported by another stellar performance from Jason Giccominato in goal.

John Cain Memorial Reserve was the setting for the Round 19 match with Northcote City and the first time the two teams had met this season. Northcote City were coming off a win over Werribee City, sitting in third on the ladder just three points behind leaders Green Gully.

The South Melbourne U20s team has a distinctive temperament and the football on display in the first five minutes can usually tell you the vibe of how the match is going to pan out. This vibe can create feelings ranging from ‘I don’t want to watch this match today’ all the way through to ‘something special is about to happen’. It wasn’t far into the match on Saturday afternoon where despite a bouncing pitch, the one-touch passing from Barbare, Hauser and Kecojevic through the midfield made it clear this was to be an exciting performance by the visitors.

In the fourteenth minute Andy Kecojevic received the ball around the halfway line from Ioannis Avramidis and launched his way down the left flank. A well timed pass to Ryan Barbare in the centre of the park who with a first time right boot pass slid the ball through the last line of defence to an open Joshua Markovski. The striker took a few paces and firmly placed the ball past the Northcote keeper into the bottom right of the net to open the scoring.

Five minutes later with the adrenaline on high from constant attacks, Barbare lined up in his normal role of free kick taker. From the right wing the flight of the ball took it just over two attackers and the goal keeper to find Tim Kakoliris unmarked and all alone at the back post. Surprised to find the ball landing softly at his feet, the defender tapped it across the line to double to score.

The remainder of the first half was a balance match-up with Avramidis and Juan Igic the pillars of the back line holding a strong defence. Giccominato in goal was coming off a man-of-the-match performance last week at Albert Park and contined his scintillating form stopping everything that came near him.

Early in the second half Northcote City delivered a reality check for South as Tommy Demelis scored for the home team. It was one of those moments where time slows down and you just watch as the ball makes its way through the area bouncing past the defenders and finding a striker who has just enough space to turn and slot it home.

You know South Melbourne are on song when the response comes quickly and with flare of style. Kecojevic took on the responsibility and made a superb solo run through the defence into the area and sent a rocket past the keeper into the net.

The next ten minutes would put South under the most intense pressure they had seen all match. Northcote threw everything at the back line and whilst the shots kept coming, Giccominato was stopping them all protecting the two goal lead.

Passionate football was on show and something was bound to happen that would amaze you or make you cringe. Unfortunately it was the latter as Barbare was taken down from behind with a dangerous tackle that bought more than a few players together. A second yellow card saw the referee raise the red and Northcote was down to ten men.

The substitutions started to flow and one for South Melbourne reflected a new face to the field. Stefan Valentini had recently arrived from Western Australia and had been in the U18s line-up for the last two weeks. Valentini had scored three goals in his first match, another last week and today stepped up for debut in the U20s.

He made a positive influence on the match when he made a run down the left towards the by line and into the area. His shot on target beat the keeper however it was the deflection off a Northcote defender that helped it into the net. Whilst it went down as an own goal, Valentini certainly set it up and continued his goal scoring arrival at South Melbourne.

As time ticked down Northcote continued to press for more goals but couldn’t find a way through. After just half a minute of stoppage time the whistle sounded and South Melbourne had defeated third placed Northcote City 1-4 away from home.

Coach Sasa Kolman couldn’t hide his smile after the match saying “Fantastic game. I can’t say anything else, well done to the boys. They completely executed the plan and we were the better team. We deserved to win by even more.”

“Our plan was to play a quick transition forward, especially on our left side. Like I said they executed it into the detail. Even the defence today was amazing.”

After the match smfc.com.au also caught up with Ioannis Avramidis who today marked a special moment walking on to the field. He reflected on the match saying “It’s a big rivalry between Northcote and South Melbourne. The boys were pumped up before the match, we went out, fought hard and got the win.”

Motivation remains an active part of Kolman’s coaching style and Avramidis explained the philosophy discussed in the rooms before the match. “It’s about wanting to win. The coach was talking before the game about how professional players just want to win, they don’t care if they play one minute or ninety minutes. We need to get out there beat everyone. Every tackle, every shot, every pass we want to win it.”

On a personal level, Avradmidis said “I played at Northcote for three years. As an ex-club it has a bit of an emotional background. I wanted to go out there and prove a point that I left for the right reasons. This is my first year at South. It has a good atmosphere and a good bunch of boys in the team.”

The team next travels to Hosken Reserve to take on fifth placed Pascoe Vale on Sunday at 3:15pm

FINAL SCORE: NORTHCOTE CITY 1-4 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-2)

Match Photos: http://on.fb.me/1pnQ3px

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Joshua Markovski (15’), 0-2 Timothy Kakoliris (19’), 1-2 Tommy Demelis (47’), 1-3 Andy Kecojeviv (49’), 1-4 Nicholas Bavcar (74’ OG)

South Melbourne FC:
Jason Giccominato (GK), Ryan Babare (Alex Sporea ‘78), Andy Kecojevic, Eric Hauser (Angel Taravillo ‘76), Ioannis Avramidis, Joshua Markovski (Stefan Valentini ‘72), Dion Paola, Peter Constantinou, Sam Kagioglou (Jordan Moncrieff ‘45), Juan Igic (Joshua Meaker 52’), Tim Kakoliris.

Northcote City:
Cameron Dyer (GK), Melad Goro, James Dafoski, Allam Bosha, Danny Federico, Kristian Trajceski, Emin Sele, Ebubekir Capar, Burak Durnaoglu, Reis Aygun, Baran Karagoz.

SMFC Man of the Match: Ioannis Avramidis
Venue: John Cain Memorial Reserve
Date: Sunday 27 July 2014

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC’s lead at the top of the National Premier League Victoria ladder was cut to seven points following its 1-1 draw against Northcote City at John Cain Reserve on Saturday afternoon. Milos Lujic looked to have won the match for the away side with his goal after 73 minutes but Northcote levelled seven minutes later from former South player Jonathan Munoz’s penalty kick.

Chris Taylor’s South Melbourne side went into the game on a five game winning run in the League and came up against Goran Lozanovski’s Northcote side that had been unbeaten in their last five League matches. Right-back Tim Mala was missing from the South line-up after he accumulated his fifth yellow card of the season against the Melbourne Knights last Sunday and therefore served his mandatory one-match suspension against Northcote. Brad Norton was recalled into the starting eleven and replaced Shaun Timmins at left back as Timmins switched sides and filled in for Mala at right back.

With the John Cain Reserve pitch in such poor condition, both teams would have most likely accepted a draw if it was offered to them pre-match. Indeed, both sides offered so little in the first half that it appeared they were both happy to take a point each and move on to next week.

The second half was a more lively affair as South slowly worked their way on top of Northcote and carved out good opportunities to open the scoring. Tyson Holmes – in his 50th appearance for South across all competitions – had an excellent chance to open the scoring but Northcote goalkeeper Chris Petropoulos saved Holmes’ effort at his near post. Nick Epifano was then played through on goal but the ball bobbled on the uneven surface as he was about to shoot and the subsequent shot went harmlessly wide and out for a goal kick.

The deadlock was finally broken with just seventeen minutes of normal time remaining. Iqi Jawadi won possession of the ball and found Holmes with a pass, who then put Lujic through on goal for the centre-forward to fire a low shot across Petropoulos and into the bottom left corner of the goal. It was Lujic’s 15th League goal of the season (from 19 games) and 16th goal across all competitions (from 23 games) in 2014.

It seemed that South had done enough to get the three points but Northcote levelled only seven minutes later. South goalkeeper Jason Saldaris charged out to clear the danger after a long ball was played forward but he mis-kicked the ball. With no goalkeeper in the way of the goal, Liam Wooding went to shoot but was denied a shot thanks to an excellent ball-winning tackle by Brad Norton. Unfortunately for the away side, the referee blew his whistle for a penalty kick after judging Norton to have fouled Wooding inside the area, despite mass protesting from the South players. Norton was given a yellow card for his troubles as Munoz calmly stepped up and buried his spot kick past Saldaris, who guessed the correct way to his left but couldn’t make the save.

Both sides pressed for the win in the last ten minutes. In the final minute of regular time, Wade Dekker’s cross was deflected off James Musa and hit Saldaris’ near post before going out for a corner. In the first minute of injury time, Holmes found space inside the six yard box and drove a low shot across the goal and out of play. With almost the final play of the game, Lujic was put through one-on-one with Petropoulos but the keeper won out with an excellent block to deny Lujic a second goal and South the three points.

Post-match, Taylor was disappointed that his side didn’t make the most of their opportunities when they presented themselves, adding that “we spoke at the break about not making any errors…unfortunately we gifted them a goal and it (winning the game) just wasn’t to be today.”

There was good news in the NPL 20s as South Melbourne smashed Northcote City 1-4 thanks to goals from Josh Markovski, Tim Kakoliris, Andy Kecojevic and an own goal by Northcote.

South Melbourne FC’s next match is against Pascoe Vale this coming Friday 1 August, with kick-off at 7:30PM. Please note that South’s match against the Bentleigh Greens originally scheduled for Tuesday 29 July has now been moved to Wednesday 6 August at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex at 8:30PM due to Bentleigh’s participation in the FFA Cup this week.

FINAL SCORE: NORTHCOTE CITY 1-1 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-0)

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Milos Lujic (73′)
1-1: Jonathan Munoz (80’p)

Northcote City:
22. Chris PETROPOULOS (GK), 2. Adrian CHIAPPETTA (C), 4. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 5. Phil PETRESKI, 6. Aaron WARD (3. Nasr SAID 87′), 7. Jonathan MUNOZ, 10. Marinos GASPARIS (23. Jonathan BOUNAS 59′), 11. Liam WOODING, 14. Michael CATALANO (17. Anthony RIZK 70′), 15. Wade DEKKER, 16. Greg LOMBARDO.

South Melbourne FC:
1. Jason SALDARIS (GK), 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 7. Nick EPIFANO (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS 84′), 9. Milos LUJIC, 10. Tyson HOLMES, 11. Brad NORTON, 12. Iqi JAWADI, 14. James MUSA, 17. Jamie REED (8. Mathew THEODORE 76′), 25. Shaun TIMMINS, 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS.

SMFC Man of the Match: Iqi Jawadi
Venue: John Cain Reserve
Date: Saturday 26 July 2014

Having played a central role in the development of the NPL in Victoria, SMFC is proud of its implementation of the program to date, in its first year, while continuously looking to improve it in accordance with the club’s ethos in all areas.

We congratulate our Under 12, 13, 14, 16 and 18 teams for their qualification to the next round of their respective leagues. Our Under 15s unluckily just missed out but will, no doubt, be there next year. With the pending announcement by FFV of the final round fixtures, we wish our teams well in the final phase of the inaugural NPL season.

While everyone is aware of the success our senior team has experienced this year until now, we proudly recognise that together with the success of our junior teams, SMFC’s performance puts it among the most successful clubs in Victoria when measured under the ‘Whole of Club’ method applied by FFA and FFV. Youth development and the transition of players from junior and youth programs to senior football is a key aim of the NPL and SMFC. While we are still at the dawn of the NPL and as a club, we have still much to do, we have started well with the average age of our senior squad at 22 years of age.

After the difficult off-season experienced by many clubs with their much-publicised fight to implement a strong and viable NPL, SMFC has re-focused and settled down to the difficult but primary task of implementation of the program. Together with other NPL Clubs, SMFC is involved in the review and improvement of the NPL as a whole. With its own program, SMFC is continuously seeking to develop and improve every element of its programs and operations including their effective communication. To that end, the club values the constructive input of many of its members which will assist us to achieve our objectives.

In addition to its ongoing monitoring and development of its programs, the club will conduct a comprehensive review of all its departments, including its junior and youth programs, at the end of the season. This will satisfy not only its NPL obligations but also its own aims of identifying what it has done well and how it can improve so that we not only meet our objectives but exceed them and consolidate the club’s tradition of being a leader in football throughout the country.

The transition of our Junior Program from that of a Community Club to an elite NPL Club program is exacting and has consumed significant effort and resources from the club and our members. So we thank all our coaches, players, parents, members, administrators and staff for their dedication, support and feedback to help us build an enviable and successful elite Youth Program.

SMFC Board

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC travels to John Cain Reserve to face Northcote City on Saturday afternoon. A win for Chris Taylor’s side will extend their lead over the Oakleigh Cannons at the top of the National Premier League Victoria to twelve points, at least until the Cannons host the Bentleigh Greens on Sunday evening.

South goes into Saturday’s meeting with Northcote City full of confidence, having won its past five League matches and having defeated the Melbourne Knights 4-3 in the original Melbourne derby last Sunday evening at Lakeside Stadium. A double from Milos Lujic and further goals from Shaun Timmins and Jamie Reed sealed the win for South, taking it to 49 points on the NPL ladder. Taylor looks to have a full squad to choose from for Saturday’s match, with Leigh Minopoulos back and available for selection. Goran Lozanovski’s Northcote City also go into Saturday’s game with confidence, having been undefeated in their last five League matches (three wins and two draws) and with their most recent result being a 1-3 victory against Werribee City at Galvin Park last Sunday afternoon.

This is the first meeting between Northcote City and South Melbourne in 2014, with the two sides having not met since last season’s Victorian Premier League Preliminary Final (on Sunday 13 October 2013) that Northcote won 5-0 at SS Anderson Reserve. In the corresponding meeting between the two sides at John Cain Reserve on Sunday 23 June 2013, goals from Lujic, Kristian Konstantinidis and Michael Catalano saw Northcote defeat a poor South Melbourne side 3-0.

South Melbourne may be 24 points ahead of Northcote City on the NPL ladder but Saturday poses a massive danger game due to Northcote’s superior record in their previous meetings. In the nine League matches between the sides, Northcote has won five, with three draws and only one win for South. More alarming is the fact that Northcote have scored 24 goals in the process compared to 10 for South, with Northcote having won 5-0 on two occasions and 3-0 once. South Melbourne defeated Northcote City 3-2 (after extra time) in their Dockerty Cup meeting at Lakeside Stadium in 2013, however history has shown Northcote’s superiority in the meetings between the two sides, which is something that Taylor will be looking to change both on Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday 24 August at Lakeside Stadium when South host Northcote.

Last time we met

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC defeated the Melbourne Knights 4-3 in a thrilling National Premier League Victoria meeting between the two old rivals at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday evening. The win extended South’s lead at the top of the NPL ladder to nine points (following Oakleigh’s loss to Hume City on Friday night) with eight League games left to play in 2014.

Chris Taylor’s men went into the game keen on gaining revenge over the Knights, after Andrew Marth’s side triumphed 0-2 at Lakeside Stadium on Wednesday 25 June to knock South out of the Dockerty Cup. The Knights were confident going into the game, having won their last six matches across all competitions and having been the only team to not only keep South scoreless but also defeat them at Lakeside Stadium this season. The Knights also hadn’t lost at Lakeside Stadium since South moved back into the venue in 2012, so Sunday’s game was always going to be a tough encounter for the home side.

South opened the scoring after 13 minutes when left-back Shaun Timmins scored his first goal for the Club after cutting past his marker in the penalty area and firing the ball past Chris May at his near post. South had several chances to extend its lead but failed to do so and was punished when Daniel Visevic delivered an excellent cross for Stipo Andrijasevic to put the ball past Jason Saldaris and into the back of the net on the half hour mark. The scores were only level for a couple of minutes before a long ball caught the Knights defence napping and Jamie Reed took full advantage by sneaking through and slotting the ball past the onrushing May and into the back of the net. The home side pressed for more goals and got what they wanted right on halftime, when Tyson Holmes’ scrambled shot fell perfectly for Lujic to blast into the net to give South a commanding 3-1 lead at the break.

The second half was an end-to-end affair, with both sides creating several opportunities to score goals but failing to take them. With six minutes of normal time remaining, Shayan Alinejad won the ball off Timmins before cutting inside and scoring past Saldaris with an effort that took a deflection on the way through. The Knights could sense a comeback and kept pressing for a third goal but it was South who scored next thanks to a quick counter-attack that ended with the unmarked Lujic at the back post putting away Nick Epifano’s low cross. It was Lujic’s 14th League goal in 18 matches in 2014, with the centre-forward having scored 15 goals in 22 matches across all competitions this season. With 90 minutes gone and the score now 4-2, it looked like the three points were sealed for the home side but there was a late twist as the Knights scored again in the second minute of injury time. Alinejad took full advantage of substitute Brad Norton slipping over by stealing possession of the ball and cutting into the penalty area before scoring past Saldaris on the second attempt after the South custodian had saved his initial shot. However, there was no time for the Knights to score a dramatic fourth goal as the full-time whistle was blown shortly after, giving South another three crucial points in its quest to win the NPL Victoria Championship.

Taylor was very pleased with the win post-match, adding that “the Knights are a very direct side, at every set piece they caused us problems so we had to deal with that, which I thought we did quite well.” Captain Michael Eagar agreed and elaborated by saying that “we created many chances and we really should have scored a few more but we scored enough…as a back four it’s very frustrating to have conceded three goals but we’ll work on that, the most important thing was getting the three points.” Lujic was delighted with the win, adding that “it’s always good to score against the Knights, they’re a tough team, very physical…so it was good to get the win.” On his return to former club Northcote City next Saturday, Lujic dismissed the hype by saying “I’ll just take it as another game…from all reports the pitch isn’t the best out there so it’s going to be a battle like it was today…we just have to be focussed on getting the three points again.”

The news wasn’t as good in the NPL 20s, as South Melbourne was defeated 0-1 by the Melbourne Knights.

South is back on the road for the first time since Friday 6 June when it travels to John Cain Reserve to play Northcote City next Saturday 26 July, with kick-off at 3PM.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 4-3 MELBOURNE KNIGHTS (HT: 3-1)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Shaun Timmins (13′)
1-1: Stipo Andrijasevic (30′)
2-1: Jamie Reed (32′)
3-1: Milos Lujic (45+1′)
3-2: Shayan Alinejad (84′)
4-2: Milos Lujic (90′)
4-3: Shayan Alinejad (90+2′)

Key Stats (Provided by Steven Orchard):
Shots: SMFC (18) – MKFC (17)
Free Kicks: SMFC (14) – MKFC (26)
Balls into Final Third: SMFC (43) – MKFC (35)
Clearances: SMFC (13) – MKFC (15)

South Melbourne FC:
1. Jason SALDARIS (GK), 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 7. Nick EPIFANO, 9. Milos LUJIC, 10. Tyson HOLMES, 12. Iqi JAWADI, 14. James MUSA, 17. Jamie REED, 25. Shaun TIMMINS (11. Brad NORTON 86′), 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS.

Melbourne Knights:
1. Chris MAY (GK), 3. Sam TORRENS (2. Chris STEFANI 68′), 5. Milan BATUR (13. Antun KOVACIC 60′), 6. Tomi USKOK, 7. Daniel VISEVIC, 9. Stipo ANDRIJASEVIC, 10. Marijan CVITKOVIC, 11. Jordan O’DOHERTY, 12. Ivan GRGIC, 14. Michael DOYLE, 19. Shayan ALINEJAD.

SMFC Man of the Match: Stephen Hatzikostas
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 20 July 2014

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC hosts the Melbourne Knights in another crucial National Premier League derby on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Stadium. For South, the derby presents an opportunity to at the very least maintain a six point advantage over Oakleigh at the top of the NPL ladder. For the Knights, the derby presents the opportunity to break into the top five on the NPL ladder and at the same time inflict another defeat on South in 2014.

Chris Taylor’s South side go into the match having won four League matches in a row, with the most recent being the professional 2-0 victory against Hume City at Lakeside Stadium last Sunday evening. After a slow first half, South put the foot down in the second half and won thanks to an own goal from Izzy Erdogan and a wonder goal by Nick Epifano to move to 46 points on the NPL ladder. The Knights head into the derby having won its last five matches across all competitions, with its most recent being the thrilling 3-2 win in extra time in their Dockerty Cup Semi Final against Bentleigh Greens on Tuesday night. The Knights have now moved well away from relegation danger and presently sit comfortably in mid-table.

The two sides have already met twice this year and on both occasions the away side won. On Sunday 27 April, Milos Lujic’s late goal won the derby for South 0-1 at Knights Stadium (League fixture). The Knights gained revenge at Lakeside Stadium when they defeated South 0-2 in their Dockerty Cup Quarter Final meeting on Wednesday 25 June thanks to goals from Tomi Uskok (42’) and Shayan Alinejad (58’). Those two players, along with goalkeeper Chris May and transfer window signing Stipo Andrijasevic, are the players that punished South in the Cup tie and are the danger players for Andrew Marth’s team. South Melbourne has not defeated the Melbourne Knights since returning to Lakeside Stadium in 2012 and the Knights have been the only team to hold South goalless at Lakeside Stadium in 2014.

Sunday’s derby kicks off at 5PM at Lakeside Stadium. Those unable to make the game can follow it with live updates on the South Melbourne FC Facebook page and on the Club’s official Twitter @smfc with the hashtags #NPLVIC and #SMvMK.

By Skip Fulton

Last week the South Melbourne FC Youth teams travelled to Dandenong City for matches in Round 13 of the Zagame’s NPL Youth leagues.

The youth teams were all successful rounding out an excellent result week for the club, undefeated at all levels in the NPL.

The results and goal scorers were:
U12s won 4:1, scorers: Adam Brigo x 4
U13s won 1:0, scorer: William Wilson
U14s won 4:0, scorers: Yannis Nisiotis x1, Tristan Meaker x1, Bradley Chick x1, Gera Bilyantsky x1
U15s won 4:1, scorers: Julian Zinni x3, Andre Polendakis x1
U16s won 5:2, scorers: Adrian Kovacevic x3, Nicholas Deris x1, Kirk Kyriakopoulos x1
U18s won 6:2, scorers: Stefan Valentini x3, Kalebh Horrocks x1, Edwin Stranghelin x1, x1 own goal

Next week the youth teams return home to Princes Park and Albert Park for the penultimate round of the season taking on Dandenong Thunder.

The smfc.com.au team have taken the opportunity recently to delve into the coaching strategies of our youth program to better understand the focus on player development. We spoke to a number of coaches to gain an appreciation of the foundation of the clubs success in delivering top quality players.

Matthew Borowicz (U12 coach)
At Princes Park in Caulfield on a wet and windy Sunday morning two weeks ago, smfc.com.au spoke to Matthew Borowicz about his U12 team and the approach to managing the youngest team in the NPL system.

Despite a loss to ladder leaders Box Hill, Borowicz reflected on the teams efforts by saying “I feel the boys did very well considering half the squad is U11s and some of our better players are pushed up to U13s.”

“The biggest positive from today is overall looking at the program, all of the boys are progressing at a very good rate. Football-wise we recognise we are doing a good job and the boys are picking up the South Melbourne way of playing.”

“Looking at all of the clubs we play across the board, not just U12s, we can definitely see we are a little bit different and do things our own way. Our program looks at each individual. Obviously every Sunday we want to win the game and the competition, but our long term goals are always on the individual and producing players that can challenge the seniors and give a headache to Chris Taylor.”

Samuel Young (U13s coach)
Samuel Young is the coach of the U13s and also calls Princes Park in Caulfield home for the boys. Similar to the rest of the coaching team, he has a close relationship with the teams in the age group above and below his own and sees this as a positive for player and team development. “The positive for us is there are four U12s that play in our team. That’s what we are trying to do at the club, we are trying to challenge the boys from the younger ranges to play in a tougher environment.”

“We can always improve, from the goal keepers all the way through to the strikers. I believe football is all about making the right decisions and we are helping our players from an early age learn how to make those decisions.”

Sasa Kolman (U10, U15 and U20s coach)
Sasa Kolman has a variety of coaching duties in the youth program and always speaks passionately about the boys and the future they have not only at South Melbourne but also in the broader football community.

Following the U20s 5-0 win over Hume City at Albert Park on the weekend, Kolman shared his experience with the smfc.com.au team. “South juniors I am really happy with, the kids love to play. We have some potential. At older age groups we have started to do some academy style strategies like elite squads, so we are taking care of our best players, which is really good. “

“If we look at the U20s, the oldest player is 18. We have 15, 16, 17 year olds playing in the U20s and we are winning games. What we are trying to do with all the age groups is to get them into the U20s and definitely then from the U20s into the Seniors.”

One of the differences between South Melbourne and other clubs on display in some youth matches is in the use of the substitutes on the bench. Other clubs make often make heavy use of the bench to rotate players on the field, in one such match there were sixteen changes made.

Kolman shared his thoughts on the practice indicating “we use our three to five substitutes and that is South Melbourne strategy. I come from Europe and that doesn’t happen there. You have three subs that’s it. If we want to prepare our boys for the Seniors, they need to start doing it now and learning to play that way. I am not a big fan of making subs all the time, in the younger youth that’s fine but from U15s you need to start playing serious football. Putting players in and out breaks the momentum and breaks the play so that’s the South Melbourne strategy.”

Chris Taylor (Head Coach)
Chris Taylor has an eye on all the teams in the youth ranks and leverages off the coaching team as a key component in developing players for the future.

After the Seniors recent win at Lakeside over Port Melbourne, smfc.com.au asked Taylor about the depth of playing talent at the club and the opportunities utilise key players from youth ranks to support the rotation of players in the Seniors. “We’d like to leverage off those players and one of the big things is players like Andy Kecojevic who’s been playing in the U20s. He’s 15 years old and we do want to give him some game time. Dion Kirk came on to play on Wednesday night and looks to be a very tidy player.”

The match at Lakeside was a scrappy affair in wet heavy conditions. Taylor reflected on ensuring younger players are exposed to the higher standards at the right time and not just for the sake of it. “The conditions tonight weren’t going to suit them to come on so it’s about picking and choosing the right moments to introduce them and sometimes the right games as well.”

By Skip Fulton

South Melbourne FC U20s put on a clinical display of quality attacking football and earned a 5-0 victory over Hume City at Albert Park on Sunday afternoon. Eric Hauser put two into the back of the net in a best on ground performance and he was assisted by goals to Joshua Markovski, Alex Sporea and Joshua Meaker.

Sasa Kolman’s side went into the match without a win from their last four outings. Following last weeks 1-2 loss to Green Gully, Kolman made two changes to the starting line-up. Sam Kagioglou and Jordon Moncrieff join the team on the pitch in place of Timothy Kakoliris and Massimo Pesce who were on the bench.

South Melbourne were on the attack from the opening whistle with Andy Kecojevic looking strong in the early stages. In the twelfth minute Hauser made the first of what would be many significant plays of the match. His run down the right flank and into the area bought the keeper rushing off his line. A well timed cross into the centre of the box found Joshua Markovski who slotted it into the vacant net to open the scoring.

The majority of the first half was played out with balanced possession through the midfield. Hume City had a number of chances up front with four corners during which they were unable to convert. South goal keeper Jason Giccominato made a number of quality saves in what turned out to be a clean sheet performance. Just two minutes before the break Hauser was again dominating down the right flank getting in behind the defence. In this instance he made his way into the area with just the keeper to beat and with a left foot strike found the net doubling the home teams lead.

Hauser was at it again early in the second half with a strike going just wide and Markovski was in a similar position a few minutes later with a shot going over the crossbar. Ryan Barbare was active down the left flank also causing problems for Hume City. In the sixty fourth minute a cross came into the area with Markovski trapping turning and shooting only to have the strike blocked by the Hume City keeper. Hauser was right on hand to pounce on the loose ball and it was his left boot again which put the ball into the back of the net.

As the three goals put South Melbourne in a commanding position, coach Kolman looked to the bench to provide some fresh legs and by the seventy seventh minute had made all five substitutions.

Early in the last ten minutes of play it was Alex Sporea off the bench who scored for the home team with a classy strike from the edge of the six yard box. A few minutes later Joshua Meaker was cruising near the top of the box when his strike found its target in the back of the net delivering the fifth goal and a somewhat short and subdued celebration.

The whistle would sound marking a 5-0 win for South Melbourne. Whilst the glory often goes to the goal scorers, this match also delivered the third clean sheet of the season for the U20s. Credit goes to Giccominato in goal and the defenders who stood up strongly to tough opposition in Hume City and held out to a number of strong attacks from the visitors.

Coach Kolman was understandably positive after the match talking to smfc.com.au reflecting on the performance saying “after the last three games, it was good to win, especially when you win with five goals. We are South Melbourne! We need to win every week. I am really proud of these boys, they all deserve to wear the South Melbourne shirt. ”

Double goal scorer Eric Hauser also spoke to smfc.com.au after the match saying “I thought we played well from the beginning, pressed hard and high, we got the result. Today we were more determined to win our game.”

Next week the team returns to Lakeside Stadium for a big match against Melbourne Knights. South Melbourne will be looking to continue the form on display in this win but also replicate the result from earlier in the season when they defeated Knights 4-1.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 5-0 HUME CITY (HT: 2-0)

Match Photos: http://on.fb.me/U8nbJy

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Joshua Markovski (12’), 2-0 Eric Hauser (43’), 3-0 Eric Hauser (64’), 4-0 Alex Sporea (82’), 5-0 Joshua Meaker (87’)

South Melbourne FC:
Jason Giccominato (GK), Ryan Babare (Massimo Pesce 74’), Andy Kecojevic, Peter Constantinou (Timothy Kakoliris 77’), Juan Igic (Joshua Meaker 50’), Eric Hauser (Stefan Zinni 75’), Sam Kagioglou, Dion Paola, Joshua Markovski (Alex Sporea 67’), Ioannis Avramidis, Jordan Moncrieff.

Hume City:
Cameron Dyer (GK), Melad Goro, James Dafoski, Allam Bosha, Danny Federico, Kristian Trajceski, Emin Sele, Ebubekir Capar, Burak Durnaoglu, Reis Aygun, Baran Karagoz.

SMFC Man of the Match: Eric Hauser
Venue: Albert Park
Date: Sunday 13 June 2014

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne FC was thrilled to have members of Down Syndrome Victoria’s Club 21 in attendance during our home match against Hume City on Sunday evening at Lakeside Stadium.

Down Syndrome Victoria works to empower individuals with Down Syndrome for a lifetime of meaningful inclusion within the community.

The group in attendance on Sunday enjoyed the fantastic South Melbourne win and also received a South Melbourne FC pack that included the latest merchandise for them to wear proudly. One lucky member of Club 21 also received boots from Tyson Holmes.

The excited attendees met with all of the South Melbourne players in the rooms post-match and also had a chat to SMFC TV ahead of Tuesday’s episode on Channel 31.

We hope that Sunday’s football experience at Lakeside Stadium put a smile on the faces of such brave individuals and their families.

For more information about Down Syndrome Victoria and to learn more about the condition as well as being able to support this great organisation, please visit www.downsyndromevictoria.org.au.