Category: News

Wednesday, 11 April 2012 1:31 PM

The draw for the zonal playoffs in the FFV State Knockout Cup was held yesterday with South Melbourne FC being drawn against Malvern City. The match is set to be played on the weekend of 28th-29th April.

The FFV State Knockout Cup is a competition that includes clubs from all levels of the Victorian Football. Initially 130 clubs entered the Cup competition. In this round, the 24 clubs from the Victorian Premier League and State League One will join the remaining 24 teams left for the zonal playoffs.

South faced Malvern City earlier this year in the group stage of the Hellenic Cup, where new recruit Glen Trifiro scored a brace, including an unstoppable free kick, and a goal from Joe Keenan saw South triumph 3-0 to see off a dogged Malvern side in a match played in pouring rain.

The winner of this fixture will meet the winner from the other match in the zone, Port Melbourne vs. Yarraville Glory.

Match details to be released shortly.

Friday, 6 April 2012 4:45 PM

One of the highlights on South Melbourne’s event calendar is the annual Player Auction Night. This year’s event is set for Friday 27th

April at Beachcomber Restaurant at the St Kilda Baths at 7pm. A two-course meal, with beer, wine, and soft drink will be provided.

As a principal partner of the Club, Beachcomber is set in the perfect location with its spectacular and uninterrupted views of Port Phillip Bay. The evening will provide an excellent opportunity to meet the playing group in a relaxed and informal environment.

One of the highlights of the evening will be the football panel discussion. All eyes will be on which South player records the largest bid.

Details of the event are listed below:

SMFC Player Auction Night

Friday 27th April at 7pm
Beachcomber Restaurant
St Kilda Baths (10-18 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda)
Tickets: $50

To reserve your table for the event, please contact the Club on 9645 9797.

Wednesday, 4 April 2012 12:54 AM

Any junior general enquiries please contact Harry Gatsoulis on 0458 813 837 or email hgatsoulis@bigpond.com

For all related sub-junior enquiries contact Stav Sakalis on 0414 403 690

Saturday, 31 March 2012 11:17 PM

By John Kyrou 
Photo courtesy of Anita Milas – www.victorypix.com

South Melbourne FC continued its 100 per cent winning start to the season after coming from a goal down to defeat the Oakleigh Cannons 1-3 at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night. Second half goals to Fernando De Moraes, substitute Joe Keenan and Trent Rixon gave South its second victory in the 2012 Victorian Premier League season.

The first half was a scrappy affair, with South struggling to get into any real sense of rhythm. Former South player Goran Zoric was offering Oakleigh some trickery down the right flank, but most of his crosses were comfortably dealt with by Peter Gavalas and the South defence. Rixon appeared to have been fouled in the centre of the park in the 25th minute, however referee Lucien Laverdure waved play on. This resulted in the Cannons taking the lead thanks to Hayden Doyle being allowed time and space to hit a low shot into Gavalas’ bottom right corner. Despite going a goal down, the South players didn’t fire up until shortly before the halftime break.

There was only one team that was going to win the match after the break. South coach Peter Tsolakis had stressed to his team that they needed to continue pushing forward and that the chances would come. South were caught marginally offside a couple of times before the breakthrough arrived in the 56th minute. Rixon had his one-on-one saved but De Moraes was on hand to tap home the rebound and send the away fans into wild celebrations. Luke Byles, Steven O’Dor and Matthews were all immense in defence as South’s midfield also got well on top of their Cannons opponents. It seemed only a matter of when, not if, South would score the next goal. De Moraes almost set the place alight again when he was fed a wonderful through-ball but his chip over Daniel Neesham hit the post and stayed out.

Joe Keenan had been named on the substitute bench for the first time since he last played for the Club in 2010 and Tsolakis decided to bring him on in the 75th minute. It took only eight minutes for the popular Englishman to reward his coach and the South supporters by stamping his mark on the match, when he received the ball on the right before cutting inside and hitting a left-footed shot that snuck under Neesham and into the back of the net. With South well and truly on top, a third goal would have been the icing on the cake in what had been a memorable second half. It arrived deep into the fourth minute of injury time, when a long ball down the left side was pounced upon by Rixon, who out-muscled the Oakleigh defence before smashing the ball past Neesham’s near post to seal the 1-3 victory in style.

With the Easter break next week, coach Tsolakis said that “it will be a good opportunity for the guys to have a rest and re-charge in time for the Green Gully game (in two week’s time)… we have a full squad to choose from but there will be injuries and suspensions as the season goes on so it will be important to rotate the squad accordingly…but so far so good.”

In the Under 21s, South were too strong for the Cannons with a thumping 4-1 victory.

There are no VPL games next week over the Easter break, with South’s next match being against Green Gully on Saturday 14 April 2012 at Green Gully Reserve. Kick-off is at 3:00pm.

FINAL SCORE: OAKLEIGH CANNONS 1-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Hayden Doyle (25′)
1-1: Fernando De Moraes (56′)
1-2: Joe Keenan (83′)
1-3: Trent Rixon (90+4′)

Oakleigh Cannons:
35. Daniel NEESHAM (GK), 2. James CUMMINGS, 6. Rama TAVSANCIOGLU, 7. Bonel OBRADOVIC, 10. Ricky DIACO, 11. Jesse KRNCEVIC, 12. Luke WALKER, 16. Frankie LAGANA, 19. Goran ZORIC, 20. Ari DRAKOS, 21. Hayden DOYLE
Subs: 13. Caleb RUFER, 23. Daniel DRAGICEVIC, 4. Zac WALKER, 14. Jeremy WALKER, 1. Pat SATORIE

South Melbourne FC:
1. Peter GAVALAS (GK), 2. Tom MATHEWS, 4. Steven O’DOR, 6. Dimi TSIARAS, 9. Trent RIXON, 10. Glen TRIFIRO, 11. Brad NORTON, 13. Luke BYLES, 15. Fernando DE MORAES (8. Dimi HATZIMOURATIS 87′), 23. Jason TRIFIRO, 25. Kyle JORYEFF (7. Joe KEENAN 75′)

SMFC Man of the Match: Luke Byles
Venue: Jack Edwards Reserve
Date: Friday 30 March 2012

Thursday, 29 March 2012 4:18 PM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC travels to Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night to take on the Oakleigh Cannons in what promises to be an entertaining game. Both teams opened their 2012 Victorian Premier League campaigns with victories in the first round and will be looking to continue their winning momentum on Friday on a ground that has provided the scene for many entertaining battles in the past.

South celebrated its first home game at the newly renovated Lakeside Stadium in style with a 4-0 victory over newly promoted Moreland Zebras last Sunday afternoon. A double from Kyle Joryeff in the first half was complimented by goals to debutants Jason Trifiro and Dimitri Hatzimouratis (who came on as a substitute) in the second half. With players such as Joe Keenan, Rhodri Payne and Marinos Gasparis not even featuring last week, coach Peter Tsolakis has a selection headache already. South will be confident of defeating the Cannons as it usually plays well at Jack Edwards Reserve.

Oakleigh goes into its first home match of 2012 following a 2-0 away victory against Heidelberg United at Olympic Park last Sunday night. Former South player Ricky Diaco scored both goals for the Cannons with a goal in each half including a penalty. Oakleigh will be confident of defeating South on Friday as they knocked South out of the finals in 2011 thanks to Craig Goodwin’s 89th minute winning goal. Oakleigh has no fewer than six former South players on its books in Peter Zois, Goran Zoric, Jesse Krncevic, Rama Tavsancioglu, Daniel Dragicevic and Diaco and all will be keen to play well against their former employers.

Friday’s match kicks off at 8:30pm. Jack Edwards Reserve is always well attended by South supporters and the Club encourages all of its supporters to attend the match and support the team as it strives to continue its 100% record in 2012.

Last time we met

Wednesday, 28 March 2012 9:24 PM

South Melbourne FC is excited to announce that southRadio is back for the 2012 Victorian Premier League season.

southRadio is a unique and exciting opportunity to further inform the Club’s many fans, as well as update the general public as to the happenings around the Club on a weekly basis. Furthermore the podcasts will have content that will be EXCLUSIVE to southRadio. The podcasts will contain player interviews conducted straight after each match. Furthermore, the podcasts will be running competitions and give aways that can only be secured by listening to southRadio.

The weekly podcast will provide a round up of the previous week’s match, preview the coming round of action, regular player and coaches’ interviews, and all the news from around the Club.

southRadio is available FREE as a podcast feed so you can listen whenever and wherever you like. Podcasts can be downloaded from Apple’s iTunes store or via South Melbourne’s website.

Should you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback for southRadio please email the club at multimedia@smfc.com.au.

Click here to download the first episode in mp3 format

Wednesday, 28 March 2012 11:09 AM

South Melbourne FC is delighted to announce the return of SMFC TV for the 2012 Victorian Premier League season. SMFC TV will continue to be screened on Channel 31 at Wednesday 7pm each week.

The second episode of SMFC TV is scheduled for TONIGHT – Wednesday 28th March at 7pm. Tonight’s episode will provide full match highlights of the Round 1 contest between South Melbourne FC and Moreland Zebras, as well as exclusive post-match interviews with the players and coaching staff. The show will also contain footage of the South Melbourne FC Community Family Day that was held at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday.

South Melbourne FC encourages all football fans to tune into the show, and enjoy the best of Victorian football.

Should you have any ideas, suggestions or feedback for SMFC TV please email the club at multimedia@smfc.com.au.

SMFC TV

TONIGHT – Wednesday March 28th
Channel 31
7pm

Monday, 26 March 2012 1:59 PM

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

Click here for our photo galleries of the day

South Melbourne FC opened its 2012 Victorian Premier League season with a comfortable 4-0 victory over newly-promoted Moreland Zebras on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Stadium. The result was even more memorable as it was South’s first official match at Lakeside in nearly two years following the ground’s $60 million upgrade. A double from Kyle Joryeff in the first half and late goals to Jason Trifiro and substitute Dimitri Hatzimouratis did the job for the home side.

The match began as a scrappy affair as both sides took their time to settle. South coach Peter Tsolakis named a starting eleven that had seven players making their League debut for the Club. Moreland (formerly Whittlesea Zebras) were mindful of the fact that their last visit to Lakeside Stadium (Sunday 28th June 2009) saw it lose 4-0 against a South side that had Goran Zoric, Vaughan Coveny and Fernando De Moraes to thank for the goals. Despite the best efforts of former South player Carl Recchia at centre-back, Moreland were simply overpowered by South’s strong midfield and forward presence. South opened the scoring midway through the first half when Glen Trifiro pounced on a stray pass from the Zebras defence and fed Joryeff with a great ball that put him through on goal and he beat Zebras keeper Griffin McMaster at his near post. The Englishman then doubled the home side’s lead shortly after by smashing home the loose ball following a good save by McMaster from an initial shot.

South took the pedal off for a large period of the second half, allowing the Zebras more time on the ball that culminated in the away side creating a handful of half-chances for themselves. Despite some minor scares, South goalkeeper Peter Gavalas was hardly tested and had a relatively quiet afternoon. With the Zebras committing more numbers forward as the game went on, South had opportunities to capitalise on the counter-attack but were frustrated in not being able to do so for long periods of the half. That was until the 83rd minute, when Jason Trifiro got on the end of a low cross from the right to beat McMaster at his near post. Substitute Hatzimouratis had only been on the field for 15 minutes but he put the icing on the cake for South with a nice strike following another cross from the right.

In the Under 21s, Moreland were too strong with a solid 3-1 victory against South.

South’s next game is on Friday night away against the Oakleigh Cannons at Jack Edwards Reserve. Kick-off is at 8:30pm.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 4-0 MORELAND ZEBRAS (HT: 2-0)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Kyle Joryeff (25′)
2-0: Kyle Joryeff (33′)
3-0: Jason Trifiro (83′)
4-0: Dimitri Hatzimouratis (88′)

South Melbourne FC:
1. Peter GAVALAS (GK), 2. Tom MATTHEWS, 4. Steven O’DOR, 6. Dimi TSIARAS, 9. Trent RIXON (8. Dimi HATZIMOURATIS 73′), 10. Glen TRIFIRO, 11. Brad NORTON, 13. Luke BYLES, 15. Fernando DE MORAES, 23. Jason TRIFIRO, 25. Kyle JORYEFF (20. Gianni DE NITTIS 53′)

Moreland Zebras:
1. Griffin MCMASTER (GK), 2. Chris GROSSMAN, 3. Raymond LALLY (Brandon DAFINA 81’), 4. William ABBOTT, 7. Stuart NICHOLSON, 8. Carl RECCHA, 9. Vincent FAHERTY, 11. Steven WEIR, 14. Jungho KIM (Danny RADOJICIC 59’), 15. Ersin KAYA, 19. Nace KOSMAC.

SMFC Man of the Match: Dimi Tsiaras
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 25 March 2012

Sunday, 25 March 2012 1:56 AM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC kicks off its 2012 Victorian Premier League season by hosting newly promoted Moreland Zebras on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Stadium.

South enters the new season with high expectations following the signing of several talented players over the summer, as well as the fact that the team is now based back at its Lakeside Stadium home after a two year absence. New coach Peter Tsolakis, a former champion of the Club as a player in the late 80s and early 90s, has signed a balanced squad that contains many experienced Victorian Premier League players as well as several up-and-coming youngsters, including players promoted from the Club’s youth system. The new signings that many of the supporters will be most keen to see will be Trent Rixon and the brothers Glen and Jason Trifiro, as well as Joe Keenan, who missed all of 2011 following an excellent 2010 season with South.

Moreland Zebras (formerly known as Whittlesea Zebras) arrive at Lakeside Stadium as State League One Champions, after winning the State League One division on a dramatic final day. The Zebras are new to the Victorian Premier League this season but have been in the division as recently as 2009, when they were relegated along with Preston Lions. South and the Zebras last met in League competition on 28 June of that season, when a Goran Zoric double (63′, 72′) and goals to Vaughan Coveny (03′) and Fernando De Moraes (35′) gave South an easy 4-0 victory at Lakeside Stadium. The home side would no doubt love to have another score like that come Sunday.

A few familiar faces will return to play against South on the weekend, with Carl Recchia and Daniel Vasilevski two of the Zebras’ key summer signings after transferring from South at the end of last season. Former South players Danny Radojicic and Steven Weir may also make an appearance against the Blues on Sunday. Despite being disappointed at Recchia and Vasilevski’s departures, Tsolakis and the coaching staff are no doubt comfortable that they have signed other players capable of replacing them in 2012.

Sunday’s match kicks off at 17:00 on Sunday afternoon. South members are reminded that they can pick up their memberships on the day from the membership tent at Gate 2 (traditional entrance).

South Melbourne FC Squad 2012

01: Peter Gavalas (signed from Bentleigh Greens)
02: Tom Matthews
03: Rhodri Payne
04: Steven O’Dor
06: Dimitri Tsiaris (signed from Richmond Eagles)
07: Joe Keenan
08: Dimitri Hatzimouratis (signed from Alki Larnaca, Cyprus)
09: Trent Rixon (signed from Northcote City)
10: Glen Trifiro (signed from Northcote City)
11: Bradley Norton (signed from Adelaide United)
13: Luke Byles (signed from Heidelberg United)
15: Fernando De Moraes
16: Christian Skok (promoted from youth team)
17: Matko Budimir (promoted from youth team)
18: Marinos Gasparis
19: Gianni De Nittis (signed from Northcote City)
21: Jason Saldaris (signed from Perth SC)
23: Jason Trifiro (signed from Northcote City)
24: Nick Jacobs
25: Kyle Joryeff

Coach: Peter Tsolakis
Assistant Coach: Joe Montemurro
Team Manager: Frank Piccione

Departures at the end of 2011:

Josh Colosimo (Springvale White Eagles)
Abdelhadi Deroune (released)
Daniel Dragicevic (Oakleigh Cannons)
Yanni Galanos (Southern Stars)
Jesse Krncevic (Oakleigh Cannons)
Sebastian Petrovic (Heidelberg United)
Carl Recchia (Moreland Zebras)
Steven Topalovic (Richmond Eagles)
Brad Treloar (released)
Jake Vandermey (Pascoe Vale)
Daniel Vasilevski (Moreland Zebras)
Trent Waterson (Sunshine George Cross)
Steven Weir (Moreland Zebras)
Zaim Zeneli (Dandenong Thunder)

Friday, 23 March 2012 11:49 AM

South Melbourne FC has announced the squad for the 2012 Victorian Premier League Season.

The squad can be seen below:

Management