Category: News

Monday, 22 August 2011 2:14 PM

South Melbourne FC is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former player Frank Munro at age 63. News reports from the UK state that he was rushed to Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital on Monday after suffering breathing problems and died at approximately 20:40 last Tuesday night (UK time). It was also reported that he had suffered ill health since a heavy stroke in 1991 and had only recently recovered from a bout of pneumonia.

A centre-half and Scottish international, Mr Munro represented South Melbourne FC in 1978 and 1979 during the Club’s early years in the National Soccer League. He played 15 games for the Club. Prior to joining South, he had successful stints at Dundee United and Aberdeen in Scotland then Wolverhampton Wanderers in England before heading back to Scotland to join Glasgow giants Celtic. He made nine appearances for the Scottish national team between 1971 and 1975. At Wolves, he was part of the team that was runner-up in the UEFA Cup in 1972 before winning the Football League Cup with them in 1974. In 1976/77, he was part of the Wolves side that won the 1976/77 Football League Second Division (now the Championship) to win promotion to the First Division (now the English Premier League). He also won the Scottish League Cup with Celtic in 1978.
Upon being released by Celtic, Mr Munro headed to Australia and played for a South side that at the time was managed by former Wolves goalkeeper Dave MacLaren. He had several stints playing and coaching at lower division Victorian clubs before returning to the UK in 1991.
South Melbourne FC President Leo Athanasakis expressed his sympathy to the Munro family. “As a Club, we were blessed to have had such a gifted player like Frank Munro represent our Club considering that he played for some great European clubs. We are so proud that a player who was so highly regarded by those clubs decided to come out to Australia and play for South Melbourne FC. On behalf of everyone at the Club, we wish to express our sympathies to the Munro family for the passing of a wonderful man.”

Monday, 22 August 2011 12:28 PM

South Melbourne FC would like to congratulate Bill Asimakidis and his team at Star21 for being awarded Victorian Telstra Business Dealer of the Year – 2011.

Managing Director, Bill Asimakidis: “Star21 would like to thank our loyal customers for their continued support after being awarded Victorian Telstra Business Dealer of the Year – 2011  at the annual Telstra partner conference held in Port Douglas. Without our customers this recognition would not have been possible. This is Star21’s second major award in 2 years, having won the same award in 2010. Congratulations to all the staff at Star21 for making our business Number One again.”

Star21 joined South Melbourne FC as Major Sponsor in early 2011, with the company logo proudly displayed on the front of the South Melbourne FC shirt.

We once again congratulate Mr Asimakidis and those associated with Star21 on this wonderful achievement.

Thursday, 18 August 2011 9:32 AM

South Melbourne FC travel to Jack Edwards Reserve to face Oakleigh Cannons in the Minor Semi Final on Sunday evening in what is shaping up to being a fantastic encounter.

Oakleigh will go into the match with their pride wounded after giving up a 3-2 lead to lose 3-4 against Hume City in the dying minutes last Sunday night. That loss cost Oakleigh the opportunity to play Green Gully in the Major Semi Final and potentially move straight into the Grand Final, with Hume now given that opportunity. Instead Oakleigh will play a cut-throat knockout game against South, who come into the game with three wins and a draw from their last four matches, This includes a 1-0 Elimination Final victory against old rivals Heidelberg United last Sunday afternoon, where Jesse Krncevic converted his penalty and Zaim Zeneli turned from zero to hero instantly when he gave away a penalty before making a double-save to help win the game.

South nearly has a full-strength squad to choose from, with the exceptions being defender Steven Topalovic who was badly injured against the Bergers and Sebastian Petrovic who was sent off and will miss at least one match. Coach Eddie Krncevic has in recent weeks finally had the luxurious headache of having most of his players available for selection and it comes as no surprise that the team has produced excellent results over the last month. Krncevic had so many options available that fan favourite Fernando De Moraes did not even feature off the bench against the Bergers and Marinos Gasparis did not even make the squad.

In effect, South has already played four Elimination Finals to get to Sunday’s match, so another elimination game against Oakleigh should not faze the team. South should be even further boosted about the fact that it has already done the double over the Cannons in 2011, with a 2-1 victory at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday 18 March before Carl Recchia’s overhead goal won the return game at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday 19 June. More importantly, South has played quite well at Jack Edwards Reserve since entering the VPL in 2005, registering three wins and two draws from 7 matches.

Despite South’s good record against Oakleigh, the home team should not be taken lightly. The Cannons are currently still alive in the Mirabella Cup and also enjoyed a solid 2011 Premier League season under Arthur Pappas where it finished in second spot with a double-chance, which came in handy following the loss against Hume last week. Oakleigh boasts a wealth of experienced players both at State and National level, with Ricky Diaco, James Robinson, Ari Drakos, Rama Tavsancioglu and Peter Zois to name a few. Diaco has been rumoured to have picked up an injury against Hume and may miss Sunday’s match against his former club, but there is no doubt that former players Tavsancioglu and Zois will feature.

The match kicks off at 18:00 on Sunday evening at Jack Edwards Reserve. The loser will be eliminated from the 2011 finals series whilst the winner will go on to face the loser of the Major Semi Final between Green Gully and Hume City next weekend.

Tuesday, 16 August 2011 10:10 PM

On the twenty fifth episode of southRadio in 2011, we review the Elimination Final clash against Heidelberg United, and preview the upcoming minor semi final between South Melbourne FC and Oakleigh Cannons.

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

Click here to download episode 25 of southRadio (MP3) – Right Click and Save As

Click here to download the show directly from iTunes

Monday, 15 August 2011 10:42 AM

South Melbourne FC has advanced through to a Minor Semi Final date with Oakleigh after defeating Heidelberg United 1-0 in the Elimination Final at SS Anderson Reserve on Sunday afternoon. A Jesse Krncevic penalty shortly after the hour mark was the difference in what was a tight derby match that ended dramatically with Sebastian Petrovic being sent off before Zaim Zeneli made a double save from a Heidelberg penalty late in the match.

South had the first chance of the match fifteen minutes in when Steven Weir found the side netting from a difficult angle following a ball from Tom Matthews. A minute later, former South player Hamlet Armenian was lucky not to be sent off after a late challenge on Zeneli as the goalkeeper gathered possession of the ball. Steve Martin then produced the Bergers’ first chance of the afternoon when he let fly with a stinging shot that flew just wide of Zeneli’s goal. There was a bit of drama just before the halftime break, when defender Steven Topalovic went off with a suspected broken leg and then Heidelberg had an appeal for a penalty turned down after Yared Hailemelekot went down in the area.

The game lifted in the second half and it was the Bergers who almost went ahead when Evan Christodoulou’s header hit the crossbar. Five minutes later, Heidelberg almost conceded an own goal when Les Doumbalis flicked Daniel Vasilevski’s cross past goalkeeper Rhyss Keane and onto the back post. South was creeping closer and eventually went one better ten minutes later when Weir was pulled down in the box, with Heidelberg’s defenders claiming the South forward was fouled just outside the area. However the referee had already pointed to the penalty spot, where Jesse Krncevic stepped up and sent Keane the wrong way to open the scoring for the home side.

South pressed forward for a second goal to kill the game off, but a combination of poor decision making and desperate defending kept the scoreline at 1-0. Time was running out for the Bergers, who again went close when Saso Alexovski fired a left-footed strike over Zeneli’s bar. With five minutes left, Sebastian Petrovic was given his marching orders by the referee after a strong tackle on Hailemelekot, resulting in his second yellow card of the afternoon. The resultant free kick was played into the box where the referee awarded a penalty to the Bergers for a foul on Osagie Ederaro, which was surprisingly taken by Armenian instead of Ederaro or Alexovski. Zeneli made up for his error by making a double save from Armenian’s spot kick to deny the Bergers and keep South’s 1-0 lead intact until the final whistle.

Heidelberg are now out of the finals series, while South lives to fight another day as they now face the Oakleigh Cannons in the Minor Semi Final at Jack Edwards Reserve next Sunday 21 August at 18:00.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 1-0 HEIDELBERG UNITED (HT: 0-0)

Goal Scorer

1-0: Jesse Krncevic (66′ pk)

South Melbourne FC:

2. Tom MATTHEWS, 3. Rhodri PAYNE, 4. Steven O’DOR, 5. Daniel VASILEVSKI, 6. Steven TOPALOVIC (16. Trent WATERSON 44′), 8. Carl RECCHIA, 11. Jesse KRNCEVIC, 17. Steven WEIR (25. Kyle JORYEFF 90+1′), 20. Daniel DRAGICEVIC (33. Yanni GALANOS 74′), 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 23. Sebastian PETROVIC (sent off 84′)

Heidelberg United:
1. Rhyss KEANE (GK), 2. Yarod HAILEMELKOT, 3. Les DOUMBALIS, 7. Hamlet ARMENIAN, 9. Shaun MCILROY (8. Andrew NABBOUT 72′), 11. Evan CHRISTODOLOU, 13. Luke BYLES, 14. Craig ELVIN, 16. Steve MARTIN, 18. Osagie EDERADO, 20. Saso ALEKSOVSKI

SMFC Man of the Match: Steven Weir

Venue: SS Anderson Reserve

Date: Sunday 14 August 2011

Thursday, 11 August 2011 6:47 PM

Last Sunday may have been D-Day but this Sunday is Derby Day as South Melbourne FC hosts Heidelberg United in the 2011 Elimination Final at Port Melbourne’s SS Anderson Reserve. The loser of this match will be eliminated from the finals series, with the winner to play the loser of Oakleigh and Hume City in the Semi Final next weekend.

In a remarkable final round of matches last Sunday, South came from 1-3 down to draw 3-3 with Northcote City, getting the draw it required to play finals football at Northcote’s expense. At the same time, Heidelberg took a 0-1 lead away at Springvale and were on course to secure a top two finish before three goals from Springvale not only caused the upset of the round but also sent Heidelberg crashing from the top two all the way down into fifth spot. Remarkably, South had gone from missing out on a finals place altogether to hosting an Elimination Final against the highly-facied Bergers. 

Sunday’s match promises to be another exciting chapter in the history of the derbies between Heidelberg and South due to the obvious reason of it being a high-pressure match with plenty at stake and because there ultimately has to be a winner. The two sides have drawn their two Premier League matches against each other this season (2-2 at Olympic Village on Sunday 13 March and 0-0 at John Cain Memorial Park on Sunday 5 June) so bragging rights are up for grabs. To add further spice, South came from 0-1 down to draw 1-1 before defeating Heidelberg 2-1 in extra time in the Hellenic Cup final on Saturday 12 February, so the Bergers will be looking for revenge.

Rumours have been circulating during the week that prolific forward Osagie Ederaro will not play for Heidelberg on Sunday due to visa problems, however South will go about preparing to deal with him just in case Ederaro is cleared to play. It will certainly help if Ederaro is missing, as he scored against South at Olympic Village earlier in the season and has generally caused many problems for South’s defenders in previous matches. His individual return for 2011 is 12 goals from 21 matches and has been a stand-out for the Bergers this season along with fellow forward Saso Alexovski (11 goals from 15 matches). Another great player for the Bergers this season has been centre-half Craig Elvin, who has proven to be extremely difficult for South’s forwards to get past in previous matches.

South will be delighted with the form of its forwards in recent weeks, notably Jesse Krncevic who has scored four goals in three matches since returning from suspension. His two goals against Northcote last Sunday were both of high quality, with his chip over goalkeeper Charles Treacey being the standout goal. Fellow forward Steven Weir also had a great match against Northcote, setting up Krncevic with a wonderful through-ball for the 1-0 before scoring the equalising goal for the 3-3 just before halftime thanks to a superbly taken free kick from outside the area. Krncevic’s individual return this season has been ten goals from 17 matches and since signing from Hume in mid-season, Weir has chipped in with two goals from eight matches. Should those two continue their good form, South has a great chance of overcoming the Bergers on Sunday.

Sunday’s Elimination Final kicks off at 15:00 at SS Anderson Reserve in Port Melbourne.

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 12:09 AM

On the twenty fourth episode of southRadio in 2011, we review the Round 22 clash against Northcote City, and preview the upcoming elimination final between South Melbourne FC and Heidelberg United.

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

Click here to download episode 24 of southRadio (MP3) – Right Click and Save As

Click here to download the show directly from iTunes

Sunday, 7 August 2011 10:57 PM

By John Kyrou

In an incredible final round of Victorian Premier League matches, South Melbourne FC crawled back from a 1-3 deficit to secure a finals place with a 3-3 draw against Northcote City at Anderson Reserve on Sunday afternoon. All six goals were scored in what was an unbelievable end-to-end first half in what was essentially an Elimination FInal before the finals series actually began. South arrived at Anderson Reserve knowing that all it needed was a point to confirm its place in the 2011 finals series. A win against Northcote, coupled with a few other results going its way, could have seen the Club finish as high as first. On the other hand, a Northcote win would have seen them overtake South and claim South’s spot in the finals. With so much at stake, there was always going to be high drama throughout the course of the afternoon.

South could not have gotten off to a better start when Jesse Krncevic opened the scoring after only three minutes. Steven Weir played the big forward through on goal and Krncevic did well to slot the ball across Northcote goalkeeper Charles Treacey and into the goal. However the lead lasted less than a minute, after Dean Piermonte skipped around Trent Waterson on the left wing before cutting the ball back for Glen Trifiro to score past Zaim Zeneli. All of a sudden South had gone from an extremely strong position into one of vulnerability. Northcote could sense this and almost made South pay again when Piermonte was put through by Rixon, however he could only fire his final shot wide of Zeneli’s goal. Northcote kept pressing and were rewarded when Jonathan Voulgaris dispossessed Steven Topalovic before hitting a low shot that beat Zeneli at his near post.

The away side now had all the momentum as South looked shell-shocked. South coach Eddie Krncevic switched Topalovic and Waterson to opposite wings in an attempt to control Rixon, however this did not faze the Northcote forward who scored his first goal for the afternoon when he brilliantly controlled Treacey’s long goal kick before smashing a shot past Zeneli to make the score 1-3. In half an hour, South had capitulated from being in a strong position of making the top three to suddenly missing the finals altogether. The home side desperately needed something to change and to score at least one goal before the halftime break. South nearly pulled a goal back when Steven Weir found space in the six yard box but his first touch was too heavy and Treacey came out to make a brave stop.

South continued pushing forward and their risk paid off. Treacey raced out of his area to collect a long ball played forward from South’s defence but Krncevic got there first and expertly lobbed the Northcote custodian to pull the score back to 2-3. Three minutes later South won a free kick on the right side of the box, where Weir stepped up and fired an unstoppable left-footed free kick past Treacey and into the net. All of a sudden, South were back in the finals at Northcote’s expense, provided they could hang on. The halftime whistle was met with loud applause by all spectators in what had been an incredible end-to-end first half.

Northcote came out desperate in the second half but could not find a way to get past South’s defence. Glen Trifiro’s free kick went wide of Zeneli’s goal as South looked to slow the game down and grind out the draw. However with results filtering through that Hume City and Heidelberg were both losing, South also knew that a win would propel them up to at least third and with it a double chance in the finals. South nearly gifted Northcote a goal when captain Steven O’Dor’s backpass to Zeneli was hit too softly but Zeneli bravely came out and blocked the resultant shot, sustaining a minor injury at the same time. At the other end, Daniel Dragicevic had a couple of half-chances to score from long range but his shots were either wide of goal or comfortably saved by Treacey.

With time running out, Northcote needed to throw caution to the wind and commit more bodies forward. This left gaps in the back as Fernando De Moraes and Krncevic came close to adding a fourth goal for the home side. With news filtering through that both Hume and Heidelberg had lost, South now knew that a draw would propel them over the Bergers and into fourth spot, whilst a win would put them in the top three. Krncevic had been outstanding all afternoon but missed a golden chance to put South into third spot after heading wide of Treacey’s goal after being found unmarked at the back post. After four long and tense minutes of injury time, the referee’s final whistle was met with enormous cheers by the home supporters, as it confirmed a fourth place finish and an Elimination Final against Heidelberg next week.

In even better news for the Club, the Under-21s defeated Northcote 2-1 earlier in the day, which meant they won the Championship for the second year in a row. Nick Naigoran scored the winning goal on 76 minutes when he fired home an unstoppable shot from just inside the area.

South Melbourne FC plays Heidelberg United next Sunday 14 August at Port Melbourne’s SS Anderson Reserve in the 2011 Elimination Final. Kick-off is at 15:00.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 3-3 NORTHCOTE CITY (HT: 3-3)

Goal Scorers
1-0: Jesse Krncevic (3′)
1-1: Glen Trifiro (4′)
1-2: Jonathan Voulgaris (24′)
1-3: Trent Rixon (33′)
2-3: Jesse Krncevic (38′)
3-3: Steven Weir (41′)

South Melbourne FC:
4. Steven O’DOR, 5. Daniel VASILEVSKI (33. Yanni GALANOS 89′), 6. Steven TOPALOVIC, 8. Carl RECCHIA, 11. Jesse KRNCEVIC, 15. Fernando DE MORAES (25. Kyle JORYEFF 80′), 16. Trent WATERSON, 17. Steven WEIR, 20. Daniel DRAGICEVIC (2. Tom MATTHEWS 69′), 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 23. Sebastian PETROVIC

Northcote City:
1. Charles TREACEY (GK), 2. Adrian CHIAPPETTA, 3. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 7. Jonathan VOULGARIS (8. Nick CURTIS 69′), 9. Trent RIXON, 10. Glen TRIFIRO, 11. Harry KINIGOPOULOS (16. Paul SAVIO 69′), 12. Hayden D’AGOSTINO (17. Gianni DE NITTIS 81′), 18. James KALAFATIDIS, 19. Dean PIERMONTE, 23. Jason TRIFIRO

SMFC Man of the Match: Jesse Krncevic
Venue: SS Anderson Reserve
Date: Sunday 7 August 2011

Thursday, 4 August 2011 8:49 PM

The Elimination Final has come a week early as South Melbourne FC and Northcote City face off on Sunday afternoon with a finals berth at stake. Northcote will replace South in the top five should it win, whilst South needs to avoid defeat in order to confirm a finals spot. With the game being a South home match, the Club has switched the venue from John Cain Memorial Park to SS Anderson Reserve in Port Melbourne.

South come into the game in winning form, having recorded two wins in a row against tough opposition in Hume City and Dandenong Thunder. Last weekend’s 0-1 triumph at George Andrews Reserve was particularly impressive, with the side scoring in the first half before grinding out the rest of the match and forcing the result to give it a great chance of qualifying for the finals. Anything less than a victory would have seen South come into this weekend’s game against Northcote needing to win, instead it has given the Club a greater chance of qualifying for the finals as a draw will also suffice. 

Northcote also comes into Sunday’s game in winning form, having recorded three wins in a row with the most recent being a strong 3-0 victory against Bentleigh last Saturday afternoon. More disturbingly for South, Northcote has an excellent result against the Blues, with two wins and a draw from three matches. The chief architect of Northcote’s success over South has been Trent Rixon, who has enjoyed six goals against the Club in those three games, with the most recent being a hat-trick in the 5-0 drubbing of South early on this season on Sunday 8 May. Whilst Northcote thoroughly deserved to win on that occasion, South had many of its starting eleven missing and Sunday’s match will no doubt be much closer than that. One key player missing for South in that 5-0 loss was Jesse Krncevic, who has scored eight goals from 16 Premier League matches this season, including two goals in the last two matches. Both Rixon and Krncevic will be central to the result on Sunday; whichever team can manage to contain them will go a long way to getting the result they need to qualify for finals.

To add more spice to Sunday’s game, Fernando De Moraes will make his 150th Premier League appearance for South, whilst vice-captain Carl Recchia will play his 50th match for the Club, which includes NSL, VPL, Mirabella Cup and Singapore Cup competitions. 

Incredibly, South can still finish as Minor Premiers should it defeat Northcote and other results go its way. There is no doubt all spectators will be nervously watching Sunday’s game at Anderson Reserve and with all games kicking off at 15:00 that day, there will be a lot of interest in other results occurring should South win. 

Ladder heading into the final round:

Rank

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Points

1

Hume City

23

12

6

5

46

28

18

42

2

Oakleigh 

23

13

3

7

40

28

12

42

3

Heidelberg 

23

12

7

4

52

23

29

40

4

G Gully

23

12

4

7

46

23

23

40

5

SMFC

23

12

4

7

36

30

6

40

6

Northcote

23

11

5

7

58

34

24

38

South will qualify for the finals should it avoid defeat against Northcote

South will miss the finals should Northcote defeat them on Sunday

South will finish Minor Premiers if:
* It defeats Northcote
* Hume City loses to Melbourne Knights
* Oakleigh loses to Dandenong Thunder
* Heidelberg doesn’t win against Springvale
* Green Gully doesn’t win against Bentleigh

Thursday, 4 August 2011 10:38 AM

South Melbourne FC is saddened to learn of the passing of Clyde Holding recently.

In the early 1990s, Mr Holding, along with the assistance of Minister Rose (Minister for Sport at the time) provided South Melbourne FC with $250,000 in funding for building the new Pavilion across from the old Pavilion at the Club’s former ground in Middle Park. This was of course prior to the Club moving from Middle Park to Lakeside Stadium in late 1995.

South Melbourne FC President Leo Athanasakis expressed his sympathies, noting that “we are saddened to hear of Mr Holding’s passing. South Melbourne FC is grateful to Clyde Holding for his efforts in providing funding for the Club to secure a new Pavilion at our former ground. We have lost a great leader and above all a good friend of our famous Club.”

The Club sends its condolences to the Holding family at this sad time.