Category: News

Thursday, 29 April 2010 10:34 AM

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC forward Gianni De Nittis is set to play his 100th League game for the club on Friday night against Richmond. In doing so, De Nittis will join an elite group of players, including his captain Rama Tavsancioglu and teammate Fernando De Moraes, to play 100 matches for South.

‘De, De Nittis’ as he is affectionately known by the fans, was brought to the club by former coach John Anastasiadis in 2005, South’s first year back in the Victorian Premier League. He was only 18 years of age when he made his debut away against Green Gully and was used mainly as a substitute by Anastasiadis that season. Gianni was given more game time in 2006 and he rewarded Anastasiadis with a return of eight goals from 21 games. De Nittis showed his true worth in the finals series, when he scored two goals to defeat Altona in the Major Semi Final before scoring the winning goal in the Grand Final against the same team a fortnight later. Clarendon Corner recognised his excellent season by naming him their Under-21s Player of the Year.

De Nittis celebrated the opening of the 2007 season by being part of the Hellenic Cup triumph against Oakleigh and he reached his 50 game milestone against Hume City in early 2008. South did not qualify for the finals in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons and Gianni endured a frustrating couple of seasons being played in midfield as opposed to up front where he could score more goals.

Coach Michael Michalakopoulos decided to put Gianni back into his natural position up front in 2009. South won the pre-season Hellenic Cup competition with De Nittis getting on the score sheet numerous times, including in the final against Heidelberg. In the League season, De Nittis chipped in with crucial goals to help South reach the finals for the first time in three seasons.

Gianni has had a tough start to 2010 but has repaid the faith shown in him by coach Vaughan Coveny by scoring four goals last weekend against Hume City. In the process Gianni joined an elite group of only nine South players to score four times in the one League match. Gianni De Nittis becomes the 39th player to reach the 100 game milestone for South since the club entered the National Soccer League in 1977.

South Melbourne FC congratulates Gianni on reaching his milestone and wishes him all the best on Friday night and for the rest of the season.

Gianni De Nittis– SMFC Statistics:

• DOB 18th June 1986
• Debut v Green Gully (round 9, 2005 @ Green Gully Reserve, 1-0 loss)
• 2006 Clarendon Corner Most Valuable Player of the Year (Under-21s)
• Member of the 2006 VPL championship team (scorer of the winning goal)
• Member of the 2007 Hellenic Cup championship team
• 50th match v Hume City (round 2, 2008 @ Bob Jane Stadium, 2-1 loss)
• Member of the 2009 Hellenic Cup championship team
• One of only nine players to score 4 goals in a League match for SMFC (round 8, 2010 v Hume City)

Season Breakdown:

2005 – 8 games (1 start, 7 subs), 0 goals
2006 – 21 games (8 starts, 13 subs), 8 goals
2007 – 19 games (15 starts, 4 subs), 2 goals
2008 – 23 games (21 starts, 2 subs), 8 goals
2009 – 20 games (13 starts, 7 subs), 6 goals
2010 – 8 games (8 starts, 0 subs), 5 goals
Total – 99 games (66 starts, 33 subs), 29 goals

Thursday, 29 April 2010 10:20 AM

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy NItsos)

South Melbourne FC travels to Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Friday night to face fellow top four side Richmond Eagles. The match is South’s second match in a row against a top four side, following the trip to Broadmeadows Valley Park to play Hume City on ANZAC Day.

South go into the match in excellent form, having recorded consecutive away wins over the Melbourne Knights and Hume City. Whilst the Knights game could have gone either way, there was no doubting who the superior team was in the Hume City match as South Melbourne recorded a comprehensive 6-0 victory. Gianni De Nittis found his way into goal scoring form with four goals, joining an elite list of only nine players to have scored four times for South in the one League match. Fernando De Moraes and Daniel Vasilevski also got on the score sheet, with Vasilevski’s goal a contender for Goal of the Year as he hit an outstanding free kick from outside the area.

Richmond’s loss to Oakleigh was their third loss of 2010, however the Eagles have only lost once at home this season. Daniel Visevic and former South forward Jesse Krncevic have had excellent starts to 2010, sharing many of the goals that the Eagles have scored this season. The fact that Richmond is the League’s second highest scoring team with 15 goals (South are the leaders with 16) underlines how influential Krncevic and Visevic are for their team. South’s defence will need to contain these two players in order to earn a third straight clean sheet and more importantly another away victory.

South goalkeeper Peter Zois will be the most determined to keep a clean sheet against Richmond as he returns to play against his former club. In the corresponding fixture last season, Zois was in goals for Richmond as Sebastian Petrovic (33′), Shane Nunes (38′) and De Moraes (94′) cancelled Tom Milardovic’s early penalty (12′) to record a 3-1 victory.

Friday’s match kicks off at 8:30pm at Kevin Bartlett Reserve.

Last time they met

Monday, 26 April 2010 9:21 PM

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC has produced its best performance of the season by destroying fellow top four side Hume City 6-0 in the ANZAC Day clash at Broadmeadows Valley Park. Gianni De Nittis scored four of South’s goals, joining an elite list of only nine players to have ever achieved that milestone for the club.

South travelled to Hume keen on putting in a good performance to back up from the win over the Melbourne Knights and with hard games against Richmond and Oakleigh to come. Hume were keen on preventing this following their 1-3 home loss to Oakleigh last week.

Fernando De Moraes opened the scoring for the away side in the 35th minute, slotting the ball to the right of Hume keeper Lupce Acevski after being put through. Just before halftime De Nittis ended the match as a contest when he scored twice in a minute to give South a 3-0 lead at the break. His first goal was a tap-in at the back post after a cut-back by Keenan on the right side. From the re-start, South gained possession and put De Nittis one-on-one with Acevski. Despite having his shirt tugged, De Nittis kept his feet and coolly slotted past the Hume custodian.

De Nittis had his hat-trick shortly after the halftime break, converting another easy tap-in opportunity, after some excellent lead-up play by Daniel Vasilevski and De Moraes culminated in the ball being played across the goal to the waiting striker. Vasilevski then scored a contender for VPL Goal of the Year with a stunning free kick from outside the area that gave Acevski no chance. De Nittis then scored his fourth and South’s final goal of the afternoon with another tap-in, following another ball played across the goal by De Moraes.

After the match, captain Rama Tavsancioglu accepted the ANZAC Day Cup as De Nittis was awarded the Man of the Match award. South has now won both ANZAC Day Cup contests following the 2-1 triumph over Hume in 2009.

South Melbourne FC faces another tough assignment next week with a trip to Kevin Bartlett Reserve for a meeting with Richmond. Kick-off is at 8:30pm on Friday night.

FINAL SCORE: HUME CITY 0-6 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-3)

Hume City:
Lupce Acevski, Fabio Dilizia, Steven Pace, Isiyan Erdogan, Alponso Opazo, Turhan Sumbul, Richard Cardozo, Goran Talevski, Tansel Baser, Dusko Delic, Michael Bosevski
Subs: Mehmet Karakilic, Serdar Pir, Marijo Roza, Ersin Kaya, Sam Dehaini

South Melbourne:
Peter Zois, Steve O’Dor (Stiven Mrkela 85’), Daniel Vasilevaski, Eddie Cetkin, Carl Recchia (Joseph Youssef 75’), Sam Torrens, Rama Tavsancioglu, Fernando De Moraes, Sebastian Petrovic (Yusuf Yusuf 68’), Gianni De Nittis, Joe Keenan
(Scorers: Fernando De Moraes 35’, Gianni De Nittis 42’, 43’, 53’, 88’, Daniel Vasilevski 74’)

SMFC Man of the Match: Gianni De Nittis
Venue: Broadmeadows Valley Park
Date: Sunday 25th April 2010
Crowd: 700

Friday, 23 April 2010 11:04 AM

By John Kyrou (Photo by Cindy Nitsos)

South Melbourne FC faces its toughest test of the season on Sunday when the side travels to Broadmeadows Valley Park to face Hume City in the ANZAC Day Cup clash. Both sides currently sit in the top four of the League standings and will both be out for the three points to further cement their places in the higher rungs of the ladder.

Hume goes into the game on the back of its first loss in 2010, going down 1-3 against the Oakleigh Cannons last week. South enters the match in winning form, having beaten the Melbourne Knights 1-0 at Somers Street in what was a typically tough derby fixture that could have gone either way. The hero for South was Joe Keenan, who scored a brilliant left-footed goal to open his goal scoring account at South in only his second League game for the club.

The win against the Knights was excellent, however the upcoming games against Hume, Richmond and Oakleigh – who are all currently in the top four – will really put South to the test and give a great indication as to how far the team will go in 2010. The most encouraging fact about South’s season so far has been that the side has battled right through to the end of every match and as a result deservedly sit in the top four. With Keenan regaining fitness and hitting form, Peter Zois’ defence starting to win clean sheets and South’s midfielders overcoming niggling injuries, the side is well placed to go for a positive result on Sunday.

Hume’s two brick walls that South will need to find a way to break down are goalkeeper Lupce Acevski and defensive midfielder Tansel Baser. Acevski has been of the best goalkeepers in the League for a decade and this has not changed at all in 2010. Baser, still a huge favourite of many South supporters, has been rock-solid just ahead of the Hume defence, with excellent timing of tackles and equally as good distribution of the ball once in possession. If South can find a way past both on Sunday then the away side will no doubt achieve a positive result.

In what was the inaugural ANZAC Day Cup match in the corresponding fixture last season, goals from Vaughan Coveny and Sebastian Petrovic gave South a 2-1 away win. The win was doubly special because Coveny’s goal was his 100th League goal for South Melbourne FC. Since Hume entered the Victorian Premier League in 2008, the two sides have met five times, with Hume winning on three occasions and South winning twice.

Sunday’s match will kick off at 3:30pm, with a special ANZAC Day ceremony commencing from 3pm.

smfcTV – 2009 Elimination Final

Friday, 23 April 2010 10:59 AM

On Saturday’s episode on SMFC TV, we review and show extended match highlights of the derby at Knights Stadium between South Melbourne FC and Melbourne Knights. Furthermore, we hear from Steven O’Dor, Joe Keenan, and Head Coach, Vaughan Coveny as well in the post-match interviews. In addition, the show will review all the scores from around the VPL, and provide you with an update on the opening round of the Junior season.

SMFC TV

Channel 31
Every Saturday 10.00am -10.30am

Friday, 23 April 2010 10:40 AM

On this week’s episode of southRadio, we review the derby at Knights Stadium between South Melbourne FC and Melbourne Knights, as well as preview the upcoming ANZAC Day Cup contest against Hume City. In addition, we are joined in the studio by SMFC Director of Football, Ange Dallas, who will provide his thoughts on the season to date.

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

Click here to download episode 9 of southRadio (MP3 – 5.5Mb) – Right Click and Save As

Click here to download the show directly from iTunes

Monday, 19 April 2010 12:00 AM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC has survived a late charge by the Melbourne Knights to earn a valuable 1-0 win at Somers Street. The winning goal was scored by Joey Keenan midway through the first half.

Both sides entered the game in good form. The Knights had registered an away victory against second-placed Oakleigh last week, whilst South scored a late goal against Heidelberg to keep its unbeaten start to 2010 intact. South started the match the stronger of the two sides, with an attacking structure of Keenan, De Nittis and De Moraes, who was returning to the starting line-up following some excellent contributions off the bench in recent weeks.

Keenan should have opened the scoring after 25 minutes but instead blasted his shot over the bar. However he made up for it two minutes later when he received the ball on the right side of the penalty box and darted past his Knights marker before firing a curling effort across Knights keeper Antony Loncaric’s goal and into the far corner of the net. South had further chances to double their lead in the first half but were content to go into halftime with the one goal advantage.

South should have wrapped the game up in the opening minutes of the second half. A poor back-pass from the Knights defender fell to De Nittis, who fed De Moraes through to be one-on-one with Loncaric. De Moraes managed to chip the ball over the advancing custodian but could not beat the near post as the ball went out for a goal kick. South then won the ball in midfield and a series of excellent passes led to the ball being squared across the area to Daniel Vasilevski with just the goalkeeper to beat. Vasilevski blasted his shot over the bar instead of the back of the net.

A game that could have been 3-0 for the away side may very well have been 1-1 moments later, as the Knights missed two great opportunities to level the scores. Firstly, a long ball played from defence eluded the South defenders, which forced goalkeeper Peter Zois to come off his line to clear the danger, but a Knights forward got to the ball first and lobbed it over the South custodian. Luckily for the away side the ball was over-hit and flew over the crossbar for a goal kick.

The second chance was a miss from less than one metre out, which had the home crowd in disbelief that their side was not on level terms. The final whistle was a welcome relief for the away side, who registered their first victory at Somers Street since 2007.

South faces another away trip next week, when it travels to Broadmeadows Valley Reserve to face high-flying Hume City in the ANZAC Day clash. Kick-off is at 3pm next Sunday.

FINAL SCORE: MELBOURNE KNIGHTS 0-1 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-1)

Melbourne Knights:
Antony Loncaric, Ben Surey, Anthony Bran, Daniel Rocco, Liam Cannell (Gazmend Ajdinl 65’), Josip Magdic, Kevin Townson, Adrian Zahra (Joseph Franjic 88’), Thomas Skara, Jean Dubois, Jacob Colosimo (Anthony Colosimo 65’)

South Melbourne:
Peter Zois, Steve O’Dor, Eddie Cetkin, Rama Tavsancioglu, Sam Torrens (Marinos Gasparis 77’), Daniel Vasilevski, Carl Recchia, Fernando De Moraes (Joseph Youssef 72’), Sebastian Petrovic, Gianni De Nittis (Yusuf Yusuf 86’), Joe Keenan
(Scorer: Joe Keenan 27′)

SMFC Man of the Match: Joe Keenan
Venue: Knights Stadium
Date: Sunday 18th April 2010
Crowd: 2,000

Friday, 16 April 2010 11:04 AM

On this week’s episode of southRadio, we review the last traditional derby at Bob Jane Stadium between South Melbourne FC and Heidelberg United SC, as well as preview the upcoming contest against the Melbourne Knights. In addition, we are joined in the studio by SMFC Chairman Nick Galatas who will discuss the South bid to participate in the 2010 Singapore Cup.

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

Click here to download the podcast (MP3)

Friday, 16 April 2010 10:22 AM

By John Kyrou – Photo by Cindy Nitsos

South Melbourne FC travels to Somers Street on Sunday for the derby match against old foe Melbourne Knights. South will be hoping for three points following the disappointing 1-1 home draw against Heidelberg last Sunday, whilst the Knights will be looking to record their third victory in a row to kick-start their season after a slow beginning.

South left it late against Heidelberg United last Sunday but were able to level the match in injury time thanks to Carl Recchia’s header. Late goals against Altona (round 1), Bentleigh (round 2) and Dandenong (round 5) have shown that South is able to sustain pressure on the opposition right until the final whistle, something that will be needed on Sunday against the Knights. Despite starting the season slowly with only two points from their first four matches, the Knights have bounced back into form following a 3-1 home win over Richmond and then a 2-0 away victory against second-placed Oakleigh last Friday night.

The Knights player that the South defenders need to keep a close watch on is Jean Dubois, who has scored in both of the Knights’ recent victories. It is no coincidence that when Dubois has scored the Knights have won, so the key to South getting a positive result is to shut him out of the game. On the other side, the Knights will be looking to suppress South’s midfield, notably Recchia, Daniel Vasilevski and Fernando De Moraes. Despite the side not having the best of games against Heidelberg, the side still created several goal scoring chances thanks to these players. Despite a niggling injury, De Moraes made an impact off the bench, as did Yusuf Yusuf, who was outstanding by constantly taking on the Bergers defenders and beating them before sending in crosses.

The Melbourne Knights fixture is always a highlight for South players and fans, as the two sides have battled out many memorable games over the years. South fans will be encouraged by the fact that the club has a very good record at Somers Street, especially in the National Soccer League. Since both sides resumed life in the VPL in 2005, South’s record at Somers Street has been two wins, two draws and a loss.

In the corresponding fixture last season, South opened the scoring after 18 minutes thanks to a power strike by Joseph Youssef, however Greg Draper’s equalising goal after 66 minutes meant that the match finished in a stalemate, despite both sides having good chances to score again.

Sunday’s match will be yet another installment in a cross-town rivalry between two powerhouse Australian clubs that have battled in many memorable games both on a State and National League level.

Kick-off is 3pm on Sunday at Knights Stadium.

smfcTV – Last timethey met

Thursday, 15 April 2010 11:58 PM

South Melbourne FC has completed a thorough internal investigation of the invasion of the pitch by a small number of its fans during the final minutes of the match against Heidelberg United FC on Sunday 11 April 2010.

In line with its ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ regarding such incidents, the Club has identified the individuals involved and has taken swift and appropriate action.

The Board has handed down appropriate penalties, with the most serious offenders being banned unconditionally for up to 5 years from attending all future South Melbourne FC home matches. In addition, all pitch invaders will be fined by the Club for their role in the incident. 

South Melbourne FC will continue to enforce its zero tolerance policy against any and all unacceptable conduct by any spectator which is also consistent with the provisions of its ‘Code of Conduct’ applying to its Senior and Junior Teams, as well as Junior Parents, and Members. The Board is satisfied that it has taken the appropriate steps to deal with this incident in a timely manner, and the Club is cooperating with the FFV’s investigation.

For more information, please contact Nick Galatas, South Melbourne FC Chairman on 9645 9797 or media@smfc.com.au.