Category: News

Thursday, 20 August 2009 3:33 PM

By John Kyrou

Epping Stadium plays hosts to the VPL Elimination Final on Sunday afternoon, when Hume City plays off against South Melbourne FC in a do-or-die clash. The winner of the contest will face the losing team in the Altona-Green Gully Qualifying Final, whilst for the losing side their season will come to an end on Sunday.

Hume will be hurting from the fact that a 0-1 home loss against Oakleigh in the final round saw them slide from second on the table to finish the regular home & away season in fourth spot. A point would have been enough for Hume to finish second and win the double chance however Bonel Obradovic’s 88th minute strike saw the Cannons take all three points and Hume’s double chance opportunity go up in smoke.

South went into the final round last weekend needing a win over Sunshine George Cross to confirm a spot in the finals. The performance wasn’t the greatest but it was the result that counted as Fernando De Moraes’ cheeky ‘interception’ of the ball off Georgies keeper Martin John and subsequent goal was enough to earn the side a 1-0 win and with it a place in the finals for the first time since 2006. The side finished in fifth position in the league but were an agonising one point off second spot, with too many draws during the season costing the team dearly in the end.

South won the first meeting between the two sides this season, when goals from Vaughan Coveny and Sebastian Petrovic were enough for the Blues to hold off ten-man Hume to win the inaugural ANZAC Day Cup. The match was also memorable as Coveny notched up his 100th league goal for the club. The return match at Bob Jane Stadium was a scrappy contest and it was Hume who took the honours thanks to a Zoran Petrevski penalty fourteen minutes from time. Gianni De Nittis nearly rescued South a point deep into injury time but his fierce shot flew inches wide.

The key man in this contest will undoubtedly be Hume’s Tansel Baser. The two-time South championship player was best afield when Hume defeated South at Bob Jane Stadium, with his passing and positioning clearly a class above everyone else. Baser’s influence needs to be stifled by South or else the side will be in big danger of being eliminated on Sunday. The other obstacle in the way of a South victory will be goalkeeper Lupce Acevski, with the big custodian always excelling against South and having only conceded 16 goals this season.

Despite finishing the regular season as the second-highest scoring side in the league, South has had a lean scoring record in its last month of football. Goran Zoric (10 goals), Gianni De Nittis (6) and Coveny (5) need to quickly re-discover their early season form when they would score freely and frequently. Despite having an inconsistent season, Fernando has scored 7 goals thus far and will again be relied upon to create something out of nothing like he did against George Cross.

Kick-off for Sunday’s crucial match is at 15.00 at Epping Stadium. If the match is drawn, extra time will be played and then penalties if the scores are still level.

Hume City v South Melbourne FC – Overview

2009 Season:

Round 8 – Saturday 25/04/09 @ Broadmeadows Valley Park
Hume City 1 (Thompson 68’) def by South Melbourne 2 (Coveny 43’, Petrovic 65’)

Round 19 – Sunday 26/07/09 @ Bob Jane Stadium
South Melbourne 0 def by Hume City 1 (Petrevski pen 76’)

Overall:
Played: 4
South wins: 2
Hume wins: 2
Draws: 0

Thursday, 20 August 2009 2:52 PM

Tough midfielder Sebastian Petrovic has completed a brilliant season for South Melbourne FC by being awarded the 2009 Theo Marmaras Medal on Saturday night at Bob Jane Stadium.

This is Petrovic’s third stint with the club, with the former Heidelberg and Whittlesea player making his debut at lakeside in the 2001/02 NSL season.  He returned in 2005 but was released mid-way through the season. It hasn’t been until  he rejoined the club late in 2008 from Whittlesea that Petrovic made his mark at the club.

By building his game on hard running and strong tackling, Petrovic has been South’s most important player by linking with midfield partner Joseph Youssef to dominate in the middle of the park.

Speaking candidly to smfc.com.au, Petrovic was elated with the honour, adding that “to win an award like this, at such a great club is the biggest honour that I can receive. I would like to thank all my team-mates, coaching staff and club officials who continue to make SMFC such a great club to be at. Hopefully now I can build on this and have a real impact in the 2009 finals with the boys.”

Finishing just behind Petrovic in the Marmaras medal was vice-captain Steve O’Dor, who along with Petrovic has had an exceptional season and led the club to the finals for the first time in three seasons.

In other awards handed out, Goran Zoric was awarded the 2009 Golden Boot award  while Francesco Stella was given the medal for the best U/21 player in the senior team.

Click here to view video highlights of the night

Senior Awards
 
Marmaras Medal – SMFC MVP
Sebastian Petrovic

SMFC U/21 MVP
Francesco Stella

Top Goal Scorer
Goran Zoric (10 goals)

U/21 (Youth Team) Awards

U/21(Youth Team) Most Valuable Player
Jake Vandermey

U/21 (Youth Team) Coach’s Appreciation Award
Simon Ierardi

U/21(Youth Team)  Coach’s Appreciation Award
Bradley Treloar

Supporters Awards

CC MVP
Sebastian Petrovic

CC U/21 MVP
Francesco Stella

 

Monday, 17 August 2009 3:03 PM

South Melbourne FC would like to announce the 2009 50th Year Anniversary raffle winners.

In the draw conducted at the MVP night at Bob Jane Stadium on Saturday, the following winners were drawn out of a barrel.

The winners were;

1st Prize – $2,500 Travel Voucher
Peter Politis

2nd Prize – 40 inch Samsung LCD TV
Jimmy Armstrong

3rd Prize – Samsung PLC 60 Camera 10.2mp
David Gudgeon

4th Prize – Signed 2009 SMFC Jersey
George Kouroumalis

SMFC would like to thank everyone who purchased a raffle ticket and supported the Club’s 50th Anniversary Raffle

Monday, 17 August 2009 12:35 PM

South Melbourne has cemented a spot in the finals for the first time since 2006, following a hard fought 1-0 victory at Bob Jane Stadium on Saturday.

Going into the contest, a South Melbourne win would ensure them a spot in the finals, while a Sunshine win would have seen the Georgies jump the Blues into the finals position.

With all to play for, South burst out of the blocks, attacking the Sunshine goal from the outset.

Despite dominating play, the Blues could not muster a genuine shot on target, with the closest in the early stages being Goran Zoric, who hit a shot wide of the goal.

South’s best chance of the half came from a speculative long range effort by Rhodri Payne. In what seemed to be a miss hit cross, the strong wind at lakeside caught hold of the ball and floated it into the top right hand corner of the target. With the ball seemingly heading for a goal, Sunshine goalkeeper Martin John made a tremendous save to acrobatically tip the ball around for a corner.

With 45 minutes remaining in one of South or Sunshine’s season, both clubs came out breathing fire and the opening 15 minutes of the half saw some of the hardest tackling of the year by both teams.

In the 65th minute of play, one of the most phenomenal pieces of play in 2009, saw South Melbourne take the much sought after lead.

With a Sunshine player receiving treatment on the ground, Sunshine kicked the ball out as part of the fair play procedure. As per expected, South Melbourne’s Fernando De Moraes threw the ball to the wide-open Sunshine goalkeeper Martin John inside his own area. After clapping Fernando’s sportsmanship, John took a series of touches in the area, before being set upon by the South attackers. While John remained unaware that anyone was running at him, Fernando cheekily pinched the ball from the feet of the goalkeeper and streamed into the open goal to give South the advantage.

In response to John’s horrific awareness and decision-making, Sunshine became occupied initially with trying to extract revenge on the Brazilian maestro, by focussing on launching a series of stern challenges onto the individual, rather than trying to peg back the goal.

Responding to the way Sunshine were playing, SMFC coach Michael Michalakopoulos removed Fernando from the game in fear that the playmaker would sustain an injury.

In the final 20 minutes of the game, South squandered a series of chances to double its advantage, however they lacked that killer instinct in the final third. With misses by Sam Torrens, Gianni De Nittis and Joseph Youssef, South fans were left with a nervous final 5 minutes.

In this final 5 minute period, Sunshine finally provided some sustained pressure at the South Melbourne goal. By doing this, the Georgies won a series of free kicks around the area, as well as a numerous corners as they pushed for an elusive equaliser.

In the 90th minute, Fidel Richards came closest for the Georgies, with the former FC Clifton Hill attacking player missing a headed opportunity from the corner. On this occasion, Richards found space inside the area and launched a well hit headed effort over the bar and out from the goal kick.

With the final whistle came the roar of the home fans, who would once again see their beloved team in the finals. At the same time, Sunshine players and officials surrounded referee Perry Mur to voice their disapproval about the Fernando goal to give South the win.

Highlights of the game can be seen on smfcTV which can be found at www.smfc.tv.

Friday, 14 August 2009 12:20 PM

By John Kyrou

On Saturday afternoon, South Melbourne FC hosts Sunshine George Cross in the final round of the home & away season in a match that has enormous stakes for both sides.

South blew a glorious chance to maintain a top three standing in the league last Saturday when it was defeated 3-0 by Altona. The result meant that South slipped to fifth spot, ahead of Heidelberg only on goal difference. The loss was South’s heaviest defeat of the season and one that could not have come at a worse time considering the massive stakes on offer. However due to Oakleigh defeating Altona mid-week, the third-placed Magic remain three points ahead of South and with an inferior goal difference.

Incredibly, a South win could see it still finish in the top three and with it claim a double chance heading into the finals series. On the flipside, a draw will see the team nervously relying on other results going right in order to sneak into an Elimination Final. A loss will see George Cross leap-frog South on the table and confirm South’s non-attendance at the finals for a third consecutive season.

Sunshine come into Saturday’s match having just managed to keep their finals hopes alive with a 2-2 draw against the Whittlesea Zebras last Monday evening. At 2-0 down with 15 minutes remaining and with their finals hopes for 2009 looking gone, George Cross dug deep and snatched a precious point thanks to a double from Wayne Wallace. The result leaves Sunshine two points behind fifth, therefore meaning the Georgies will need to defeat South as well as hope that Dandenong defeats Heidelberg in order to sneak into fifth spot.

The matches between the two sides are always well-fought and Sunshine has a good record at Bob Jane Stadium, having recorded one win, one draw and an unlucky loss. South has not defeated George Cross since the 0-2 victory at Chaplin Reserve in 2007, with Yusuf Yusuf and Ricky Diaco scoring the goals. It has not defeated Sunshine at Bob Jane Stadium since early 2005 when it prevailed 2-0 thanks to goals from Ryan Dinse and Bill Natsioulas. The match will be the 55th league meeting between the two sides, with South winning 24, George Cross 16 with 15 draws.

With all matches starting at 15.00 on Saturday and being played simultaneously, there is no doubt that no matter what the final result, there will be nerves on the terraces as updates from the other venues come through.

With all sorts of combinations possible, the scenarios have been broken down below with the VPL ladder.

2. Hume City – 37 points +24 GD
3. Altona Magic – 37 points +10 GD
4. Green Gully – 35 points +7 GD
5. South Melbourne FC – 34 points +18 GD
———————————————-
6. Heidelberg – 34 points +10 GD
7. Sunshine GC – 32 points +1 GD

South will finish 2nd if:

* South beat Sunshine by 3 goals or more
* Hume loses to Oakleigh by 3 goals or more
* Altona loses to the Melbourne Knights
* Green Gully draws or loses to Richmond

South will finish 3rd if:

* Hume draws or wins against Oakleigh
* South beat Sunshine
* Altona loses to the Melbourne Knights
* Green Gully draws or loses to Richmond

South will finish 4th if:

* Hume and Altona draw or win their matches
* South beat Sunshine and Green Gully draws with Richmond

OR

South draw with Sunshine and Green Gully loses to Richmond

South will finish 5th if:

* Hume and Altona record a point in their matches
* Green Gully, South and Heidelberg all win or draw their games

OR

Green Gully earns at least a point and both South and Heidelberg draw their matches

South will MISS the finals if:

* Sunshine beats South

OR

South draws to Sunshine and Heidelberg defeats Dandenong

Monday, 10 August 2009 10:48 AM

By John Kyrou 

South Melbourne FC has continued its miserable record at Paisley Park by going down 3-0 to the Altona Magic on Saturday evening and in the process putting its finals aspirations at severe risk.In a match of very little highlights from both sides, two defensive errors and a wicked deflection proved the difference.

South travelled to Paisley Park knowing that a win would almost certainly confirm a top three position in the league. However this was to be difficult as Altona had won all four previous encounters between the two sides at Paisley Park since South joined the Victorian Premier League in 2005. The Magic was keen to continue this record as they themselves were looking to secure a top three finish.

The match itself was scrappy with few highlights. Altona opened the scoring in the nineteenth minute when non-existent marking from a throw-in saw a free turn and shot fall for Carl Recchia to tap the ball past a dumbfounded Tommi Tomich in the South goal. Just before halftime South should have been two goals behind but Tomich managed to block a shot at his near post from an unmarked Altona player.

South should have started the second half with all guns blazing to try and get back on level terms; instead within a minute it had shot itself in the foot by conceding a ridiculous goal. From a back-pass, Tomich terribly mis-hit the ball. His poor clearance fell to Pece Siveski unmarked just outside the area. Siveski simply picked his spot and buried the ball past Tomich to effectively kill the game off as a contest.

Vaughan Coveny had been kept ineffective all match but he had an opportunity from a set-piece to give the away side a lifeline. Unfortunately for the veteran forward, he could not keep his header underneath the crossbar. South lifted slightly but did not create any real chances, though Sam Torrens was a shining light when he was subbed on and his good work will stake a claim for him to start in next week’s match.

The miserable night was confirmed twenty minutes from time when a quick left-footed shot from outside the area deflected off Steven O’Dor and over a hapless Tomich for the final goal of the evening. To add further insult to injury, substitute Altona goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic pulled off a good save to deny Joseph Youssef from pulling back a consolation goal for the visitors after he was through one-on-one.

Altona are now in prime position to finish second and are almost certainly confirmed to finish in the top three. On the other hand, South are currently in fourth but will slip to fifth if Green Gully defeats Oakleigh in the round’s final fixture.

South must beat Sunshine George Cross in the final round next weekend to confirm a finals spot; anything less will see the Blues nervously relying on other results to see if they can make the finals for the first time in three seasons.

Friday, 7 August 2009 10:50 AM

By John Kyrou 

South Melbourne FC plays its most important match of the season tomorrow night when the third-placed Blues travel to Altona to take on the fourth-placed Altona Magic. A positive result is absolutely crucial for South as a win could virtually seal a top three finish for the season while a loss could see it drop to fifth spot and putting a finals appearance severely at risk.

South heads into the match on the back of a hard-fought yet at times fortunate 1-1 draw away to the Oakleigh Cannons last Friday night. The side did well to fight back after going 1-0 down and had an excellent final 20 minutes with numerous opportunities created, but was lucky to escape with a point in the end as Oakleigh’s Juan Nilo missed an open goal deep into injury time.

Altona heads into the match having demolished the relegated Whittlesea Zebras 5-0 at Paisley Park last Saturday. The result means that Altona has joined South on 34 points but the Magic have a game in hand, hence the extreme importance of South getting all three points tomorrow night.

To make things even harder, South will have to psychologically deal with the fact that in their four meetings away to the Magic since dropping to the VPL, the side has not registered a single point at Paisely Park, losing all four matches. Vaughan Coveny is the only South player to have scored at the venue in this time and the veteran, as well as Gianni De Nittis and Goran Zoric, will be keen to score tomorrow night to break the hoodoo and almost certainly cement a top three position for South in the league.

 

Kick-off is at 17.30 tomorrow (Saturday) evening at Paisley Park.

Monday, 3 August 2009 9:56 AM

By John Kyrou – Photo by Craig Varty

South Melbourne FC has confirmed a position in the top three at least until next weekend following the hard-fought and at times extremely lucky 1-1 draw against the Oakleigh Cannons on Friday night at Jack Edwards Reserve. The draw leaves both clubs still fighting hard to cement a finals appearance with two rounds remaining.

South travelled to Oakleigh keen on making amends following the disastrous 0-1 home defeat against Hume City the previous round. A win against the Cannons was crucial in the quest to cement second spot at season’s end and with it a home final. Oakleigh were also keen on the three points as the home side went into the match five points behind the top five, albeit with a game in hand.

With the absence of Bill Damianos in the Cannons midfield, South’s chances were boosted significantly. As a result the away side began the match looking the more likely to score, however the closest chance created was a shot from the edge of the right side of the penalty area by Gianni De Nittis that soared comfortably over Cannons keeper Adrian Cagalj’s goal.

Former South boy Trent Waterson had been kept reasonably quiet in the first half by Shane Nunes and Rama Tavsancioglu, however it was his turn and cross that led to the opening goal. Waterson’s cross was met in the centre by Bonel Obradovic, who laid off to Alex Rojas at the edge of the penalty area. Rojas’ low left foot shot beat Tommi Tomich comfortably and nestled into the right corner of the goal to give the home side the advantage.

South lifted momentarily and were nearly back on level terms soon after when Vaughan Coveny had a shot at the near post somehow cleared over the goal by Cagalj in what was an excellent save. Moments later, there was another great save at the other end when Tomich dived low to smother a shot at his near post. There were howls of protests from the away fans as the Oakleigh player taking that shot appeared to be in a clear offside position, only for the linesman to keep his flag down.

In the second half, South coach Michael Michalakopoulos swung changes, bringing on Joseph Youssef for Nic Curtis and then moments later introducing Goran Zoric to replace Francesco Stella. Youssef made an immediate impact, winning the ball in midfield and supplying passes through for the forwards. However the Oakleigh defence held firm, frustrating South by constantly clearing any foray into the area.

At the other end, Karpeh had a goal disallowed for offside after he broke free and poked the ball past Tomich at his near post. Tomich then tipped a shot onto the post and the Cannons somehow failed to convert the rebound with an open goal at their mercy. A goal would have almost surely killed off South’s chances of a result.

South’s persistence finally paid off 20 minutes from time when some excellent link-up play saw De Nittis play an excellent through-ball to Coveny. With only Cagalj to beat, the veteran forward smashed the ball high into the net to bring South level and send the travelling contingent wild on the terraces. Michalakopoulos then made his final change, replacing De Nittis with youngster Sam Torrens.

South dominated the last 20 minutes as the substitutes ran amuck, causing all sorts of problems for the Cannons defence. South should have had a penalty awarded after Zoric was bowled over in the area however the referee waved play on. Minutes later, Torrens played a one-two with Youssef, with the youngster played through on goal. Cagalj tipped Torrens’ shot over for a corner and then made another brilliant save by getting his foot onto what should have been a simple tap-in for Youssef at the far post from a Fernando set-piece.

South’s defence had been on top in the second half however it was ironically a defensive mix-up that almost cost the away side a precious point. Tavsancioglu and Nunes both stopped in contesting a ball as Oakleigh players streamed forward in numbers. Rojas squared the ball to substitute Juan Nilo at the back post, who with an open goal gaping, somehow managed to the put the ball wide of not only the goal but of Karpeh and Ricky Diaco waiting in the centre for an easy tap-in.

South needs one more win in its final two games of the season to guarantee itself a finals appearance for the first time in three seasons. To finish in the top three South simply must win both of its remaining matches, against Altona away and Sunshine George Cross at home. Failure to do so may see South slide down the top five or even worse miss out on a finals spot completely. If Oakleigh can win their game in hand against Altona they will be only one point behind fifth spot, so both sides have much to play for in the final few weeks of the regular league season. 

Friday, 31 July 2009 10:31 AM

South Melbourne FC will be looking to get back into winning form when it takes on the Oakleigh Cannons at Jack Edwards Reserve tonight.

After the disappointing home loss against Hume City last Sunday, the away side simply must take all three points against the Cannons if it is to be any chance to finish in the top two come season’s end. This will not be easy however as the Cannons also must win to remain in contention for a finals appearance.

South will go into the game with a similar squad to that of last weekend, when both Rama Tavsancioglu and Gianni De Nittis overcame injuries to play in the 0-1 loss against Hume. Despite the result, captain Rama was a shining light by playing a leading role in defence. He will be joined at the back by Steven O’Dor, who is having an outstanding season.

The key to South winning the game will be how it performs in attack. Over the past few weeks, the side has been guilty of squandering a host of excellent chances in their endeavours to propel themselves up the table. This was also evident last week, with some very poor finishing that got Hume out of trouble and allowed them to keep a clean sheet and take maximum points.

Opposing South tonight will be a hungry and well-rested Oakleigh side, who have not played for two weeks after their ground was deemed unplayable last weekend. Leading the charge for the Cannons will be a trio of former South men in Ricky Diaco, Bill Damianos and Trent Waterson. Damianos will pose a big threat to the South middle third by having the ability to control the game on his own. It is imperative for the away side to negate both Damianos and Waterson in the middle in order to gain control of the match and to provide adequate service to the forwards.

Up front, Oakleigh will rely on the Ricky Diaco and Jerry Karpeh combination to try and unlock the South defence. Since leaving lakeside in the summer, Diaco has had an turbulent year at Oakleigh, however just like Damianos, he is capable of winning games off his own boot. South’s defensive players must be mindful of this and attempt to keep the duo as quiet as possible in order for the away team to win the game.

Kick-off is at 20.30 tonight at Jack Edwards Reserve.

Monday, 27 July 2009 9:53 AM

By George Kouroumalis – (Photo by Craig Varty)

In what had been dubbed as the match of the round, Hume City have snatched a 1-0 win away to South Melbourne at Bob Jane Stadium.

Hume came to Bob Jane in fine form, knowing that a win against the Blues would see them climb into second position in the table. South also knew that a win would open up a handy 6 point buffer from the chasing pack.

The visitors started the game like a team on a mission and attacked South from the outset, with Tony Sterjovski finding some space just outside the area, before hitting a long range effort into the prying arms of goalkeeper Tommi Tomich.

Tomich once again was in the way of Hume moments later, with the big custodian superbly thwarting the Serkan Ozkuz on two occasions following a world class double save to his left.

South responded moments later when a sublime long range attempt by Goran Zoric was well caught by the experienced Lou Acevski in Hume’s goal.

Just before the break, South had a golden chance to open the scoring when a long ball by Tomich bamboozled the stagnant Hume City defence, allowing for the ball to fall into the path of Goran Zoric with only the keeper to beat.

With the diminutive striker open in the area, he unbelievably hit the volley from five metres out well wide of the target.

The second half started in a similar way to the first with both clubs throwing themselves into every challenge knowing the importance of the contest.

Hume had the first golden chance of the half in the 63rd minute, when a sublime first touch by Zoran Petrevski allowed for the former Preston premiership player to hit an audacious volley from long range onto the target. Similar to all previous Hume attempts, the chance was thwarted by the impressive Tomich, who was having a sensational day between the sticks.

With Hume seeming the more likely of the two sides, they continued to push forward and were subsequently rewarded in the 74th minute. In this instance Hume City’s attacking player Alfonso Opazo appeared to make the most of a soft challenge by Steven O’Dor, after receiving a long ball by Sterjovski just inside the area. Despite that, the referee pointed to the spot to award Hume City with the penalty.

From the resultant spot kick, Petrevski made no mistake, giving the away side a 0-1 advantage with 15 minutes to play.

For that remaining time, South bombarded the Hume City penalty area at every opportunity, with attempts by Vaughan Coveny and Francesco Stella flying wide of the target.

However it was in the 91st minute of play that South had the best chance of the game, when a ball from the left hand side by Sam Torrens fell into the path of the unmarked Gianni De Nittis just inside the area. With the goalkeeper stranded, De Nittis launched a shot inches wide of the target.

With the vital 3 points, Hume jump into 2nd position on table on goal difference ahead of South Melbourne, who drop into 3rd spot.

South must now re-group as it faces a tough derby match against rivals Oakleigh next Friday night at Jack Edwards Reserve, whilst Hume will host Green Gully next Sunday afternoon at Broadmeadows Valley Reserve.