Category: News

Monday, 27 April 2009 9:21 AM

South Melbourne has cemented it’s spot in the top two of the Victorian Premier League, after a resounding 1-2 ANZAC Cup victory away to Hume City at Broadmeadows Valley Reserve on Saturday.

South were coming into the game on the back of a five game unbeaten run and they started the game like a side in form, attacking the Hume defence from the outset via a long range attempt by veteran Vaughan Coveny.

The Blues continued to bombard the Hume goal with a huge wind behind their backs and could have had the lead only moments later after a long ball down the right hand flank released Coveny in space. With strike partner Goran Zoric waiting in the middle Coveny hit a well-weighted cross into the area, only for the ball to be plucked from above the head of the small striker by Hume goalkeeper Lou Acevski.

Vaughan Coveny continued to torment the Hume defence and his man-marker and former NSL team-mate Tansel Baser at every opportunity, hitting another two long range strikes into the prying arms of Acevski, who thwarted the big kiwi in convincing fashion.

With the man known as the “Horse” intent scoring his 100th career goal for South Melbourne FC, the South midfield continued to work hard in an attempt to give the veteran his opportunity to achieve the milestone.

In the 38th minute, some exceptional work down the right hand side by Eddie Cetkin allowed for the ball to be kept in play and to be delivered to his captain Rama Tavsancioglu. He then confidently barraged his way past two Hume defenders before hitting a lovely cross to the near post towards the unmarked Zoric. With Coveny open at the back post, Zoric flicked the ball across goal to find theveteran, who obligingly buried his header into the back of the net to send the travelling South fans into raptures.

The second half was a far less open contest, with Hume intent on not allowing the same amount of space and possession to be given to the dominant South side. This coupled by a heavy and quite rare Melbourne downpour led for some scrappy and unadventurous football to be played

Despite this South found the 2nd goal of the contest in the 65th minute, after a blistering free kick by Vaughan Coveny was parried into the path of Sebastian Petrovic. With the keeper on the ground, the hard-working midfielder slammed the ball into the net to give his side a two-goal advantage.

With time ticking down, Hume would have their first real chance of the contest in the 74th minute when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the area.

With a howling wind at his back, Ross Thompson stepped up and hit a simply stunning drive past the hapless Tommi Tomich and into the top corner of the net to give his side some hope.

Despite some shaky moments however South managed to claim the three points and the much sought after ANZAC Day Cup, a trophy that will now be added to the club’s growing trophy cabinet.

Captain Rama Tavsancioglu was awarded the man-of-the-match award claiming that “it was a great win by the side against a real quality opposition. We were challenged at times and really worked hard to get the result which is very pleasing”

South will now host Oakleigh next Sunday afternoon at 4pm in a cracking derby match, whilst Hume must re-group before taking on Green Gully away from home next Saturday.

Click here to view smfcTV highlights of the game

 

 

Friday, 24 April 2009 8:57 AM

In a crucial Round 8 VPL contest, South Melbourne FC will need to travel Broadmeadows to take on the in-form Hume City on Saturday.

With the contest falling on ANZAC Day, South Melbourne has been given the opportunity to challenge Hume City for the inaugural ANZAC Day Cup.

The Blues will head into the game on the back of 5 undefeated matches, after capturing a last-gasp draw away to Green Gully last weekend. In what was a see-sawing and quite physical contest, South managed to salvage a point after Gianni De Nittis was able to latch onto a loose ball in the area, before sending it hurtling past the Gully keeper to conclude a valiant South Melbourne fight back.

It is that fighting spirit and commitment that will give South immense confidence heading into this week’s contest against an opponent who is undefeated at their new home venue over the last 4 games. This includes a tough and narrow win over the Melbourne Knights and a comprehensive thumping of Preston in the last two match days.

If South are to replicate the results of the past five weeks, they will continue to rely on the work ethic shown by Michael Michalakopoulos’ men, leading from the midfield where the likes of captain Rama Tavsancioglu, Joseph Youssef and Sebastian Petrovic will be expected to continue to do plenty of hard work.

Up front, South will be looking once again at the same trio to provide them with the attacking edge. With the Blues being the most prolific goal-scoring team in the competition, they will be expecting Vaughan Coveny, Goran Zoric and Gianni De Nittis to break down the Hume defence, whilst midfield maestro Fernando will be looking to find his way onto the score-sheet for the fourth time this season.

Leading the charge for Hume will be former South Melbourne championship player Tansel Baser. The experienced defensive midfielder notched up 106 games in his 7 years at South, whilst also playing a leading role in the most recent VPL Championship win against Altona in 2006. Baser will be joined by a plethora of hardened VPL players including former Preston captain Tony Sterjovski, Serder Pir and goalkeeper Lou Acevski.

The Broadmeadows based club also have current Australian Under 20 Representative Jason Davidson as a key player in their ranks. Davidson is the son of former South Melbourne legend and ex-Socceroo Alan Davidson, who played 176 games for the Blue and Whites in a stellar 9 seasons with the club.

The game kicks off at Broadmeadows Valley Reserve at 3.30pm, with an ANZAC Day ceremony commencing at 3pm

Sunday, 19 April 2009 12:14 PM

South Melbourne have scored a last-gasp equaliser to earn a hard-fought draw against Green Gully on Saturday.

The Blues came into the contest on the back of four straight victories. In contrast, Gully were looking to rebound following their 2-1 loss to Altona Magic at Paisley Park two weeks ago.

The home side went into the contest looking to use their home ground to maximum advantage, having not conceded a goal at Green Gully Reserve in 2009. South faced a difficult task having not scored at the venue since Round 20 of the 1986 NSL season.

The away side came out of the blocks firing, with Vaughan Coveny hitting two half-chances wide of the target, signaling the intentions of the veteran forward and the away side.

South continued to control play in the middle of the park and through a fiercely won ball by their 100th game veteran Rama Tavsancioglu, were able to launch another attack towards goal. On this occasion, Rama played the ball wide to Zoric on the right hand side of the area, before the diminutive attacking player hit a speculative effort into the arms of Steven Tilovski in the Gully goal.

In response Green Gully launched a very fluent attack, with Andy Vargas darting past the South defence before squaring the ball into the path of Kole Delev just inside the area. Delev then hit a low shot just wide of the target.

It was South that opened the scoring, when Sebastian Petrovic was brought down in the area. Fernando De Moraes rushed to the spot and buried the penalty to his left hand side to give the away side a deserved lead and their first goal at Green Gully Reserve in 23 years.

In typical fashion, Green Gully responded to the goal almost immediately with a speculative shot by Vargas once again flashing past the upright of South keeper Tommi Tomich. Gully continued to pressure the South defence and nearly grabbed an equalising goal when a poorly cleared ball fell into the path of Delev in the area once more. With the goal beckoning, Delev’s shot deflected off the South defence for a corner. From the resultant corner, the ball flew into the back post where the wide-open Mile Medjedovic headed the ball across the six yard area, resulting in a scrap. After two attempts, Delev slammed the ball into the roof of the net to get his side on equal terms.

South started the second half well and almost had the go-ahead goal in the 51st minute, when Vaughan Coveny intercepted a loose ball just outside the area. Unselfishly, Coveny then played the ball to Fernando, who after a touch and a step-over opted to launch a curling shot at goal from the corner of the penalty box. Frustratingly for both Fernando and the strong traveling faithful, the ball flew well over the bar.

Coveny continued to cause headaches for the Gully defence and in the 58th minute he stormed down the left hand side of attack and past a host of defenders before hitting a low shot that forced a tremendous save from Tilovski, keeping the home side level.

In the 75th minute, Gully launched an attack towards the goal, with a high ball floated into the six yard area. Despite Tomich looking like he had possession covered, the ball ended up in the back of the net after Joel Nikolic made contact to the arm of the big custodian in an attempt to foil him from catching the ball. This was not spotted by the referee who awarded the goal much to the disapproval of the away team and supporters.

With time ticking away and South throwing more players forward, Tomich made a low save to keep his side in the contest, thwarting a shot from Pablo Cardozo. This save proved important as South managed to snare a draw in the last minute of injury time, when Coveny set up the open Gianni De Nittis who smashed the ball low and hard into the back of the net to send the away contingent into raptures.

Wednesday, 15 April 2009 11:56 AM

In a first for the Victorian Premier League, Hume City will host South Melbourne FC on Saturday April 25th for the Anzac Day Cup.

Anzac Day is a very important day for the Australian community, symbolising the anniversary of the first major military action fought by members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

The day is considered to be one of the most sacred and spiritual days on the Australian calendar, with a public holiday being observed to honour those heroic Australians who risked all, and sacrificed so much.  

With this in mind, Anzac Day has been a day that has also seen our diggers honoured through sport, with the AFL playing the Collingwood – Essendon blockbuster on the day every year.

In what now will be a milestone for Victorian Football, both South Melbourne FC and Hume City will have the opportunity to represent the World Game in Australia on such a proud and historic day.

With Hume City being a club with Turkish decent and South Melbourne FC remaining the most successful Australian football club, the contest will provide the ideal method to honour the diggers through football on this special day.

 South Melbourne FC Director Dr. George Triantos was excited about the opportunity to play in such a historic game:

“South Melbourne FC is delighted to be participating in this wonderful sporting opportunity to commemorate and honour the sacrifices of our troops. We urge all SMFC members and all Victorian football fans in general to support this initiative, and attend the ANZAC Day Cup”.said Dr Triantos

The game will kick off at the newly developed Broadmeadows Valley Park at 3.30pm, with the Anzac Day ceremony commencing at 3pm.

All South fans are encouraged to attend in an attempt, not only to make this a special day in Victorian Football, but to also get behind our team in a crunch game for 2009.

Wednesday, 15 April 2009 10:47 AM

South Melbourne WFC has been defeated by arch rivals Heidelberg United in Round 1 of the Women’s Premer League season on Tuesday night.

In what was a unique way to start the season, all opening round matches were played at the Darebin International Sports Complex in Northcote, with all Premier League clubs required to either play on the Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Heidelberg entered the season coming of a bitter Grand Final loss in 2008 against Box Hill Inter and were regarded as one of the premiership favourites entering the contest.

South however entered the contest coming off a disappointing 2008 season, where the club struggled throughout and subsequently missed out on finals action.The game between South and Heidelberg was the marquee match up of the round, with the Bergers beating South in the Hellenic Cup pre-season tournament final in February.

The first half started in a typical round 1 style, with both clubs very timid in the early stages and not really mustering any significant chances. The deadlock was broken however late in the first half by Heidelberg’s Melanie Camilleri, who managed to slam home the ball from close range, despite South’s goalkeeper getting a hand on the shot.

This was to be the only goal of the game despite South’s efforts to continually push forward in the 2nd half and try and grab an equaliser at every opportunity.

Despite the loss South will head into the Round 2 contest on Sunday against Box Hill Inter confident that it can match it with the powerful teams of the competition. The game will kick-off at Bob Jane Stadium at 1pm.

In the reserves curtain-raiser, South came back from a goal down to draw with Heidelberg 1-1.

Wednesday, 15 April 2009 9:35 AM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC travels to Green Gully Reserve on Saturday to take on fifth-placed Green Gully in what is shaping up as a very important match for the club. With Oakleigh and Richmond drawing 1-1 in their round 7 match on Easter Monday, an away victory for South will secure third spot in the league and possibly even second depending on Heidelberg’s result against the Melbourne Knights on Monday.

A positive result is also vitally important because should he play, captain Rama Tavsancioglu will celebrate his 100th league game for the club, a milestone only 36 other players have reached since South entered the National Soccer League in 1977. There will be another milestone broken should Vaughan Coveny score, as he is one goal off 100 league goals for South Melbourne FC over a 12 season career in both the NSL and the Victorian Premier League.

Despite the forthcoming milestones, the home side will no doubt make South’s task as hard as possible to achieve. History shows that South has not beaten Gully away in a league match since round 21 of the 1986 NSL season. On that September day, a goal each from Bobby Russell and Manny Anezakis led South to a 0-2 win. This means that South has not beaten Gully away in nearly 23 years. Since resuming in the VPL in 2005, South has picked up only one draw from 5 matches at Green Gully Reserve and lost the rest. To make matters worse, South has failed to score there in all five matches. With Gully only one place below South in the league standings heading into this fixture, there is no doubt that the away side will face a tough opponent. In the corresponding fixture last season, South had a bucketload of chances but could not stop Gully from winning 1-0.

While the above facts seem daunting, South can go into the fixture full of confidence after winning four games in a row, with the last result being a comprehensive 3-0 belting of ladder leaders Richmond at Bob Jane Stadium. Speaking afterwards, coach Michael Michalakopoulos was not fazed about Saturday’s trip, mentioning that “my job and the players’ job is to make sure statistics like the Gully one are erased and we are looking forward to doing that.” With Coveny motivated to score his ton and Goran Zoric on fire up forward (six goals in 6 games has him as the league’s leading goal scorer), South probably has its best chance yet of breaking the hoodoo on Saturday.

Gully heads into the match on the back of its first defeat of the season against Altona Magic. However prior to this the Cavaliers won 4 of their opening 5 matches and did not concede a goal in the process. This set a record as Gully became the first team to go through the opening five rounds without conceding since the Victorian State League was renamed the Victorian Premier League in 1991. Gully has a very strong team, with players such as Steven Tilovski, Joel Nikolic, Andy Vargas, Kole Delev, Jeffrey Fleming and Pablo Cardozo all capable of destroying South. Cardozo in particular will need to be monitored closely. Despite only netting once this season, he hit 21 goals from 23 matches last season for Richmond.

Saturday’s match will kick off at 4pm. All South supporters are encouraged to make the trip to Keilor Downs to support the team whilst potentially celebrating Rama’s 100th match and Coveny’s 100th league goal for the club.

Monday, 13 April 2009 10:51 AM

By John Kyrou

At the 2009 South Melbourne FC season launch, Rama Tavsancioglu mentioned wanting to become one of the SMFC greats. “I want to be the next Paul Trimboli” said the newly-appointed club captain. If fit and available for the match against Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday afternoon, the inspirational Rama will join an elite group of players – Trimboli included – that have represented the most successful Australian football club 100 times in the National Soccer League/Victorian Premier League.

‘Rama’ as he is affectionately known, was brought to the club by former coach John Anastasiadis in 2005, South’s first year back in the VPL. Although only 20 years of age when he made his debut against Frankston, Rama made an immediate impact by cementing his place in a side that achieved a surprise Preliminary Finals appearance. The supporters recognised Rama’s efforts by naming him the Under 21 Player of the Year. The following season, Rama’s passion and dashing defensive runs were instrumental in helping South to finish third in the regular season before going on to win the club’s eighth VPL championship.

Rama celebrated the opening of the 2007 season by being part of the Hellenic Cup triumph against Oakleigh, before reaching his 50th match for the club in the 3-3 home draw against Heidelberg. Even though South did not qualify for the finals in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Rama continued to prove to be one of the side’s most valuable assets. He even chipped in with two memorable goals – the first a rocket against Whittlesea Zebras at Epping Stadium (3-2 loss) and the second a memorable run and low finish at the near post against Oakleigh at Bob Jane Stadium (5-2 win).

Rama’s efforts did not go unnoticed entering this season, as senior coach Michael Michalakopoulos rewarded him for his loyalty by naming him as captain of the club in its 50th year anniversary. He has already lifted one trophy as captain, as South won the pre-season Hellenic Cup competition. Rama becomes the 37th player to reach the 100 game milestone for South since 1977 when the club entered the NSL.

Rama Tavsancioglu – SMFC Statistics:

• DOB 7th June 1984
• Debut v Frankston Pines (round 3, 2005 @ Monterey Reserve, 1-2 win)
• 2005 Clarendon Corner Under 21 Most Valuable Player of the Year
• Member of the 2006 VPL championship team
• Member of the 2007 Hellenic Cup championship team
• 50th match v Heidelberg (round 1, 2006 @ Bob Jane Stadium, 3-3 draw)
• 2008 Clarendon Corner Most Valuable Player of the Year
• Captain of the 2009 Hellenic Cup championship team
• 2009 Club Captain

Season Breakdown:
2005 – 26 games (25 starts, 1 sub), 2 goals
2006 – 23 games (23 starts, 0 subs), 1 goal
2007 – 24 games (23 starts, 1 sub), 2 goals
2008 – 21 games (21 starts, 0 subs)
2009 – 5 games (5 starts, 0 subs)
Total – 99 games (97 starts, 2 subs), 5 goals

Monday, 6 April 2009 9:23 AM

South Melbourne has made it four wins in a row after trouncing the top placed Richmond in a one sided match on Sunday at Bob Jane Stadium.

With Richmond undefeated in 2009, they approached the game against the in-form Blues as warm favourites, with South having played on the unusual day of Tuesday night against Whittlesea in the lead up to the match.

It was the home side that came out of the blocks running, with Goran Zoric and Vaughan Coveny combining early to create a half chance early on. With the keeper to beat, Zoric hit a timid drive into the arms of the prying Peter Zois.

South however did find the net in the 26th minute. A wonderful sweeping move forward culminated in the ball finding the South wingback Rhodri Payne on the left hand side of the area. Payne then launched a wonderful swinging ball into the area and onto the head of Joseph Youssef, who nodded the ball past the hapless Zois.

South continued to dominate the game and possession in the remaining minutes of the half, though to the frustration of the coach, the final ball was continually letting down the hard work of his side further up the park.

It was also the case with Richmond, who could not muster any chance of note to respond to the South Melbourne goal.

This however changed in the second half when the home side came out like a house on fire.

In the first five minutes of the half both Zoric and Coveny missed chances from just outside the area, with both players opting to try and beat Zois from long range. Also on both occasions the ball flew well wide of the target.

South continued to pepper the Richmond goal and should have had a second goal in the 57th minute when a mazy run by Zoric concluded in the diminutive attacking player playing a sublime square ball into the path of the wide  open Sebastian Petrovic. With the keeper to beat, Petrovic slammed the ball over the bar from just inside the area.
The Blues were finally rewarded in the 62nd minute after some delightful work in the midfield allowed for Coveny to find the ball in acres of space just outside the area. With the Richmond defence unwilling to close down the veteran, he opted to hit a steaming 30 metre pile driver at the goal. With the keeper helpless, the ball sailed over the top of him, before sensationally dipping below the bar to smash into the back of the net in what will be one of the goal of the year contenders.

With Coveny now on 99 career goals at South Melbourne, he was intent on trying to claim his 100th career goal for the club. He came agonisingly close in the 66th minute, when he launched a free kick from just outside the area inches wide of the target.

The 282 game veteran continued to torment the Richmond defence at every opportunity and in the 65th minute he was once again released by Youssef down the right hand side of attack. With the defence backtracking, Coveny hit a hard shot toward goal, only for the ball to be deflected out for a corner. From the resulting corner, Zoric hit a well placed cross to the back post to which Coveny managed to header into the upright and away for a goal-kick.

In the 77th minute, the man known as the “Horse” was seemingly on track to finally break the milestone after a lovely ball by young Sam Torrens found its way into the path of Coveny. With the ball bouncing in the area and no Richmond defender able to track him down, Coveny then launched a chipped attempt on target, only for the ball to be caught by Zois, who could not believe that the veteran had not managed to lob his shot over the top of him and into the back of the net.

With the veteran in scintillating form, he was substituted in the 80th minute to the applause of the boisterous and fanatical South Melbourne faithful, who were appreciative of his man of the match performance.

With Richmond merely trying to contain a rampant South attack, they launched a half effort on goal in the 81st minute through Richard Cardozo, who tried to score from well outside the area. With no real power behind the goal, Tommi Tomich was able to catch the ball without any real concern.

South closed off the comprehensive victory in the 84th minute when some lovely interplay by Zoric and De Nittis on the half way line concluded with De Nittis playing a well weighted ball past the stagnant defence and into the path of speedy Zoric. With only Zois to beat, Zoric tucked the ball onto the right side of the keeper to score his 6th goal of the season in as many games.

South will have a two week break before playing Green Gully in two weeks time at Green Gully reserve. 

SMFC 3 (Youssef, Coveny, Zoric)
Richmond 0

SMFC Line-up
Tommi Tomich, Shane Nunes, Rhodri Payne, Steven O’Dor, Eddie Cetkin, Vaughan Coveny, Joseph Youssef, Rama Tavsancioglu, Fernando De Moraes, Goran Zoric, Sebastian Petrovic

Richmond Line-up
Peter Zois, Danny Black, Erhan Karahan, Terry Antoniadis, Stuart McCluskey, Dimitri Tsiaris, Richie Cardozo, Nick Kalambokis, Lorenz Kindtner, Nick Robinson, Andrew Viola

Thursday, 2 April 2009 11:50 AM

 

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Thursday, 2 April 2009 10:44 AM

By John Kyrou

South Melbourne FC will host the Richmond Eagles on Sunday in arguably the match of round 6 in the Victorian Premier League. The high-flying Eagles will travel to Bob Jane Stadium to face a red-hot South that has won three matches in a row.

Along with newly-promoted Dandenong Thunder, Richmond has started season 2009 in outstanding form and will enter Sunday’s contest as deserved league leaders. The Eagles have been undefeated in their opening five matches, with four wins and a draw to show for their efforts. The most recent result was a 5-1 hammering of the Preston Lions at Kevin Bartlett Reserve that nearly made history for the Eagles. Had Blaze Georgioski not scored a consolation goal for the Lions in the 90th minute, the Eagles would have joined Green Gully in being the only teams to record 5 clean sheets in the opening five rounds of the season since the old Victorian State League was re-named the Victorian Premier League in 1991.

In contrast, South cannot stop leaking goals, conceding a single goal in every one of its 5 games in 2009. However, the Blues cannot stop scoring at the other end as well, as evidenced in the last three rounds with 12 goals in 3 games. As a result, South are the highest goal scorers after 5 rounds but more importantly the team has consolidated fifth spot in the league. A win on Sunday can potentially lift South into third spot, making the match very important for the home side heading into the Easter break. The 1-3 victory against Whittlesea Zebras on Tuesday night was the perfect result in the lead-up for Sunday’s game. The ever-dangerous Goran Zoric’s opening goal against the Zebras meant he now joins Heidelberg’s Osagie Ederaro at the top of the individual goal scoring charts with 5 goals from 5 games.

For statistics lovers, the home side will go into the match with several milestones on the verge of being broken. If selected, captain Rama Tavsancioglu will make his 99th senior appearance for the club, with Futsalroo Fernando De Moraes just behind on 96 appearances. Former Kiwi international and South legend Vaughan Coveny will break 100 league goals for South if he can find the back of the net twice against Richmond, while five goals from the home side will bring up 400 South Melbourne goals at Bob Jane Stadium in 195 matches at the venue.

Richmond has been a difficult opponent for South since they were promoted into the VPL in 2006. Though South has won four of the six encounters between the two, it has always been by a single goal. Richmond has managed to taste victory at Bob Jane Stadium, winning the 2007 encounter 0-1 after ex-South goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak spilt a low cross to allow Steven Burton to score the winning goal. In the corresponding fixture last season, a 48th minute Gianni De Nittis goal was enough to give lowly South a confidence-boosting 1-0 win over an in-form Richmond side.

The match kicks off at 4pm on Sunday at Bob Jane Stadium. South supporters are strongly encouraged to attend and lend their valued support to the home team in its quest to beat the league leaders and consolidate the club’s position in the top five.