Category: News

Friday, 9 May 2008 9:44 AM

By Paul Mavroudis

South Melbourne is pleased to report that star midfielder and fan favourite Fernando De Moraes has been named in the Futsalroos squad that will travel to Thailand to compete in next week’s AFC Fustal Championships. The achievement is further magnified when it is taken into consideration that Fernando is the only Victorian in the 14-man squad.

A seasoned futsal campaigner, this year saw Fernando break into the Australian side, performing well and scoring frequently in the KL 5s tournament in Malaysia earlier this year.

Australia’s group contains Asia’s second ranked team in Japan, as well as Chinese Taipei and Turkmenistan. The four semi-finalists from the 16 nation tournament qualify for next year’s Futsal World Cup in Brazil.

While his clever play in the middle of the park will be missed in South’s next two matches against the Whittlesea Zebras and Frankston Pines, the South Melbourne family is proud to have another player attain the heights and glory of representing the national side. Good luck to ‘Nando’ and the team!

Australia’s matches are:
May 11 v Turkmenistan – 6.45pm (local time)
May 12 v Chinese Taipei – 12 noon (local time)
May 13 v Japan – 6.45pm (local time)

Thursday, 8 May 2008 9:46 AM

The South Melbourne Football Club would like to invite all supporters of the world game to Bob Jane Stadium on Saturday May 17th to watch the English FA Cup final on the large screen.

The match promises to be an entertaining affair, with Coca-Cola Championship outfit Cardiff City keen to upstage their English Premier League and more fancied opponents in Portsmouth, who themselves are chasing their first FA Cup crown since 1939.

The doors to the Champions Bar will be open from 10pm, with the Cup final to kick off at midnight. Food and drink will be available on the night.

Wednesday, 7 May 2008 2:47 PM

By John Kyrou

This week the segment takes us back to the 1989 Dockerty Cup final, a final in which high-flying National Soccer League club South Melbourne faced off against Victorian State League side Altona Gate (now Altona Magic), a fixture that is now more frequent as both sides compete against each other in the Foxtel Cup.

South had experienced mixed results in the different competitions they had competed in in 1989. The Blues finished a disappointing 8th in the league (out of 14 teams) but had done very well in the Cup competitions. In the National League Cup, South reached the semi final before going down 0-2 to Adelaide City. It went further in the Buffalo Gold Cup competition, making then winning the final 3-0 against Melbourne City JUST.

That year, the Australian Soccer Federation decided to make changes to its national competition in order to make the league more marketable. As a result, it changed the national competition to a summer competition as opposed to a winter one. As a result, the National League clubs entered the Dockerty Cup just prior to their 1989/90 season commencing, whilst the State League clubs were in Cup competition towards the end of their 1989 winter season. This also meant that while South were strong favourites to win the final, they were still effectively in pre-season mode, whilst Altona had just completed their winter season.

South were aware that whilst their opponents were a division below them, they were not to be underestimated. Altona had gone through a magnificent Dockerty Cup campaign, knocking out NSL sides Sunshine George Cross 2-1 and Melbourne Croatia 2-1 as well as thumping Morwell 5-0. South entered the competition with the rest of the NSL sides in round three and strolled to the semi finals, with two 5-0 victories over Ringwood City and Knox City respectively. Brunswick Juventus proved a tougher opponent in the semi final, but South got through on penalties 5-4 after the match finished 2-2 after normal time and extra time.

The match began like a typical Cup final, with the players fighting to overcome pre-match nerves. This was reflected in the standard of play. Due to the extremely warm conditions, both teams played a possessive type of game, opting to reserve their energy until after the interval.

Danny Wright nearly broke the deadlock for the South side when his shot hit the post. This did not intimidate Altona at all, who responded immediately with a fierce Goran Georgievski effort that brought the best out of South goalkeeper Bruce MacLaren.

The winning goal came in the 67th minute courtesy of Paul Trimboli. Paul Wade headed down a Peter Tsolakis corner to Trimboli, who, with his back to the goal, turned and hit the ball into the roof of the net from only a metre out. The South fans who made up many of the 5,300 in the crowd had cause to celebrate as the Blues were on the verge of their second Cup win of the 1989 campaign. However the result was not a certainty, with over twenty minutes still to play.

Trimboli may well have earned himself a hat-trick if his finishing had been more precise. However he was not alone, as Tsolakis, Wright and Harry Micheil also squandered glorious chances to seal the win. Altona also squandered chances to get itself back into the contest. Its greatest chance came from a shot by Georgievski that smashed against the woodwork, denying him and his side a certain goal.

Whilst the game had opened up considerably after Trimboli’s goal, the warm temperature had taken its effect on all of the players and despite Altona’s best efforts to get back into the match, the result finished 1-0 in favour of South. Altona’s entertaining brand of football had nearly been good enough to match their National League opponents, however South proved too strong in the end and in the process won its fourth Dockerty Cup.

Dockerty Cup Final, 1989
Sunday, October 29, 1989
Venue: Olympic Park, Melbourne
Referee: Jim Fearn

SOUTH MELBOURNE 1-0 ALTONA GATE
(Trimboli 67′)

SOUTH MELBOURNE:
Bruce MacLaren, Ange Postecoglou, Paul Fernandes, Steve Blair, Harry Micheil, Paul Wade, Kimon Taliadoros, Damian Mori, Peter Tsolakis, Paul Trimboli, Danny Wright
Coach: Ferenc Puskas

ALTONA GATE:
Stuart Lee, George Gagic, Tom Markovski, Darren Byrne, Robert Stojcevski, Pere Nicoski (Klime Aslimoski 77′), Vlade Tortevski, Arthur Davis (Simon Micevski 70′), Mendo Ristovski, Gary McMullen, Goran Georgievski
Coach: Bill Murray

Tuesday, 6 May 2008 1:59 PM

The South Melbourne Womens Football Club is urging all South Melbourne fans to get along to Bob Jane Stadium on Friday night, as the club plays host to Keilor Park under lights in a much anticipated match. With the men playing away on Sunday against Whittlesea at Epping Stadium, all South fans are encouraged to also support the girls in achieving a victory at lakeside.

The senior side has started the season in an inconsistent fashion, although potential was shown in the 6-1 annihilation of Gippsland in their opening game of the season. With the side sitting just outside the top six, a win against Keilor will boost confidence and move the team up the table. Kick off is at 8.30pm, with the social club open before and after the game.

Monday, 5 May 2008 12:30 PM

By George Kouroumalis & John Kyrou

A determined and disciplined home performance by South Melbourne has seen the Blues defeat the high-flying Richmond Eagles 1-0 in an entertaining game at Bob Jane Stadium on Sunday.

With an expectant crowd on hand, both clubs were keen on gathering all three points for different reasons. A win for the Eagles was important for the away side to further cement their position in the upper regions of the table, whilst a win for South was vital in allowing for the Blues to exit the relegation area and propel themselves into 8th position on the table.

South started the game the stronger of the two sides and launched their first attack on goal via a stinging drive in the 7th minute.

A storming run down the left hand flank by Goran Zoric culminated in the sharp midfielder putting a speculative shot wide of the target.

With a vocal home contingent behind them, South continued to pour on the early pressure and came within inches of scoring in the 11th minute. A well worked move saw Ricky Diaco stream down the field before playing a diagonal ball into the path of Gianni De Nittis. The youngster hit a horizontal ball to Fernando, who hit his shot wide of the target.

The home side was now completely dominating play and continued to pepper the Richmond goal. In the 14th minute, a speculative long-range drive by Sam Poutakidis found the target but failed to get past the prying arms of Richmond goalkeeper Stuart Webster.

Richmond dodged yet another bullet in the 20th minute, after a well-worked move ended with the ball at Fernando’s feet just on the edge of the area. The Brazilian hit a superb low drive past the outstretched Webster but the ball struck the inside of the far post and stayed out.

Richmond responded and launched their first real attacking foray of the match. With the South back four giving the highly-regarded Richmond front men no space at all, it was left to former South player George Goutzioulis to launch a speculative long-range drive onto the target. With the ball headed for the top corner, South captain and goalkeeper Dean Anastasiadis made a strong and athletic save to thwart the effort. Richmond continued to try and unlock the disciplined South defence via further long-range efforts. Another swirling shot by Goutzioulis saw the ball fly well away from the target.

South arguably had the best chance to take the lead in the 29th minute, when a superb interception by Zoric in his own half saw the hard-working winger claim possession, dart past a host of Richmond defenders and find himself in the box. Instead of taking the shot himself, Zoric opted to lay the ball off to the open Fernando. With only Webster to beat, Fernando made the wrong decision in trying to chip the oncoming keeper, which ended up flying over the bar for a goal kick.

South had the final chance of the first half in the 43rd minute, when an inch-perfect long ball by Adam Van Dommele was superbly flicked on by De Nittis into the path of Diaco. With Diaco seemingly in space, an excellent tackle by Richmond captain Stuart McCluskey saved the day for his side once again.

South continued their attacking mood in the second half, pushing forward to try to claim the opening goal. The goal arrived in the 47th minute, when a sweeping move culminated in the ball finding the feet of the elusive De Nittis up front. Although he scuffed his initial shot, De Nittis recaptured possession and slotted the ball underneath the oncoming Webster to open the scoring for the home side.

The Blues had a chance to double their advantage only moments later, when yet another counter attacking move saw Van Dommele dash forward and push to the ball out to Zoric on the left hand flank. Zoric, who was having a superb game, played a swinging ball into the six yard box. With both Diaco and De Nittis ready to pounce, Webster commanded his six yard box well and captured possession in an impressive fashion.

The game threatened to turn ugly only minutes later, when a bad challenge on Rama Tavsancioglu resulted in a mid-pitch scuffle with most of the players on the field taking part. However calm was quickly restored and the offending Richmond player received a yellow card, much to the disappointment of the South fans, who believed that the card should have been another colour.

With the South defence completely shutting down the Richmond attacking third, the home side continued to push forward and had several chances to finish the game off. De Nittis had two chances to score his second for the night in the 64th and 68th minutes, but on both occasions fired inches over the bar. Tavsancioglu also had a fantastic chance to score, when he gained possession in midfield and went on a storming run that got him into the penalty area, however as he was about to shoot the Richmond defence caught up and managed to deflect the shot away to safety.

Richmond missed a great chance to equalise in the 82nd minute. An inch-perfect cross from the left hand flank was met in the air by Richard Cardozo, who hit his powerful header wide of the target and out for a goal kick, ensuring that the three points remained at lakeside.

South will look to build on this great result as it travels to Epping Stadium next Sunday to take on the Whittlesea Zebras in a much-anticipated Mothers Day encounter.

Friday, 2 May 2008 11:30 PM

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne will look to win its second consecutive home game in a row, when it takes on Richmond at Bob Jane Stadium on Sunday.

Buoyed by a solid performance against Altona last week (in which the club had a very unlucky loss) and the resounding 6-2 win against Fawkner a fortnight ago, South go into the game confident that they can take the three points off the high flying Richmond side.

South coach Michael Michalakopoulos will be somewhat reluctant to change the squad from last week, with the back four standing steady against the dangerous Altona outfit.

Centrally, Shane Nunes will look to build on the solid defensive form that he has been showing and will once again partner up with Steven O’dor to form a quite formidable central defensive duo.

On the left hand side of defence, Adam Van Dommele has settled back into the position quite well since returning from injury. The former A-League player will be looked at by the coach to provide an experienced and calm defensive option, as well as to use his strength by pushing forward as an attacking threat whenever possible. This also applies to the experienced Sam Poutakidis, who will once again take the right hand defensive position on the park.

In the middle of the park, Rama Tavsancioglu will once again be assigned to the defensive midfield slot. He was superb last week against Altona and really showed his commitment and leadership in such a role. Supporting him in the centre of the park will be Bill Natsioulas, with Fernando and Goran Zoric also playing vital roles in the midfield area.

Up front South will try a combination of two strikers, with Gianni De Nittis, Nathan Caldwell, Ricky Diaco and Hamlet Armenian all vying for a starting position.
Each player is proven at VPL level and more than capable in influencing any game when in form.

Richmond however, as with Altona last week, will be a tough obstacle to overcome, with the Eagles starting the season in great form.

Unlike many clubs that boast one or two star studded players, Richmond possesses a team full of talented but hard working players, all of whom work together in a manner that assists their team.

In saying that, Richmond have a few individuals that will be looking to shine on the famous Bob Jane Stadium pitch, none more so than former South Melbourne championship winning player George Goutzoulis. Gouzoulis switched over from Heidelberg in the summer and has really added a strong body and experienced campaigner to the centre of Richmond’s midfield. His role will be to win as much ball as possible in that area, as well as provide a threat going forward.

Up front Richmond have been the most potent side in the competition to date, already scoring on 28 occasions this season.

A main reason for this has been the amazing form of the Cardozo brothers, with Richard the leading goal scorer in the competition to date with 9 goals and Pablo just behind, having found the net on 7 occasions. With other attacking threats including Michael Catalano and former South Melbourne player Jessie Krncevic, South must make it a priority to stifle as many Richmond attacking forays as possible.

Taking all this into consideration, Sunday’s game promises to be an thrilling contest by the lake. South Melbourne FC encourages all members, fans and the general public to get along to Bob Jane Stadium to watch a cracking match of Victorian Football. Kick off is at 4pm.

South Melbourne FC vs Richmond

When: Sunday, May 4th
Where: Bob Jane Stadium
Kick-off: 4.00pm (Under 21s at 1.45pm)

Projected Starting line-ups

South Melbourne
Dean Anastasiadis (GK/C), Sam Poutakidis, Rama Tavsancioglou, Adam Van Dommele, Steven O’Dor, Shane Nunes, Goran Zoric, Bill Natsioulas, Gianni De Nittis, Fernando De Moraes, Nathan Caldwell

Richmond
Stuart Webster(GK/C), Aaran Lines, Aaran Tsiaras, Jesse Krncevic, Semir Sivic, George Goutzioulis, Richard Cardozo, Michael Catalano, Zoran Cvetkovski, Noel Bahnsen, Nicholas Kalambokis

Head to head (Games since 2005)

Played : 4
South Melbourne : 3
Richmond : 1
Draw : 0

Last Meeting

When: Friday, 29 June 2007
Where: Bob Jane Stadium
Score: Richmond 1 defeated South Melbourne 0

Form in 2008 (last 3 games)

South Melbourne: Loss, Win, Loss
Richmond: Win, Loss, Win

Wednesday, 30 April 2008 11:10 AM

By John Kyrou

This week the segment takes us back to the 1966 season, a season that many South Melbourne supporters rate as one of the most successful seasons that the club has ever had. South was only seven years old yet the club had already taken Victorian football by storm. After gaining promotion into the Victorian State League in 1960, the boys from Middle Park became State League champions in 1962, 1964 and 1965.

South entered the 1966 season with the intention of winning its third league championship in a row to further consolidate themselves as the biggest and best club in Victoria. South began the 1966 campaign in good form and made the final of the AMPOL Cup before going down to Footscray JUST 3-2. South began the league season slowly with two losses, before the legendary Greek footballer Con Nestoridis arrived at Middle Park to take over as a captain-coach.

Put simply, Nestoridis was a legend, who is still to this day widely regarded as one of the best forwards Greece has ever produced. He debuted for the Greek national team in 1951 and won 17 caps for his country, scoring 3 goals in the process. Nestoridis was best known for representing AEK Athens, scoring 140 league goals and helping AEK win the Greek championship in 1962/63 and the Greek Cup in 1963/64. At the age of 36, he decided to take a break from the Greek league and ventured to Victoria to help South win top honours.

Nestoridis’ profile, combined with South’s success in 1964 and 1965, helped draw massive crowds to the games. In Nestoridis’ first game for his new club, South attracted nearly 20,000 spectators to Middle Park for the game against Juventus. Nestoridis scored the only goal of the game as South ran out winners.

Things only got better for the club. Whilst crowds were doubling in size to watch Nestoridis lead the champions, huge wins were being recorded. This included a 5-1 hammering of Port Melbourne Slavia and a 1-6 thumping of Melbourne Hungaria in consecutive weeks. Slavia were South’s rivals for the title and the 5-1 result at Middle Park was an extremely crucial win for South because heading into the round 18 return fixture, South led Slavia by a single point on the ladder. In a 22 round season, South could not afford to be defeated and overtaken by Slavia. South had been undefeated since round 5 and wanted to remain that way.

South went into the fixture full of confidence after easily dispatching Fitzroy Alexander 2-0 at Middle Park the week before. However Slavia were in good form themselves, having recorded a 0-2 away win against Hungaria at Elsternwick Park. A crowd of 9,413 turned up to Olympic Park to witness an entertaining and high-scoring match which ended in a 3-3 draw. Nestoridis failed to disappoint the South fans, scoring a double which included a penalty kick. Team mate Ernie Ackerley scored the other goal for South.

The draw left South on 25 points and Slavia on 24 points.* Both clubs lost in round 19 but won their following two matches. Heading into the final round, South lead the ladder with 29 points compared to Slavia’s 28. Due to South’s far superior goal difference, Slavia needed to win at home against Footscray JUST and hope that Ringwood Wilhelmina defeated South at Middle Park in order to claim the title. This did not happen however, as South made sure of a third successive Victorian State League championship with a comfortable 3-1 win, with John Anderson scoring twice and Nestoridis once. JUST held Slavia to a 1-1 draw, which meant that South won the league by 2 points.

Nestoridis left his mark at South with a remarkable 21 goals in the league, as well as 3 goals in the Australian Cup and 2 goals in the Docherty Cup. There is no doubt that he was an absolute hit in his brief time with the club, with supporters recalling stories about him scoring goals from corner kicks just for fun. Whilst Nestoridis was the star, the unsung hero in the 1966 campaign was Ackerley, who scored 11 goals in the league, 4 goals in the AMPOL Cup, 2 goals in the Docherty Cup and 1 goal in the Australian Cup. This included a four goal haul in the 1-6 win against Hungaria. Both players were instrumental in ensuring that South won the title as they were the scorers in the 3-3 draw with Slavia that kept South on top of the table, where the club was not overtaken for the rest of the season.

Round 18, 1966
Sunday, August 7, 1966
Venue: Olympic Park, Melbourne
Referee: Geoff Harrison

PORT MELBOURNE SLAVIA 3-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE
(Reid, Goodwin, Laraman) (Nestorides x 2, Ackerley)

SOUTH MELBOURNE:
Sam Service, Con Solopotias, Takis Mantarakis, John Anderson, Laki Litopoulos, John Bedford, Jim Pyrgolios, Boulis Kambouropoulos, Con Nestoridis, Ernie Ackerley, Leo Damianakos
Coach: Con Nestoridis

PORT MELBOURNE SLAVIA:
Line-up included: Ray Barotajs, Nigel Shepherd, John Goodwin, Tommy Randles, Billy Cook, Peter Laraman, Ian Reid and Mike Jurecki

* Note: In 1966, a win was worth 2 points and a draw was worth 1 point

Tuesday, 29 April 2008 11:00 AM

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne left Paisley Park without any points for the fourth consecutive season, after a horrendous defensive error by Shane Nunes gave Altona Magic a 1-0 home victory on Monday night.

Both teams had come off solid and impressive wins in the previous round and were looking to add to their good form at the blustery, cold and wet Paisley Park, which provided the setting for the round 10 contest. However the game itself never reached any great heights, much to the disappointment of the fans who braved the conditions to watch the match.

The first chance of the game came in the 17th minute, when a nice run through the middle by Carl Recchia culminated in the midfielder hitting a long range drive into the arms of Dean Anastasiadis in the South Melbourne goal.

South sprung to life in the 22nd minute, when a darting run by Goran Zoric saw the speedy winger push the ball past a host of defenders before opting to hit a strong drive from just inside the area onto the target. His timid shot was calmly collected by Magic goal keeper Bojo Jedjevic.

Jevdjevic was again called into action only two minutes later. Once again the Altona defence failed to track Zoric’s run into the area, with the diminutive midfielder once again squandering a great opportunity by hitting yet another timid shot into the arms of the experienced Altona custodian.

South continued to push forward looking for the opening goal and a speculative long range effort in the 42nd minute by Ricky Diaco almost found the net for the away side. With Jedjevic beaten, the 20-yard drive struck the upright to the dismay of both Diaco and the frustrated South Melbourne contingent on the outer wing.

South came out in the second half continuing to attack. A lovely ball by Fernando saw the ball find Diaco, who only had the keeper to beat. Diaco paused momentarily, which gave the Altona defence enough time to pounce and get in the way of the shot and force the ball out for a corner.

Against the run of play, Altona hit the lead only moments later after a sweeping counter attack culminated in the ball finding Fa’arodo on the right hand flank. The elusive attacker cleanly passed the stagnant Adam Van Dommele before hitting a low goal-bound drive that was cleared by Anastasiadis. Fa’arodo reclaimed possession and then hit a dangerous ball across goal, where the ball was turned into the back of the net by Nunes.

With South a goal down, Altona went in for the kill and a long range effort by Michael Curcija swerved just past the outside of the post and out for a goal kick.

With time ticking away, South pushed more numbers forward, including throwing centre back Steven O’Dor up front as a big target man. The move nearly paid off in the 81st minute, when O’Dor climbed above all around him and cushioned a header into the path of Rama Tavsancioglu. With the ball sitting nicely, Rama’s 20 yard shot flew inches wide of the upright.

South had one final chance in the 88th minute, when substitute Hamlet Armenian weaved his way past three Altona defenders outside the area before finding himself open with the entire goal face to aim at. However like Diaco earlier, Armenian stalled his shot, which allowed the Altona defence to get in the way of the shot and once again thwart the South attack.

The win sees Altona consolidate a top six position on eighteen points, whilst South continues to languish in the lower areas of the table, having acquired only three wins from the first ten rounds.

Monday, 28 April 2008 6:53 PM

The Victorian Government has recently announced its plans for Olympic Park and Bob Jane Stadium. These plans involve moving Athletics Victoria and the Victorian Institute of Sport to the Bob Jane Stadium as part of a major re-development of the stadium.

Whilst South Melbourne Football Club remains the sole tenant of the stadium under its Lease, it is presently participating in discussions with the Government about the re-development of the stadium to accommodate Athletics Victoria and the VIS as co-tenants.

South Melbourne Football Club is proud to have been associated with the Albert Park area for almost 50 years and is pleased that the Victorian Government has recognised the area as a major sporting precinct and a great place for sport.

The Club is keen to work with the Government to ensure that it secures its long term future both at Albert Park and within the top level of Victorian and Australian Football.

The Club is one of the biggest and most successful football clubs in Australia and has produced numerous state, national and Olympic team representatives at all levels during its long and proud history and looks forward to playing a leading role within the new Olympic Sports precinct.

Sunday, 27 April 2008 7:29 PM

By George Kouroumalis and John Kyrou | Photo by Paul Touliatos

South Melbourne will be looking to build on its huge win last weekend when it travels to Altona on Monday night in a highly anticipated Round 10 clash.

This will be a very difficult assignment for South as the club has lost every match at Paisley Park since returning to the Premier League competition in 2005.

South coach Michael Michalakopoulos will be keen to keep the same starting line-up that destroyed Fawkner 6-2 at Bob Jane Stadium last Sunday.

Captain and inspirational leader Dean Anastasiadis will be called upon once again to start between the sticks. Anastasiadis will need to be fully focused against a potent and dangerous Altona attack in order for South to get anything from the game.

Anastasiadis’ defence will once again be lead by Steven O’Dor and Sam Poutakidis, with both players needing to play their part in thwarting any potential attacking forays forward. Joining these two in the back four will be Shane Nunes and Adam Van Dommele, who have both cemented their starting positions in recent weeks.

In the midfield, Rama Tavsancioglu will once again be assigned the defensive midfield role, a position that he has excelled in since being given the role a fortnight ago. He will provide South with experience in the central area as well as a player that will support his back four when needed. In the more attacking midfield roles, South will once again go into the game with Bill Natsioulas and Goran Zoric in the wider positions, whilst Fernando will be in the centre and providing the front two with constant support. The Brazilian was in sublime form against Fawkner, scoring once and acting as a provider on numerous occasions in a vintage display. He will be keen to continue this good form on Monday.

Up front, South will once again go into the game with Gianni De Nittis and Nathan Caldwell in the starting line-up. Both players earnt their starting positions after having superb games last weekend. De Nittis excelled in his new number 9 shirt and won the man of the match honours in a two-goal display, whilst Caldwell scored his second goal of the season against Fawkner and looked to be gaining more confidence.

Whilst South will be going into the match with some confidence, their Altona opponents will be no pushover. The Magic possesses one of the most talented squads in the Foxtel Cup, with the Vlado Tortevski-coached side having the services of the most consistent and dangerous striker in the state in Michael Curcija. The 30 year old is well known by South fans, having played six seasons for the blues in the NSL, amassing 143 games and scoring on 59 occasions. So far in 2008 he has scored 7 times and will no doubt be looking at adding more to his total against his old club. Curcija will be partnered up front with the elusive Henry Fa’Arodo, who is also a proven goal scorer at VPL level and will be one of the key players in the opposition line-up that South will need to shut down.

In the star-studded midfield area, Altona will go into the game with new recruits Pece Siveski and another ex-South player in Carl Recchia. Both players joined Altona in the summer and so far have combined together exceptionally well in the centre of the park.

Leading the defensive unit will be journeyman Con Anthopoulos, who also joined the Magic in the summer and is another former South player. Anthopoulos will provide the Magic with a calm and collected defender that is capable of playing a role in shutting down any attacking South foray. He will be joined by the very highly rated Doug Milardovic and another former South defender in Steven Laurie in a well-regarded back four.

With such an experienced, dangerous and highly rated opponent, South will need to be on their game to take anything from Paisley Park. A win by South will see them push up the table and be in sight of the sixth-placed Magic that currently sit 6 points above South. Kick-off is at 8.30pm.

Altona Magic vs South Melbourne FC

When: Monday, April 28th
Where: Paisley Park, Altona
Kick-off: 8.30pm (Under 21s at 6.30pm)

Projected Starting line-ups

South Melbourne
Dean Anastasiadis (GK/C), Sam Poutakidis, Rama Tavsancioglou, Adam Van Dommele, Steven O’Dor, Shane Nunes, Goran Zoric, Bill Natsioulas, Gianni De Nittis, Fernando De Moraes, Nathan Caldwell

Altona Magic
Bojo Jevdjevic (GK), Stiven Mrkela (C), Con Anthopoulos, Steve Laurie, Doug Mladenovic, Henry Fa’Arodo, Carl Recchia, Michael Curcija, Pece Siveski, Agim Sherifovski, Pece Cergovski

Head to head (Games since 2005)

Played : 8 (includes finals)
South Melbourne : 3
Altona Magic : 5
Draw : 0

Last Meeting

When: Saturday, 18 August 2007
Where: Paisley Park, Altona
Score: Altona Magic 1 defeated South Melbourne 0

Form in 2008 (last 3 games)

South Melbourne: Loss, Loss, Win
Altona Magic: Win, Loss, Win