Category: News

Monday, 17 July 2006 1:04 AM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne has blown its chance of opening up a three point gap in 2nd place after a below par performance saw John Anastasiadis’s men snatch a 1-1 draw against a Sunshine Georgies outfit that came to Bob Jane Stadium fully intent on playing classic catenaccio.

South were boosted by the return of inspirational Brazilian Fernando Moraes who took his place amongst the substitutes.

Youngster Vasilios Natsioulas is still nursing a hamstring injury and watched from the stand.

Coach John Anastasiadis sent the team out as follows. Dean Anastasiadis began in goals with a back four consisting of Dino Djulbic and Tansel Baser as the central core with youngsters Rama Tavsancioglu and Sammy DeVito deployed in the right and left back positions respectively.

Midfield workhorse George Tzirtis took up his usual defensive midfield role with Scot MacNicol given license to push more forward. On the flanks youngsters Andrew Bourakis and Nick Curtis played on the left and right wings with Andreas Oliveira partnering youngster Gianni DeNittis in attack.

South began the game reasonably well, carving out a good opening after four minutes when MacNicol found some space down the right, played a quality low cutback to Oliveira who from 14 or so yards out blazed his first-time shot well over the crossbar.

Sunshine responded by hitting South on the counter in devastating fashion. A ball down the left wing saw the South defence pushed far too up the park. British import Mark Draycott latched onto the ball, just beating the offside trap according to the Assistant Referee, Draycott then proceeded to the edge of the South box and unleashed a 7th minute pile-driving angled strike that left Anastasiadis – at full stretch – with no chance.

Sunshine continued to suffocate the home side who were unable to play the fluent football that has become synonymous with South’s matches at Bob Jane Stadium this season.

The visitors nearly doubled their advantage after 27 minutes when another UK import Fidell Richards played a superb through ball that released a Sunshine player down the right wing. The Georgies player spotted Anastasiadis slightly off his line and attempted a delicate chip that had the South keeper stranded but fortunately for the home side trickled narrowly wide.

South managed to carve out a chance after 34 minutes when a Bourakis free kick from the right wasn’t effectively cleared by the Georgies defence with the ball falling to Oliveira who was just outside the box albeit on the left hand side. Oliveira unleashed a quality 20-yard effort that had the Georgies keeper beaten but unfortunately for the home side his shot sailed wide.

Coach Anastasiadis had no doubt seen enough and sent on Moraes for Curtis at the beginning of the 2nd half.

Moraes hadn’t had a chance to make an impact when South almost went two behind after Djulbic hesitated in defence and saw the ball stripped from his control. The Sunshine attacker, from the edge of the South box, produced a venomous 46th minute strike that narrowly flew past the near post of Anastasiadis.

A minute later and a clearly shaken Djulbic produced another nerve-wracking error. Again hesitation saw the ball stripped from his possession, only this time the Sunshine attacker was one-on-one with Anastasiadis. Djulbic in a desperate attempt to recover appeared to give away an obvious penalty, virtually pulling the shorts off the attacker who proceeded to keep his feet and fire at goal resulting in a superb save by Anastasiadis who narrowed the angle quickly to block with his feet.

Even if the referee had decided to play advantage, the fact Anastasiadis saved the resultant shot in no way equated to an “advantage” for the Georgies who were rightly fuming after play was waved on.

South seemed at a loss to find a way to get back into the encounter until Moraes lifted his influence. The Brazilian started to warm into the game, linking up well with Oliveira and working quick one-twos to try and pry open a watertight Georgies defence.

Moraes almost scored after 71 minutes after superb link-up play between the Brazilian and Tzirtis saw the latter dink a delicate ball in behind the Georgies defence. The ball was slightly ahead of Moraes who still managed to get a toe-poke effort on goal but saw his shot smothered by alert Georgies’ keeper Martin John.

Moraes was at it again in the 75th minute, again working a brilliant one-two to get in behind the Sunshine defence. Moraes found himself on a slight angle 6 or so yards out with the Brazilian trying to open his body so he could shoot across goal. Unfortunately for South, Moraes somehow scuffed his effort, failing to test the keeper when he should’ve scored.

South’s increasing dominance was rewarded in the 77th minute after a Bourakis corner was unconvincingly cleared by the Sunshine defence, the ball fell to the oncoming MacNicol who from the edge of the area and directly in front of goal rocketed a “daisy cutter” past John, bringing relief to the South faithful who had become progressively frustrated with the resilience of the Georgies.

Spurred on by their increasing momentum South almost snatched the three points after 82 minutes when MacNicol shook his marker and broke free with only a defender in front of him and with Oliveira peeling off to his right. MacNicol played in Oliveira who tried to outsmart John with a rising top-corner attempt that saw the Georgies’ custodian react brilliantly to parry away.

Friday, 14 July 2006 7:02 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

After a sterling 0-2 triumph last week at Knights stadium, South return to familiar territory this week taking on the relegation threatened Sunshine Georgies.

The Georgies who are now coached by ex-South youth coach Joe Montemurro have suffered three defeats in succession and find themselves in the bottom two.

Sunshine’s leading marksman UK import Fidell Richards who along with fellow striker Mark Draycott have netted almost half of Sunshine’s 22 goals this season. Both players will have to be closely contained by a youthful South defence who have put aside their inexperience to currently boast the third best defensive record in the league.

Trent Waterson is another player South will have to watch closely with the diminutive midfielder having scored three times this campaign including the solitary goal against South in the Round 7 clash which saw Joe Montemurro begin his coaching reign in the best possible manner.

Conversely, South are in 2nd position with both Altona and Kingston in close pursuit and will be looking for maximum points to consolidate their standing as well as wrap up a place in the top six.

South will be without both Captain Vaughn Coveny who has officially departed to the A-League whilst Trinidad and Tobago native Kevin Nelson, who went off injured last week against the Knights, has been deemed surplus to requirements and moved on from the club.

Youngsters such as Andrew Bourakis, Gianni DeNittis and Nick Curtis will now be given increased responsibility and will no doubt have the opportunity to raise their games to the next level.

South may be also boosted by the return of leading goal-scorer and midfield inspiration Fernando Moraes after the Brazilian was unsuccessful with his recent attempt to break into Greek first division football with Aigaleo.

Moraes may indeed be ready to resume with South as early as this Sunday in what would be a massive psychological boost for John Anastasiadis’s men as the Brazilian adds a level of flair and quality that is unique in the Vodafone Cup.

Finally, young winger Vasilios Natsioulas could be a chance to return to the squad after sitting out the past encounters with a muscle injury picked up in training.

Sunday, 9 July 2006 8:09 PM

By George Kouroumalis

South has consolidated its position in second place of the Vodafone Cup after a comfortable 2-0 win over arch rivals, the Melbourne Knights at Knights Stadium on Sunday.

Due to injury and unavailability of key players, coach John Anastasiadis sent out a youthful looking South side to combat the Knights who had a point to prove after the 7-0 drubbing at Bob Jane Stadium in early June.

The changes from last week’s game against the Essendon Royals included Nick Curtis and Andrew Bourakis coming into the lineup , with Bourakis winning his first appearance in the starting lineup for the season.
Vaughan Coveny was dropped to the substitutes bench to the surprise of the traveling South faithful.

The lineup consisted of veteran Dean Anastasiadis in goals, with Tansel Baser, Dino Djulbic,Sam DeVito and Ramazan Tavsancioglu in defence just in front of him.
In the midfield Scott MacNicol and George Tzirtis were joined by youngsters Andrew Bourakis and Nick Curtis, who both were looking to impress.
Regular goalscorer Andeas Oliviera played a withdrawn role just behind Kevin Nelson, who seemed to be the only out and out striker on the park for the away side.

The game got off to a sluggish start, with both sides not really imposing themselves on the game in the early stages.
South however faced a hurdle only 4 minutes in, when Kevin Nelson went down with what looked to be a serious groin injury.
Fan favourtie Gianni De Nittis replaced the Trinidad and Tobago native, who looked devastated to have sustained such an injury.

The first real chance however fell in the 12th minute to the substitute De Nittis, who found himself in acres of space outside the area allowing him to try a curling shot at goal which was acrobatically saved by Knights keeper Adrian Cagalj, who tipped the ball over the bar.

South continued to dominate play and nearly got its reward in the 20th minute, when Nick Curtis burst through on the right hand side, only to launch a cracking volley only inches wide of the goal.

The youngsters of South continued to pepper the Knights goal, with Tavsancioglu sending a brilliant cross onto the head of De Nittis, who from 8 yards out managed to steer his clear wide of goal to the relief of the Knights faithful.

South then missed two point blank chances over, with Tzirtis and Andew Bourakis launching their efforts from inside the box well over the bar just before the half time break.

The second half provided South with almost immediate reward for their dominant display when the ball deflected into the path of De Nittis, who from just inside the area gave South the advantage, sending his volley into the back of the net.

The Knights, who had not mustered a genuine shot on goal in the game so far, looked shell shocked and were nearly made to pay for ball watching in the 51st minute, when De Nittis was once again left alone in the area after Curtis had played the ball into him.
Fortunately for the Knights, De Nittis steered his header straight into the arms of the waiting Cagalj.

In the 57th minute, the Knights were once again caught out in defence with MacNicol finding himself in hectares of space just outside the area and with only an advancing Cagalj to beat.

To the amazement of the traveling South faithful he opted to chip the keeper and bury the ball into the back of the net in what was possibly one of the goals of the Vodafone Cup season.

South nearly scored only a minute later, when Tzirtis found himself in space on the left hand side, only to drill a cross into the waiting De Nittis who once again had his headered shot saved by Cagalj.

As the game started to die down and reach an inevitable conclusion, the Knights managed to trouble Dean Anastasiadis in the South goal for the first time in the match, when Josip Kovic hit a well stuck drive directly at the keeper in the 81st minute.

Only two minutes later, the Knights were nearly on the score sheet when substitute Luke Slater, who looked lively when he came on, burst his way through the South defence with an advancing Anastasiadis to beat.
Unlike the sublime chip by MacNicol, Slater’s shot struck the cross bar and bounced back into the field of play.

With the 2-0 victory, South find itself back in 2nd place with a home game against the Sunshine Georgies next Sunday at Bob Jane Stadium.

South Melbourne FC 2 (De Nittis, MacNicol)
Melbourne Knights 0
Crowd : 700 @ Knights Stadium

Saturday, 8 July 2006 9:58 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne travels to Knights Stadium this weekend in what promises to be a fiery encounter.

After trouncing the Knights 7-0 month or so ago, a triumph which lead to the immediate resignation of Knights Coach and favourite son Josip Biskic, the Sunshine-based club will be fired up and out for revenge.

South Melbourne have recently experienced a slight dip in form with their past two encounters – against Preston and Essendon – seeing John Anastasiadis’s men blow a goal advantage to eventually settle for a draw.

Conversely the Knights continue to linger around the fringes of the top six and come into Sunday’s encounter in patchy form, being unable to string a run of 2-3 wins together to really push for a finals position.

The Knights possess one of the best keepers in the Vodafone Cup in Adrian Cagalj and with the silky play of midfield/winger Goran Talevski and the finishing ability of Nathan Caldwell who has bagged 6 goals so far this term; South will have to be in good form, alert and playing with confidence to nullify the Knights’ attacking strengths.

Early in the week South were dealt a significant blow with the news that club captain Vaughn Coveny has accepted an A-League offer from Newcastle and will hence be unable to see out the rest of the season.

Coveny is expected to play on Sunday in what may loom as his final match wearing the famous blue and white.

Classy young winger Vasilios Natsioulas remains in doubt with a muscle injury which may pave the way for exciting youngster Jose Vasquez to make his debut for South. Vasquez is a skillful and attacking winger with his South American heritage reflecting in his play.

Midfielder Antonio Naglieri also returned from length injury during last week’s match with Essendon and will be better off for his run and getting a full week’s worth of training under his belt.

South has picked up only 6 points on their travels this season with the players more than aware of their failure to perform away from the comforts of Bob Jane Stadium.

Coach John Anastasiadis will no doubt be looking for 3 points to consolidate second position as well as build the player’s confidence coming into the business end of the season.

Monday, 3 July 2006 2:29 AM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne has once again been denied by a resilient Essendon Royals outfit that fought from a goal down to eventually leave Bob Jane Stadium with a 1-all draw and valuable point.

South went ahead in the 4th minute through Andreas Oliveira only for Essendon to equalize just before half time with an expertly taken free kick.

Vasilios Natsioulas was again absent through injury but midfielder Antonio Naglieri made his return to the substitutes bench after a long layoff.

Coach John Anastasiadis sent South out as follows. Dean Anastasiadis lined up in between the uprights with a defensive quartet consisting of central pairing Dino Djulbic and James Stefanou as well as Rama Tavsancioglu and Sammy DeVito in right and left-back roles. Midfield dynamo George Tzirtis took up the defensive midfield duties with Scot MacNicol continuing in a more advance attacking role. Out wide Tansel Baser played on the left with Andreas Oliveira on the right with Trinidad and Tobago native Kevin Nelson resuming his striking partnership with Captain Vaughn Coveny.

South started the match in a dominant matter, controlling the flow of the game and knocking the ball around well. It didn’t take long for the home side to open the scoring when superb work down the left edge of the Essendon box by Nelson, saw the South striker wriggle past a couple of defenders and square the ball for Oliveira who from 8 or so yards out sent low angled 4th minute drive comfortably past the Royals keeper and into the bottom right-hand corner.

South should’ve doubled their advantage in the 24th minute after Nelson was released with the Essendon keeper way off his line. Nelson slightly hesitated but still managed to chip the keeper with his effort cleared by a desperately scurrying Royals defender with barely a centimeter to spare.

South continued to dominate with Oliveira thrilling the small crowd with a quality 25 yard drive – after 30 minutes – that the Royal’s keeper did well to tip over.

Just before the break South gave away a free kick in an extremely dangerous position, 20 or so yards out and with very minimal angle. South set up their wall accordingly but the 43rd minute free kick was superbly struck, dipping over the wall and leaving Anastasiadis stranded with no chance.

In the second half South brought on Antonio Naglieri for James Stefanou, hoping to push for a winner.

To the disappointment of the home faithful South lost all momentum in the second half, appearing sluggish at times and allowing Essendon far too much of the ball.

Both teams rarely threatened with South seemingly happy to play out the rest of the game without any real emphasis.

The home side almost paid for their lackluster approach when an 82nd minute cross from the right by the Royals found an unmarked player at the top of the box. The Royals player hit a first time volley that was darting into the bottom right corner but for a magnificent outstretched save by Anastasiadis who somehow managed to get his fingertips to it and hence palm it around the post.

Essendon attacked again in the 86 minute, this time the cross was delivered from the left with the eventual diving-headed attempt going over the bar.

The match ended with South carving out a half chance. A deep cross from the right was nodded back into the heart of the Essendon box by Coveny with the ball falling to a slightly off-balanced Oliveira who couldn’t adjust his body positioning in time and hence blazed over.

Saturday, 1 July 2006 8:55 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

South Melbourne returns to Bob Jane Stadium this weekend after a desperately unlucky two-all draw last week away to Preston.

John Anastasiadis’s men will be looking to continue their superb undefeated home form and at the same time consolidate a position in the top two.

Both sides met earlier in the season in a Round 5 encounter which saw a 49th minute equalizer from George Tzirtis earn South a deserved point after the visitors had gone behind via a goal from Solomon Islands international Henry Fa’Arodo.

Interestingly, South are yet to defeat the Royals since re-entering Victoria’s Premier State competition and will be eager to end the hoodoo against Dave Winton’s men.

Essendon may be without the electric pace of Fa’Arodo who is currently trialing with A-League outfit the Queensland Roar.

Fa’Arodo’s pace can cause any defence massive problems with his potential absence significantly decreasing the Essendon attacking threat.

From a standings perspective Essendon need the 3 points to put pressure on the top 6 whilst defeat could see them draw alarmingly near the relegation zone such is the relative closeness of this season’s competition.

In the South camp, Vasilios Natsioulas may be a chance of returning after injuring himself in training the day before the Preston game with his presence needed in order to cover a squad which has been decimated through injuries.

With central midfielder Antonio Naglieri and defensive colossus Con Blatsis still quite a way from returning to competitive action, players like Gianni DeNittis, Andrew Bourakis and exciting Under-21 player Jose Vasquez will have to step up and fill the void.

DeNittis did well out wide on the right last week against Preston showing good composure and ability to cope and contribute at this level and will no doubt be required to perform a similar role against the Royals.

South have piled on 17 goals in their last 4 home encounters playing a brand of entertaining and swashbuckling football that is a rare treat in such a tight and closely contested league.

Coach John Anastasiadis and the players have managed to go some way in returning the club back to the glory years where South Melbourne home games were considered an extremely intimidating proposition for any visiting team and will be in no mood to drop this regained aura against the Royals.

Sunday, 25 June 2006 9:38 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

A refereeing blunder has cost South Melbourne maximum points against eternal rivals the Preston Lions.

After turning around a 1-nil deficit to be ahead 1-2, the referee appeared to completely miss an infringement on South custodian Dean Anastasiadis who had the ball ripped from his hands when attempting a long throw. The ball fell to youngster Marinos Gasparis who tucked into an empty net to level the contest at 2-2.

With Brazilian Fernando Moraes in Greece to finalise his transfer to first division club Aegaleo and young midfielder Vasilios Natsioulas missing with a hamstring injury sustained during training yesterday, South Melbourne coach John Anastasiadis was forced into a re-structure of his starting-eleven.

Veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis started in goal with South playing a back three which consisted of giant defender Dino Djulbic in the centre of defence with fellow youngsters Rama Tavsancioglu and Sammy DeVito lining up on the right and left side of the defensive trio respectively.

In the centre of the park the energetic George Tzirtis began in a defensive midfield role with Scot MacNicol given full freedom to attack from the centre of the park in a more advanced role. On the right flank Gianni DeNittis replaced the injured Vasilios Natsioulas whilst Tansel Baser began the game on the left side of midfield. Andreas Oliveira was given a free roaming role in behind the central strike pairing in what appeared to be a direct replacement for the absent Moraes. Up front inspirational skipper Vaughn Coveny partnered the enigmatic Kevin Nelson.

The match started with both sides easing into the contest but it was Preston who created the first genuine opening of the game which ultimately lead to their goal. The Lions broke well down the right capitalizing on an out-of-position South defence. The subsequent 6th minute cross was inch perfect and found the late run of ex-Bulleen striker Nick Lazarevski who headed into an empty net on the back-post.

Three minutes later and South were nearly two behind when Blaze Georgioski was released in behind the South defence down the left. Georgioski made his way towards goal but Anastasiadis was excellent in spreading himself and making it impossible for Georgioski to score with the eventual shot smothered out for a corner.

South’s first clear opening arrived in the 21st minute after a cross from the left saw Coveny challenge Preston custodian Sava Ozdemir for the ball. The ball fell loose to Nelson who managed a decent effort on target that was cleared off the line; however, the ball once again fell to Nelson who unfortunately failed with his follow-up effort, blazing it over the crossbar.

South had now settled into the contest and began dominating possession with their quality passing eventually rewarded with an exquisitely taken goal by Coveny.

Oliveira had found some space down the right and played in a superb 33rd minute cross. Such was the quality of the ball that it bounced just in front of Coveny completely drawing keeper Ozdemir who found himself out of position. Coveny did well to keep his cool and send a looping header over Ozdemir and into the back of the net with two Lions defenders desperately trying to get to the ball but failing to do so.

The 2nd half had barely begun when South went ahead. A ball from the right into the heart of the Preston box saw referee Hakan Anaz spot an infringement on Kevin Nelson with Anaz immediately pointing to the spot. Perhaps Anaz was a little too keen as the ball was scrambled into the back of the net moments after the whistle was blown.

That said, up-stepped the diminutive Oliveira who had no trouble in sending Ozdemir in the opposite direction, comfortably slotting in the bottom right hand corner and giving South a deserved 1-2 advantage in the 46th minute.

South continued to dominate possession but clear openings were few and far between for both sides. Preston however should’ve leveled in the 59th minute after ex-South midfielder Steven Pace was played in with his back to goal near the South goalmouth, Pace kept his head and squared to the back-post where an unmarked and incoming Lions player failed to capitalize on the golden chance, only managing to sky over with the goal at his mercy.

The match was then turned on its head in the 79th minute after a Preston corner was comfortably gloved by Anastasiadis. With the South box crowded Anastasiadis spotted Coveny in a good position in South’s attacking half. Anastasiadis proceeded to attempt to throw the ball long only for it to be handled out of his hands with referee Anaz looking towards the centre of the pitch, the ball fell advantageously to the ever-alert Gasparis who had no problems tucking into an empty net.

Practically all the South Melbourne players converged on Anaz pleading their case. Anaz sensed a possible mistake and consulted with his Assistance Referee who claimed to have seen no infringement.

In light of the recent refereeing gaffe of Graham Poll at the World Cup, how such a clear infringement, which was spotted by everyone in attendance, sifted through the eyes of the Centre Referee and the Assistant Referee was definitely puzzling.

To the visitors credit they searched for a winner with Oliveira intelligently playing in Coveny in the 90th minute. Coveny broke free of the Preston defence and checked back, completely wrong-footing his marker with his subsequent curling shot that seemed destined for the bottom right corner saved brilliantly by Ozdemir with the Assistant Referee missing the contact and signaling a goal kick.

Saturday, 24 June 2006 11:20 AM

South Melbourne FC would like to invite all football fans to the Champions Bar at Bob Jane Stadium, as Australia takes on the might of Italy at the World Cup.
The big screen inside the Champions Bar will be screening this historic event live at NO COST.
We hope you can spread the word and get along to Melbourne’ home of football to watch the Socceroos do us proud in Germany.

Game: Australia v Italy
Date: Tuesday 27th June
Kick Off: 12:30am
Where: Champions Bar – BJS
Entry: FREE

The doors will open from 11.30pm and the kitchen and bar will be open for the entire night.

Thursday, 22 June 2006 11:11 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

After a two week hiatus Vodafone Cup action resumes this weekend with eternal rivals the Preston Lions and South Melbourne clashing in a members-only fixture at BT Connor Reserve.

Earlier in the season South Melbourne pulled off an improbable triumph after a wonder-strike in stoppages by youngster Gianni DeNittis gave the Lakeside-based club maximum points.

Both teams will be eager for a result as a win for Preston will see them begin to apply pressure on the top 6 whilst a loss could see them back amongst the relegation fight.

In the South camp a win would go some way into consolidating their top-two position as well as improving South’s away record which has seen John Anastasiadis men only pick up 5 points so far on their travels.

Since their Round 4 clash the Lions have sacked ex-coach Vlado Vanis and brought in favourite son and ex-South Melbourne winger Goran Lozanovski in what was seen as somewhat of a leap of faith by the Preston board.

However, Lozanovski has brought stability to the club; dragging the Lions out of the relegation zone and embarking on a run which has seen them drop only one of their past 7 fixtures.

Lozanovski has also been astute in the transfer market bringing in experienced Premier League forward Nick Lazarevski from the Bulleen Lions with Lazarevski repaying Lozanovski’s faith by already managing 4 goals in only 6 starts for the Lions.

Coupled with the attacking menace of last season’s Vodafone Cup player-of-year Anthony Magnacca, who has managed 8 goals so far this season, the Lions possess an attacking frontline that will no doubt cause South quite a few headaches.

Conversely, South are currently the hottest team in the Vodafone Cup after dispatching long-time rivals the Melbourne Knights 7-0 at Bob Jane Stadium 2 weeks ago, building on an impressive home record which has seen the Lakeside-based club steer home 17 goals in their last 4 home games.

John Anastasiadis’s men find themselves clearly in 2nd place and will be looking towards applying some pressure on the Oakleigh Cannons who have a 4 point advantage with a game in hand a-top the Vodafone Cup standings.

South will be without inspirational Brazilian Fernando Moraes who is in Greece to finalize his move to first division side Aigaleo. Moraes’s absence will be very hard to fill as the Brazilian brought a level of technical ability and flair which was unique to the competition.

However, the recent form of midfield dynamo George Tzirtis and gradual emergence of youngster Vasilios Natsioulas will go some way into cushioning Moraes’ absence.

Midfielder Antonio Naglieri is making progress with his knee injury but is still likely to be out for 2-3 weeks whilst stalwart defender Con Blatsis still remains a long term absentee.

Diminutive forward Andreas Oliveira is a chance for inclusion with his presence leaving coach Anastasiadis with a selection headache after the recent goal-scoring return of Trinidad and Tobago native Kevin Nelson.

Monday, 12 June 2006 1:23 AM

By George Kouroumalis

South Melbourne has produced one of the most astonishing performances in Victorian Football History to belt the Melbourne Knights by a whopping 7 goals to nil at Bob Jane Stadium.

The home side lost Andreas Oliviera to an ankle injury during the week but regained inspirational
captain Vaughan Coveny who returned from national team duty in Europe.
He partnered Trinadad and Tobago striker Kevin Nelson up front, who no doubt was on a high after
Trinadad’ result at the World Cup.
The other main change to the South structure was the inclusion of George Tzirtis in the midfield after
suspension.
The Knights line up consisted of one major change from last week’s game with Richmond, with playmaker Marco Maisano being replaced by Boris Ramadan.

The blue and white army were celebrating in the 5th minute when energetic midfielder Fernando De Moraes played Nelson
into space on the left hand side.
The in form striker then played a beautiful ball across into the path of George Tzirtis who hit a low drive first time past the outrsetched arms of goalkeeper Cagalj.

A few minutes later Nelson then had a chance of his own to score where he hit a low shot at the goal, only to be saved
by Cagalj.

In the 23rd minute, Cagalj cleared a dangerous ball up the field only to pull up sore after straining a muscle in his leg.
Automatically he signalled to the bench and was replaced by subsitute keeper Davor Filipovic.

Before Filipovic could get a touch of the ball, a horrible defensive error by Knights defender Tomislav Milardovic let in South captain Vaughan Coveny, who calmly slotted the ball into the net giving his side a two goal advantage after only 30 minutes of play.

South continued to dominate and it seemed certain that they would score another before the break, but
to the disbelief of the home crowd, De Moraes and Nelson missed the target just short of half time, with Nelson slamming the ball into the left hand upright from only one metre out.

With everyone heading back to the social club to get something warm to eat or drink, a horrific fumble by Knights subsitute keeper Filipovic left the ball at Nelson’s feet, who this time slotted the ball into the net from only 2 yards out sending
the home fans into a frenzy.

As the 2nd half commenced South coach John Anastasiadis opted to make a switch in the midfield, with Scott MacNicol being replaced by youngster Andrew Bourakis.

It wasn’t until the 59th minute that any real clear cut chance occurred, with quiet Knights forward Nathan Caldwell pushing a well hit shot wide from just inside the box.
As the Knights continued to look for a path back into the game, coach Biskic took off Ramadan replacing him with the dangerous Luke Slater.

However it was South that then attacked and nearly grabbed a fourth goal almost immediately, with De Moraes missing the target from 20 yards out.
As South continued to push forward a lovely flowing move found Nelson just outside the box who was fouled by Knights defender Josip Kovic.
From the resulting free kick, De Moraes stepped up and hit a superb freekick past the outrsetched keeper to make the scoreline 4-0.

South were not finished with yet and only 2 minutes later scored their 5th goal through De Moraes once again who found himself in open space behind the Knights defence, passing the keeper Filipovic before belting the ball into the back of the net.

In the 70th minute, South grabbed a sixth goal when Kevin Nelson was provided with a gift from the Knights defence that allowed him to be one on one with keeper Filipovic inside the area.
The hungry striker made no mistake and sent South fans into raptures at a scoreline that had not been seen at Bob Jane Stadium ever before against one of their greatest rivals.

The 80th minute provided the seventh goal of this remarkable contest, with youngster Billy Natsioulas ripping the Knights defence to shreds, finishing it with a powerful strike past the helpless keeper to make the scoreline 7-0.

An amazing few minutes followed with keeper Filipovic making the save of the game from a Coveny chance only metres from goal.
Filipovic then made a regulation save from a Coveny chip that also was destined for the back of the net.

In the 89th minute, the Knights had their best chance of the game, with Caldwell producing a looping header that forced a save from South keeper Dean Anastasiadis.
From the resulting corner the ball fell into the path of Craig Elvin, who hit a low shot at goal only to be turned away by Anastasiadis.

The 93rd minute should have seen South score their 8th goal, where Nelson burst past the Knights defenders and around the clueless keeper Filipovic, only for the ball to be touched by De Moraes, who was deemed to be in an offside position.
Had the touch not come, Nelson was through on an open goal and a certain hattrick.

Perry Mur then put an end to the contest with South running out winners by an astonishing 7-0 scoreline.

Both sides now have a two week break for the Fifa World Cup with South heading into the interval in outright 2nd position after jumping over the top of Kingston and Altona, while the Knights sit only 2 points out of the top 6 in 7th position.

—————————————————————-

South Melbourne FC 7 (Tzirtis, Coveny, Nelson x 2, Moraes x 2, Natsioulas)
Melbourne Knights 0

Crowd : Approx 1500 at Bob Jane Stadium