Category: News

Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:00 AM

At the beginning of the season, New Zealand International striker Vaughan Coveny had scored 59 goals for the Blue and Whites. With one game remaining, the speedy striker has netted a commendable nine goals and is South Melbourne’s top goalscorer this season.

This has lifted him closer to surpassing former crowd favourite Charlie Egan who sits behind Paul Trimboli. The current South captain leads the club’s all-time scoring charts by a whopping 30 goals. Trimboli has scored 113 goals for the Lakeside club.

South Melbourne takes on the Kingz at Ericsson Stadium, Auckland in their last encounter of the season. Coveny will be looking to cap off his season on a high and take his goal-scoring tally into double figures when he travels to his country of birth this weekend.

“I’m satisfied with nine goals so far this season. A couple against the Kingz on Sunday would be nice, but there is no pressure on the team and we will go out onto the park, enjoy ourselves, as well as get a result”.

“Surpassing great players such as Con Boutsianis or Charlie Egan is not an issue for me. My aim is for the team to do well and if exceeding these players happens along the way then it’s a bonus”.

Con Boutsianis is Coveny’s closest opponent on South Melbourne’s overall scoring tally. ‘Boutsi’ as known by his teammates, has scored a total of 104 NSL goals and has netted 70 goals at South.

The 31 year old can equal or go beyond Charlie Egan’s 73 goals this weekend but it will take a huge effort to score a hat trick in the dead rubber. Boutsianis is determined to make sure the club finishes the season positively.

“There’s no pressure on the boys this weekend. We are going out to get a result and play some good football”, says Boutsianis.

“Stranger things have happened. It will be an honour to past Charlie Egan’s scoring record. If it happens on Sunday or next season it doesn’t matter. Records don’t stick in my mind while I am playing”.

Most Goals Scored:
113 – Paul Trimboli
73 – Charlie Egan
70 – Con Boutsianis
68 – Vaughan Coveny
48 – Doug Brown
47 – Michael Curcija
45 – Kimon Taliadoros
37 – Alun Evans
34 – Francis Awaritife
32 – John Anastasiadis

Tuesday, 11 March 2003 12:00 AM

South Melbourne will not participate in the new look finals system this season after Parramatta Power, Adelaide City and Northern Spirit all confirmed a place in the top six with wins on the weekend.

With one round remaining of the home and away season, South Melbourne sit four points from a finals spot but will not be able to bridge the gap on it’s closest rivals. South Melbourne closes out it’s season against Football Kingz this Sunday at Ericsson Stadium, Auckland.
Kick off at 2:00PM AET.

The battle of the top two clubs comes down to the wire this week, as Perth Glory look comfortable to be crowned NSL Premiers when they take on bottom placed Marconi while reigning champions Olympic Sharks who still have a slight chance of finishing first, host Adelaide City.

Newcastle United have the Bye this weekend and with 1 point seperating third and sixth, the formation of the finals must wait until the conclusion of Round 26. Perth and Olympic have undoubtedly been the form teams this season but with all top six clubs in good form, the new look finals series should be interesting.

The Albert Park Club will finish in seventh place no matter what the result this weekend. This has resulted in Victoria not being represented in the finals, a first since the inception of the league in 1977.

South Melbourne will be without Vice Captain Steve Panopoulos and midfielder Bill Damianos who are both suspended this weekend. Young Stephen Pace has a strained groin and may also miss the trip to Auckland.

South Melbourne will train tomorrow and Thursday night at Bob Jane Stadium before shooting across the Tasman. Caretaker coach Peter Tsolakis is determined for the club to conclude on a high note with a win against the Kingz this Sunday.

“Even though the finals are out of our grasp, we will be going to Auckland looking to take three points and finish the season on a positive note”.

The finals series runs over a ten week period with week one commencing in a fortnights time.

Wednesday, 5 March 2003 12:00 AM

Former South Melbourne Championship coach Ange Postecoglou, announced his 20 man World Cup Under 20 squad yesterday which included three talented South Melbourne players.

Massimo Murdocca, Vince Lia and Michael Baird have been selected for the Under 20 World Cup Squad which will travel to Dubai.

The Australian squad will convene for a pre-tournament camp in Perth prior to arriving in the United Arab Emirates for their first game on March 26.

The preliminary group draw for the Qantas Young Socceroos is:

Australia Vs Czech Republic
26 March – 8.30pm

Australia Vs Canada
29 March – 5.45pm

Australia Vs Brazil
1 April – 5.45pm
(*all times are Dubai time)

The 24-team tournament will be held from March 25 – April 16 with Group C to be played at the Rashid Stadium in the Northern city of Dubai.

Australia are set to compete for the 11th time at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship having missed only three tournaments in the 26-year history of the competition. Australia were semi-finalists in 1991 and 1993 and were quarter-finalists in 1981, 1995, 1997 and 2001.

Friday, 28 February 2003 12:00 AM

South Melbourne popular defender Mehmet Durakovic is due to play his 350th NSL match when the Blue and Whites comes up against the Parramatta Power at Parramatta Stadium tomorrow night.

Former Qantas Socceroo Durakovic commenced his NSL career in 1985, spending time at Brunswick (1985-1988, 61 games), Footscray (1989, 25 games), South Melbourne (1989/90-1994/95 and 2000/01-2002/03, 217 games) and Olympic Sharks (1998/99, 21 games). He also had a stint at Malaysian club Selangor (1995-1998).

In 1991 the sturdy defender was part of South Melbourne Championship squad and more than ten years on, is still at the stronghold of South Melbourne’s defence. In 2002 he was selected in South Melbourne’s Team of the Century and at the age of 38 continues to breakdown attacks from opposing clubs.

MEHMET DURAKOVIC PROFILE
At South Melbourne (NSL): 89/90 – 94/95, 00/01 – current
Born: October 13, 1965
NSL Games: 350
South Melbourne NSL Games: 217
NSL Goals: 8
South Melbourne NSL Goals: 5
Individual NSL Honours: –
International “A” Appearances (& years): 39 (1990-1997)
All International Appearances (& years): 59 (1990-1997)
Other National Honours: –
Overseas clubs: Selangor (Malaysia)

Friday, 28 February 2003 12:00 AM

Date: Saturday 1 March 2003
Venue: Parramatta Stadium
Kick Off: 7.30pm AEDST

Radio: Radio 2 1611AM 7.30pm live broadcast (Sydney only);
Radio 2 1629AM 7.30pm live broadcast (Melbourne only)

HEAD TO HEAD (Overall):
Played: 7 Parramatta wins 1, South Melbourne wins 5, Draws 1

HEAD TO HEAD (at Parramatta):
Played: 3 (Regular Season) Parramatta wins 1, South Melbourne wins 2, Draws 0

Last Encounter: South Melbourne 1-0 home win

LAST WEEK:
Parramatta 3-0 away loss Vs Newcastle
South Melbourne 2-2 away draw Vs Marconi

Position on Ladder: 6th Vs 13th

PARRAMATTA POWER SQUAD: L Reddy (gk), A Ceccoli, P O’Grady, N Orlic, M Beauchamp, M Thompson, W O’Sullivan, A Elrich, B Maloney, P Cardozo, K Salapasidis, P Zorbas, J Buonavoglia, B Renaud, D Vukovic (gk)

IN: A Ceccoli
OUT: D Brown (omitted), J Sobczyk (knee – season)

SOUTH MELBOURNE SQUAD: E Galekovic (gk), F De Amicis, P Kisnorbo, M Durakovic, N Tolios, S Panopoulos, V Coveny, P Buljan, M Murdocca, V Lia, C Boutsianis, B Damianos, S Poutakidis, S Pace, D Anastasiadis (gk)

Friday, 28 February 2003 12:00 AM

The South Melbourne Soccer Club confirms that it has parted ways with senior coach Danny Wright.

The club wishes Danny Wright every success in the future.

South Melbourne has a proud finals record as the most successful soccer club and is committed to maintaining it’s excellent record.

All media enquires should be directed to the club on (03) 9645 9797.

Friday, 21 February 2003 12:00 AM

Date: Friday 21 February 2003
Venue: Marconi Stadium
Kickoff: 7.30pm AEST

Radio:
Radio 2 1611AM 7.30pm live broadcast (Sydney only)
Radio 2 1629AM 7.30pm live broadcast (Melbourne only)
Radio 3XY 1422AM 7.30pm live broadcast (Melbourne only)

HEAD TO HEAD (Overall):
Played: 51 Marconi wins 22, South Melbourne wins 19, Draws 10

HEAD TO HEAD (at Marconi):
Played 24 (Regular Season) Marconi wins 10, South Melbourne wins 4, Draws 10

Last Encounter: South Melbourne 1-0 home win

LAST WEEK South Melbourne 1-0 away loss Vs Melbourne Knights;
Marconi 1-0 home loss Vs Newcastle

Position on Ladder: 13th Vs 6th

MARCONI STALLIONS SQUAD: M Turnbull (gk), C Gibson, D Longo, A Costanzo, L Casserly, R Enes, S Webb, M Thwaite, J Spiteri, A Brosque, T Perinich, C Care, P Cotte, D McDonald,
S Alogdellis (gk)

IN: P Cotte
OUT: T Sekulic (suspended – 2 matches), G Last (suspended – 1 match)

SOUTH MELBOURNE SQUAD: E Galekovic (gk), F De Amicis, M Durakovic, D Clarkson, S Panopoulos, V Coveny, P Buljan, M Baird, M Murdocca, V Lia, C Boutsianis, B Damianos, P Kisnorbo, S Poutakidis, D Anastasiadis (gk)

IN: F De Amicis, M Murdocca, C Boutsianis
OUT: N Tolios, (knee – 1 week), Z Susa (knee – season), S Iosifides (groin)

Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:00 AM

South Melbourne’s silky midfielder Zeljko Susa badly injured his knee in last Sunday’s Melbourne derby and will miss the remainder of the season. Susa damaged his medial ligament, cartilage and has partial tear to his anterior cruciate ligament. Susa injured the same knee he had surgery to and will see the surgeon tomorrow.

This is the third time a South Melbourne player has been sidelined this season due to knee injuries. Susa joins captain Paul Trimboli and defender Robert Liparoti who both suffered major knee injuries this season.

Young Nick Tolios who began the past two matches had internal bleeding to his knee after Sunday’s match. The sturdy defender is currently recovering and should be fully fit for Friday’s match against Marconi.

Fellow defender Steve Iosifidis, who missed last Sunday’s derby because of a Grade 1 tear to his groin, is back on the training track but a spot in South Melbourne’s travelling squad looks unlikely as time to fully recover is against the 29 year old.

On a positive note, new signing Con Boutsianis who has out of the game for the past six months, has been training well after being and looks in surprisingly good condition. Boutsianis will be up for selection this Friday night.

South Melbourne has three matches remaining and face bottom placed Marconi Stallions in a match the Albert Park Club is expected to win. South Melbourne has only won one match away from home this season but a win will see the club step closer to confirming a spot in the top six.

In other Round 23 matches that will have a large bearing on the make up of the top six, Parramatta travel to third placed Newcastle while Adelaide City host inform Northern Spirit. Perth Glory host Olympic Sharks in the top of the table clash and a match that could decide the top two positions.

Monday, 17 February 2003 12:00 AM

South Melbourne Soccer Club has secured championship-winning player Con Boutsianis, who returns to the club in a much-anticipated strategy to bring the NSL Championship back to Victoria. Boutsianis has been training for several months in order to resurrect his domestic and international career.

Together with the signing of the promising Sam Poutakidis, coach Danny Wright is excited about the club prospects.

“Adding a player of Con’s calibre to what is already a dynamic and talented squad, only serves to enhance our ability to compete with the leading clubs in the country.”

“Particularly with the absence of our greatest NSL player of all time, captain and inspiration Paul Trimboli, I was determined to ensure we maintained our commitment to the Championship aspirations of the team and fans.”

Wright is pleased with the balance of his squad leading into another finals series for Australia’s most successful club.

With veteran defender Fausto De Amicis overcoming the frustration of an injury plagued season, the adrenalin is pumping for another South Melbourne assault on the NSL Championship.

Thursday, 13 February 2003 12:00 AM

Returning from suspension, South Melbourne striker Vaughan Coveny scored the only goal in the Albert Park Clubs 1 – 0 victory over Brisbane at Bob Jane Stadium last night. The win lifts South Melbourne to third spot on 31 points.

South controlled the game from the outset and should have been convincing leaders at half time. Coveny struck in the 32nd minute which was enough to secure the points.

South Melbourne will now take on the Melbourne Knights at Knight Stadium on Sunday, 16 February 2003. Kick Off 6.00PM.