Category: News

Friday, 6 December 2002 12:00 AM

Danny Wright was born, grew up with family and friends and played his junior soccer in the Sunshine State. This weekend the South coach returns to his home state in need of three away points.

Before joining South Melbourne he played in the National Soccer League for Brisbane Lions. After a successful 1991 campaign with South Melbourne, he moved back to his hometown of Brisbane to settle down with his new wife and began a family. He continued to play football in Brisbane with the Strikers and in his last season (1996/97), won a Championship under Socceroo coach Frank Farina.

Tomorrow the 38 year old will return to Brisbane in charge of the Blue and Whites, aware of his side’s away performances, which he is confident, his side can turn their interstate form around tomorrow night at Ballymore Stadium.

“My focus is totally on our team getting a result in Brisbane this weekend. Our away form has been very ordinary this season and the players and coaching staff want to turn that around starting this weekend.”

“Obviously my history with Brisbane will have extra significance when we visit Brisbane Strikers tomorrow”, says Wright.

Wright is familiar with Brisbane’s squad having covered matches on pay television with C7 Sports as a guest commentator over the past few seasons. He regards Brisbane a worthy opposition and believes the heat could be an influential factor in the round 12 clash.

“I know their players very well having watched and commentated on their games over the last few years. They play a very open and attacking style of game, which can be very effective”.

“Having watched the tapes of their last two matches, I think they’re a better team than their position on the ladder would suggest. They are a dangerous opponent and we won’t be underestimating them”, says Wright

“The heat and humidity in Brisbane can also be a telling factor. We’ll be preparing for those conditions mentally and physically this week”.

South Melbourne will carry out their final training hit out tonight and travel to Brisbane tomorrow morning with a decision on the squad to be finalised this evening.

Wednesday, 4 December 2002 12:00 AM

Ibraim Ibraimi scored the only goal last night in South Melbourne’s 1 – 0 victory over Ange Postecoglou’s Australian Under 20 squad at Bob Jane Stadium last night.

Ibraimi has been impressive in the Youth team this season and received a call up to the senior squad in place of the suspended Baird and Buljan, playing the final ten minutes against Marconi in Round 10. The teenager who played for Dandenong as a junior has scored 8 goals in the Youth League so far.

Danny Wright was pleased with the performance of his squad last night which included eight youth team players, which he rates highly.

“It was a good hit out for Susa, Iosifidis, De Amicis, Liparoti and Anastasiadis. Susa showed some deft touches with his cultured left foot”.

“Ibraimi showed he is not just a flash in the pan, bobbing up to score again. I was impressed with the performance of young Samim Rahim at left back as well as Stephen Pace and Ray Sekulovski in midfield”.

“South Melbourne can be proud of the young talent we have at the club”, says Wright.

The Under 20 Australian squad which includes young South stars Murdocca, Lia and Baird fly to Vanuatu today to play two qualifying matches. If the squad is victorious, the home leg Qualifying Final will be played at Bob Jane Stadium on December 22 against the Group B winners.

Tuesday, 3 December 2002 12:00 AM

For the latest team news as well as a Round 11 review don’t miss out on the South Melbourne Soccer Show at 9.00PM this Wednesday evening on Channel 31.

This week the show will feature newly promoted goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic who has been prominent between the sticks since his debut for the Club three weeks ago.

Thursday, 28 November 2002 12:00 AM

South Melbourne moved to fourth spot, its highest position of the season, thanks to a late winner by New Zealand International Vaughan Coveny.

Last nights 1 – 0 victory over Parramatta Power took the Blue and Whites to 17 points, behind third placed Newcastle only on goal difference. South Melbourne has won their past three consecutive home matches and travel north to hopefully continue their winning streak in the Sunshine State this Saturday.

Nick Theodorakopoulos’ Parramatta Power took it to the home team, playing a very tactful game continuously pressuring, closing the South Melbourne attacks and moving the ball quickly when in possession.

Danny Wright’s men kept penetrating the Power goal and with the match destined for a draw, Vaughn Coveny stepped up to capture the three points and score his fourth goal of the season.

“Although we are happy with the result we are not happy with the way we played. We have to readdress the training schedule to ensure players are peaking on a Sunday and not at a Wednesday night training session”, says Wright.

The goal came in the 85th minute when Vince Lia slipped passed his opponent to swerve a cross to an awaiting Michael Baird, who’s directed header across goal found Vaughan Coveny’s thigh which guided the ball past the goal line.

“Baird directed his header well and the keeper made a good save which luckily fell to me. The ball was awkward to hit but I got my shin onto it and it went in”, says Coveny.

The hard fought victory came at the expense of playmaker and in form midfielder Bill Damianos. Damianos had to be substituted in the 13th minute after he caused damage to his hamstring trying to rapidly surpass two opponents.

“Billy went into the game under an injury cloud but tests on Friday showed no immediate tear. Unfortunately hamstrings can defy medical advice and Damianos has now a tear to his upper thigh and will be out from 2 to 4 weeks”, says Wright.

Due to the upcoming Australian Under 20 World Cup qualification tournament, South Melbourne are without Vince Lia, Michael Baird and Massimo Murdocca for the game against Brisbane. The Strikers will also miss young talents Matthew McKay and Wayne Heath and Fernando Rech who is suspended.

Thursday, 28 November 2002 12:00 AM

Date: Sunday 1st December 2002
Venue: Bob Jane Stadium
Kickoff: 6.00pm AEST

HEAD TO HEAD (Overall):
Played: 6 South Melbourne wins 4, Parramatta wins 1, Draws 1

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

LAST WEEK:
South Melbourne 1-0 home win Vs Marconi; Parramatta 4-1 home loss Vs Newcastle

Position on Ladder: South Melbourne 6th Vs Parramatta Power 10th

SOUTH MELBOURNE SQUAD: E Galekovic (gk), N Tolios, P Kisnorbo, M Durakovic, B Damianos, M Murdocca, D Clarkson, V Lia, P Trimboli, V Coveny, P Buljan, M Baird, S Iosifides, S Panopoulos, D Anastasiadis (gk)

IN: P Buljan, M Baird
OUT: Yet to be confirmed

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

IN: unchanged
OUT: P Cardozo (groin – 6 weeks)

Thursday, 28 November 2002 12:00 AM

South Melbourne will take on the Young Socceroos in a warm up match, before the U20’s travel to Vanuatu for the Oceania World Youth Championship Qualifying tournament.

Postecoglou’s boys will compete in an exhibition match against our own Blue and Whites, in their last full hit out before they head overseas on Wednesday 4th December 2002.

The game will be played on Tuesday 3rd December 2002 at Bob Jane Stadium. Kick off is scheduled for 7:00pm and admission is FREE.

Everybody is encouraged to come along and support the Blue and Whites and farewell our Young Socceroos before they head to Vanuatu to represent our nation. South Melbourne’s Michael Baird, Massimo Murdocca and Vince Lia have all been selected in the touring squad and they will certainly do the club and country proud.

The Young Socceroos will play only two matches in their qualifying group (Group A) due to the late withdrawal of the Cook Islands.

The fixtures are:

Saturday December 7
Vanuatu Vs Australia – 2.30pm

Monday December 9
Australia Vs Papua New Guinea – 2.30pm.

The winner of Group A will playoff against the winner of Group B, which includes Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga.

Should Australia progress from its group, playoff matches are scheduled for Thursday December 19 (away match) and Sunday December 22 in Melbourne.

The winner of the playoff shall represent Oceania at the FIFA World Youth Championship to be held in the United Arab Emirates from 25 March – 16 April 2003.

Monday, 25 November 2002 12:00 AM

On a muggy Melbourne day, South secured three vital points against Marconi Stallions with a tough one nil victory. In front of a crowd of 5,000 spectators, the man of the moment was once again Bill Damianos, as he stepped up to score his second consecutive goal in as many weeks.

Damianos’ fine 1st half goal lifts South back into the top six and within striking distance of last years finalists, Olympic Sharks and Perth Glory.

The match didn’t have the flair and excitement of the previous 2 weeks encounters, as the goals didn’t flow as frequently as what the crowd would have liked. Without the services of Peter Buljan and Michael Baird, South Melbourne struggled to penetrate the Stallions defence, whilst Marconi lacked firepower upfront without the injured Joe Spiteri.

In total contrast to the Olympic and Knights games, both teams settled in their own half and were reluctant to push men forward.

The first half chance of the game fell to South Melbourne in the 36th minute. Bill Damianos was the beneficiary of some fine individual skill from captain Paul Trimboli, who controlled the ball gently on his chest and turned quickly to slot the ball into the path of Damianos, who smashed the ball into the back of the net from 20 yards.

The one nil lead to South was almost instantly cancelled out by Alex Brosque. Brosque made his way past two defenders and found himself in a one on one situation with Eugene Galekovic. Galekovic was able to preserve South’s lead after making a world class save.

Vince Lia almost extended South Melbourne’s lead in the 45th minute when he cut in from the right hand side and smashed a left foot rocket into the post. This would be the last effort of the first half and South Melbourne would take a one nil lead into the break.

After half time, it was Marconi who could have equalised, as midfielder Grant Last skied a guilt-edge chance over the bar from 10 metres out. There were no other major opportunities for either team to score and South was able to hang on and record its 4th victory of the season.

Danny Wright had praise for his defence and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, who continued his good form. “Probably the most pleasing thing was that we were able to keep a clean sheet and the best three players on the park were our back three and our goalkeeper.”

South Melbourne will be looking to continue their recent good run of form in Round 11 against Parramatta Power.

Sunday 24th November 2002, Round 10 NSL – 2002/2003, Bob Jane Stadium
South Melbourne 1 ( B. Damianos 36’ )
Marconi Stallions 0
Crowd: 4,972

Thursday, 21 November 2002 12:00 AM

The Melbourne Derby lived up to expectation last Sunday, as South Melbourne scored a 4-2 victory against arch rivals the Melbourne Knights. In front of a vocal crowd of 9,000 spectators, South Melbourne was too strong for their opponents and has now moved within striking distance of the top six.

South couldn’t have dreamt of a better start, when in the first minute of play they were awarded a penalty that Captain Paul Trimboli slotted away. The Knights hit back early after Leon Buhic equalised in the 30th minute.

The Knights equaliser was cancelled out just a minute later, as Peter Buljan scored his fourth of the season and made the scoreline 2-1 in favour of South.

Just 12 minutes after restoring South’s lead, Buljan was given his marching orders after receiving his second yellow card of the game. Buljan’s tackle on Leon Buhic inside the penalty area was enough for referee Brett Hugo to award a controversial penalty to the Knights. Anthony Pelikan stepped up to calmly slot the ball past Eugene Galekovic.

The Knights were reduced to ten men in the dying moments of the first half, with former South midfielder Nick Sabljak also receiving his second caution of the game. Both teams went into break with a man down and the scores level at 2-2.

South Melbourne dominated the second half and created numerous opportunities to score. It wasn’t until the 61st minute when South was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Bill Damianos stepped up to caress a fine curling strike into the top right hand corner of the net and once again give South the ascendency.

Nick Tolios added to the lead, after meeting a Bill Damianos corner with a perfectly timed header to give Martin John no chance in the Knights goal.

The game ended in South prevailing by 4 goals to two and another Derby victory under their belt.

Sunday 17th November 2002, Round 9 NSL – 2002/2003, Bob Jane Stadium
South Melbourne 4 ( P. Trimboli 1’ pen, P. Buljan 31’, B. Damianos 61’, N. Tolios 67’ )
Melbourne Knights 2 ( L. Buhic 30’, A. Pelikan 43’ pen )
Crowd: 8,997

Thursday, 21 November 2002 12:00 AM

Date: Sunday 24 November 2002
Venue: Bob Jane Stadium
Kickoff: 6.00pm AEST

HEAD TO HEAD (Overall):
Played: 50 South Melbourne wins 18, Marconi wins 22, Draws 10

HEAD TO HEAD (at Melbourne):
Played: 23 (Regular Season), South Melbourne wins 14, Marconi wins 9, Draws 0

LAST WEEK:
South Melbourne 4-2 home win Vs Melbourne Knights; Marconi 0-0 away draw Vs Newcastle

Position on Ladder: 7th Vs 11th

SOUTH MELBOURNE SQUAD: E Galekovic (gk), N Tolios, P Kisnorbo, M Durakovic, B Damianos, M Murdocca, D Clarkson, V Lia, P Trimboli, V Coveny, S Pace, R Sekulovski, S Iosifides, S Panopoulos, D Anastasiadis (gk)

IN: S Pace
OUT: P Buljan (suspended – 1 match), M Baird (suspended – 1 match)

MARCONI STALLIONS SQUAD: M Turnbull (gk), C Gibson, T Sekulic, S Webb, D Longo, P Cotte, T Perinich, D McDonald, R Enes, S Bozinovski, A Brosque, M Thwaite, G Last, E Anabalon, S Alogdellis (gk)

IN: S Bozinovski
OUT: J Spiteri (broken arm – 5 weeks), A Costanzo (knee – 1 week), S Fitzsimmons (ankle – 3 weeks), K Gulesserian (knee – 4 weeks)

Tuesday, 19 November 2002 12:00 AM

Peter this is your second year with the club after a fairly difficult first season. This season you are currently one of the clubs leading goal scorers. What has been the difference?

After having a difficult season last year, l have mentally changed the way I am going to approach playing this season, and when I scored my first goal of the season in my first start it gave me extra confidence and things have progressed from there.

Peter when you joined South Melbourne the team was in fulltime training. This season they have reverted back to part-time. As a player does this make much of a difference in terms of fitness and playing levels?

I think it does because it means less time to work on your game, but in turn it is very hard for clubs these days to pay players to be fulltime. But in saying that Wollongong won two Championships with a team that was part-time, so it may not make that much of a difference.

Peter, sport in general in Australia seems to be going through a roller coaster ride, with some Sporting clubs asking there players to take pay cuts. What do you think the general public wants and needs to create interest in the sport?

It’s very hard to say, soccer has been trying to work this out since the National League began, but I do think it needs to be advertised and sold on mainstream television a lot more. If the game isn’t televised or even publicised in the mainstream media then it makes it a lot harder to attract corporate dollars (sponsors) and therefore the game itself struggles.

Peter, you have had two opportunities to trial overseas at clubs in Germany and in Belgium. What differences and experiences have you brought home to help you with your Soccer career?

When you train and play it has to be at 100% and that there are no friends in the clubs, it is very ruthless and very competitive, so you must stay strong at all times. I’m a true believer in the fact that you play the way you train. The main difference between Soccer here in Australia and overseas is that the game of Soccer in Europe and South America is professional. Even the lower leagues are full time and that is there full time job. You can’t compare it to a part time competition.

Peter, as in sport and in life, there are always highs and lows. What have been your highs and lows with your time in the National Soccer League?

One of my biggest highlights was being voted the leading goal scorer and player of the year for two consecutive seasons at the Canberra Cosmos. Being given the opportunity to further my career with the South Melbourne Soccer Club has also been a highlight for me. The lowest point of my NSL career would be when I joined Perth Glory and I suffered two bad injuries to my quadricep and ankle, which kept me out of the game for 7 months.