Category: News

Northcote City v SMFC – John Cain Reserve – Saturday 24 March 2018 at 6:30pm

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights

2016 (R15): SMFC 3-1 Northcote City (Lakeside Stadium)
2016 (R02): Northcote City 0-4 SMFC (John Cain Reserve)
2015 (R26): SMFC 3-0 Northcote City (Lakeside Stadium)
2015 (R13): Northcote City 1-2 SMFC (John Cain Reserve)
2014 (R24): SMFC 2-1 Northcote City (Lakeside Stadium)

Overall Head to Head (League & Finals):
Played: 15
SMFC Wins: 6
Northcote City Wins: 5
Draws: 4

NPL MEN / BOYS

NPL WOMEN / GIRLS

Celebrations as Tiff Eliadis scores against Heidelberg at Olympic Village on 17 March 2018. (PHOTO: Cindy Nitsos).

FINAL SCORE: HEIDELBERG UNITED 2-3 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)

Goals:
1-0: Stephanie Galea (8′)
1-1: Tiffany Eliadis (62′)
1-2: Tiffany Eliadis (71′)
2-2: Elise Mamanu-Gray (86′)
2-3: Melina Ayres (90′)

Heidelberg United:
11. Melissa Barbieri (GK) (c) (1. Christine Fonua 90+2′), 4. Michelle Verzi, 5. Elly Torre, 7. Stephanie Galea, 9. Emma Langley, 12. Daniella Galluccio (3. Katrina Tsalikidis 56′), 15. Caitlin Storay (10. Maja Markovski 46′), 16. Sarina Vallese, 17. Elisa Mamanu-Gray, 18. Lisa Fonua, 20. Monica Fonua.
Unused Substitutes: 22. Samantha Black, 23. Mikayla Lazic.
Yellow Cards: Torre 34′, Markovski 67′.

South Melbourne:
1. Cassandra Zaffina (GK), 4. Leah Scroggie, 5. Aimee Medwin, 7. Chelsea Blissett, 8. Jamie Pollock (c), 9. Julia Nicolaci, 12. Sarah Richardson, 31. Sophie Papatsanis (17. Melina Ayres 59′), 34. Paige Zois (10. Natalie Martineau 59′), 40. Kathryn Vlahopoulos (13. Tiffany Eliadis 46′), 49. Emily Rayment (16. Sofia Sakalis 68′).
Unused Substitutes: 11. Alexia Karatzikos (GK).
Yellow Card: Medwin 83′.

Nick Epifano (7) and Christos Intzidis congratulate Milos Lujic (9) after the centre forward’s header put SMFC 2-0 up against Pascoe Vale at CB Smith Reserve on Friday 16 March 2018. (PHOTO: Cindy Nitsos).

FINAL SCORE: PASCOE VALE 2-2 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-2)

Goals:
0-1: Leigh Minopoulos (35′)
0-2: Milos Lujic (42′)
1-2: Joseph Youssef (56′)
2-2: Davey Van’t Schip (62’p)

Pascoe Vale:
1. Yaren Sozer (GK), 2. Adrian Talarico, 4. Matthew Hennessey, 5. Ethan Docherty, 8. Joseph Youssef (c), 9. Michael Ferrante (30. Luka Prelevic 90′), 10. Davey Van’t Schip, 20. Gonzalo Abascal Munoz, 23. Amir Osmancevic (11. Philippe Bernado-Madrid 72′), 29. Matteo Ballan, 77. Stephen Hatzikostas.
Unused Substitutes: 14. Samuel Logozzo, 19. Nicolas Gonzalez, 35. Alexander Pavlidis (GK).
Yellow Cards: None.

South Melbourne:
1. Keegan Coulter (GK) / 23. Matthew Foschini, 3. Kristian Konstantinidis, 39. Christos Intzidis, 11. Brad Norton (c) / 12. Iqi Jawadi, 18. Matthew Millar / 17. Andy Brennan (19. Oliver Minatel 79′), 7. Nick Epifano, 27. Leigh Minopoulos (8. Luke Pavlou 84′) / 9. Milos Lujic.
Unused Substitutes: 16. Josh Hodes, 20. Ajdin Fetahagic, 21. Amir Jashari (GK).
Yellow Cards: Lujic 43′, Brennan 53′, Intzidis 61′, Jawadi 90+2′.

Heidelberg United v SMFC – Olympic Village – Saturday 17 March 2018 at 3pm

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights (2017 only)
2017 (R20): SMFC 4-0 Heidelberg United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R11): SMFC 3-0 Heidelberg United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R02): Heidelberg United 0-2 SMFC (Olympic Village)
2015 (ESF): SMFC 2-1 Heidelberg United (Lakeside Stadium)
2015 (R22): Heidelberg United 2-2 SMFC (Olympic Village)

Overall Head to Head (since 2005):
Played: 23
SMFC Wins: 13
Heidelberg United Wins: 9
Draws: 1

Pascoe Vale v SMFC – CB Smith Reserve – Friday 16 March 2018 at 8:15pm

Last Five League Meetings – click individual game for highlights

2017 (R24): Pascoe Vale 2-0 SMFC (CB Smith Reserve)
2017 (R11): SMFC 3-0 Pascoe Vale (Lakeside Stadium)
2016 (R25): Pascoe Vale 1-4 SMFC (CB Smith Reserve)
2016 (R12): SMFC 0-1 Pascoe Vale (Lakeside Stadium)
2016 (SF): SMFC 3-2 Pascoe Vale (Lakeside Stadium)

Overall Head to Head (League):
Played: 11
SMFC Wins: 7
Pascoe Vale Wins: 2
Draws: 2

NPL MEN / BOYS

 
NPL WOMEN / GIRLS

Paige Zois takes on Anita Les of Bayside United. (PHOTO: Cindy Nitsos).

South Melbourne FC suffered its first NPLW Victoria defeat of 2018 on Sunday afternoon, losing 3-2 against Bayside United at the Kingston Heath Complex.

With several senior players still unavailable and Sofia Sakalis away with the Young Matildas, coach Socrates Nicolaidis gave a full league debut to 14-year-old Sophie Papatsanis, whilst 16-year-old forward Kathryn Vlahopoulos also earned a first-team starting spot following two strong performances in the Under 19s.

The first half was a disappointing affair as South conceded a penalty that was converted by Connie Lewis on 12 minutes. On 41 minutes, Rina Hirano lobbed goalkeeper Cassandra Zaffina for Bayside’s second before Molly Burke’s corner right on the halftime break found its way through everyone and into the back of the net.

16-year-old Maryam Anvari – who had played for the SMWFC community club last year – was introduced in the second half, as was Melina Ayres on the hour mark. South performed much better in the second half and had a goal back on 75 minutes when 14-year-old Paige Zois scored past Melissa Maizels, who managed to get a hand to the ball but couldn’t prevent it hitting the back of the net. Bayside’s keeper could do nothing about South’s second goal five minutes later when Ayres found herself one-on-one and shot the ball into the far corner of the net. South pushed hard for the final ten minutes but ultimately fell just short of another memorable comeback.

Post-match, Nicolaidis said he was pleased with the effort of his young players. “Some mistakes were made in the first half but it’s good to give games to these younger players. We have the senior players to come back over the next few weeks which the younger ones will definitely benefit from.”

Fullback Aimee Medwin also added her thoughts. “I have to give a lot of credit to [acting captain] Jamie Pollock, at halftime she kept encouraging the [younger] girls, saying we can find a way back into this game and we almost did.”

South travels to Olympic Village to play Heidelberg United next Saturday 17 March, with kickoff at 3pm.

FINAL SCORE: BAYSIDE UNITED 3-2 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 3-0)

Goals:
1-0: Connie Lewis (12’p)
2-0: Rina Hirano (41′)
3-0: Molly Burke (45′)
3-1: Paige Zois (75′)
3-2: Melina Ayres (80′)

Bayside United:
1. Melissa Maizels (GK), 4. Anita Les, 7. Kirstie Shearing (17. Emily Harbis 72′), 8. Sienna Fogarty, 9. Emma Runnalls (29. Grace Norbury 66′), 10. Candela Ferreyra Bas (c), 11. Jessica Au, 16. Connie Lewis, 20. Molly Burke, 23. Rina Hirano (3. Bronte James 87′), Stephanie Parton.
Unused Substitute: 15. Sarah Walsh, 88. Celia Kelsall.
Yellow Card: Les 60′

South Melbourne:
1. Cassandra Zaffina (GK), 2. Marianna Anthony (35. Maryam Anvari 46′), 4. Leah Scroggie, 5. Aimee Medwin, 7. Chelsea Blissett, 8. Jamie Pollock (c), 9. Julia Nicolaci, 12. Sarah Richardson, 31. Sophie Papatsanis (7. Melina Ayres 59′), 34. Paige Zois, 40. Kathryn Vlahopoulos (49. Emily Rayment 86′).
Unused Substitutes: 11. Alexia Karatzikos (GK), 27. Irene Paracki.
Yellow Card: Medwin 67′.

Bayside United v SMFC – Kingston Heath – Sunday 11 March 2018 at 5:30pm

South Melbourne FC’s senior women’s side go into Sunday evening’s match chasing three straight wins from three NPLW games in 2018. Keen to prevent that are Bayside United, a team that South defeated in all three league encounters in 2017, although the one match that was played at Kingston Heath (Sunday’s venue) was a tight affair. South needed an injury-time winner from Caitlin Greiser to win all three points in that particular meeting last year.

Although South is two wins from two league matches in 2018, they have twice conceded the opening goal to their opponents, and against Box Hill United last weekend actually conceded the opening two goals. Coach Socrates Nicolaidis acknowledges this as an area to be improved within his team, with the high-risk, high-reward tactics he has implemented during his time at the club having paid off so far.

Melina Ayres was the saviour against Box Hill when she came off the bench (in her first appearance of 2018 following a rest post W-League season) in the final half hour to set up a goal and then score the winning goal in injury time. Nicolaidis is excited about her fulltime return to the side, with even more senior players due to return. “I honestly think that with everyone back fit and firing…honestly we’re maybe 4-5 players short of [being a competitive] W-League team.”

Previous Meetings – click individual game for highlights
2017 (R22): SMFC 11-0 Bayside United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R13): SMFC 2-0 Bayside United (Lakeside Stadium)
2017 (R04): Bayside United 2-3 SMFC (Kingston Heath Soccer Complex)

Overall Head to Head:
Played: 3
SMFC Wins: 3
Bayside United Wins: 0
Draws: 0

SMFC team photo before kick-off against Oakleigh Cannons, Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday 9 March 2018. (PHOTO: Goal! Weekly).

South Melbourne FC suffered its first competitive defeat in 2018, losing 4-1 against the Oakleigh Cannons at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night.

Sasa Kolman’s side began the match strongly but the final ball in the area let South down throughout the first half. They were made to pay for this early in the second half when Dean Piemonte expertly chipped Keegan Coulter to open the scoring for the home side. Substitute Oliver Minatel had South level minutes later with a goal that the match officials thought he had scored with his head when it fact it was with his hand.

The controversy surrounding the goal mattered little as the Cannons retook the lead shortly after through a Ryan Paczkowski header. There was five minutes of madness as South conceded two more goals in the space of two minutes, firstly with an unmarked Giuseppe Marafioti tap-in at the back post before Kristian Konstantinidis was caught trying to dribble out of defence, with the ball eventually falling to Goran Zoric to score Oakleigh’s fourth and final goal.

Post-match, Kolman remained upbeat. “We had a 10-15 minute period where we were poor. On another night it could have been 2-0 to us [in the first half, instead of 0-0]. That’s football. We have only been together a short time and will keep working on our structure.”

In the Under 20s match played prior to the Seniors, South Melbourne missed an injury time penalty as it drew 2-2 with the Oakleigh Cannons. Andrew Mesourouni and Tristan Meaker scored South’s goals.

FINAL SCORE: OAKLEIGH CANNONS 4-1 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 0-0)

Goals:
1-0: Dean Piemonte (47′)
1-1: Oliver Minatel (50′)
2-1: Ryan Paczkowski (52′)
3-1: Giuseppe Marafioti (72′)
4-1: Goran Zoric (74′)

Oakleigh Cannons:
1. John Honos (GK) (c), 2. Tom Matthews, 7. Ryan Paczkowski, 8. Dusan Bosnjak, 10. Dean Piemonte (26. Thomas Podaridis 84′), 17. Giuseppe Marafioti, 18. Steve Pantelidis (16. Mehdi Sarwari 19′), 19. Goran Zoric (11. Wade Dekker 77′), 21. Konstantinos Stratomitros, 22. Anthony Rizk, 23. Shayan Alinejad.
Unused Substitutes: 4. Wayne Wallace, 95. Evan Kraloglou (GK).
Yellow Cards: Marafioti 18′, Stratomitros 23′, Piemonte 42′, Sarwari 65′.

South Melbourne:
1. Keegan Coulter (GK) / 23. Matthew Foschini, 3. Kristian Konstantinidis (20. Ajdin Fetahagic 88′), 39. Christos Intzidis, 11. Brad Norton (c) / 12. Iqi Jawadi (8. Luke Pavlou 75′), 18. Matthew Millar / 17. Andy Brennan (19. Oliver Minatel 46′), 7. Nick Epifano, 27. Leigh Minopoulos / 9. Milos Lujic.
Unused Substitutes: 16. Josh Hodes, 21. Amir Jashari (GK).
Yellow Cards: None.