Category: News

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 1-0 FC Bulleen Lions (Schroen 16′)
U20s: SMFC v FC Bulleen Lions – Postponed
U18s: SMFC 4-2 Springvale White Eagles (Karasawa x2, Egan, Own Goal)
U16s: SMFC 2-1 Springvale White Eagles (Baker, Morgan)
U15s: SMFC 1-0 Springvale White Eagles (Singh)
U14s: SMFC 4-0 Springvale White Eagles (Zeitoune x2, Abdou, Baker)
U13s: SMFC 1-0 Springvale White Eagles (Chong)
U12s: SMFC 3-0 Springvale White Eagles (Asani, Durso, Own Goal)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 3-0 Melbourne Knights (Laszczak 47′, Greiser 60′, Alberici 84′)
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 2-4 Melbourne Knights (Boyd x2)
SL2: SMFC 5-5 Elwood City (Van Berkel x3, Plessa, Sinclair)
SL3: SMFC 3-3 Langwarrin (Van Den Bulk x2, Crowley)
SL4: SMFC 3-0 Beaumaris (Forfeit win)
U16s: SMFC 3-0 Templestowe United (Goal Scorers TBC)
U14s: SMFC 5-3 Spring Hills (Scoloro x2, Louloudis x2, Ciancio-Knauer)
U12s: SMFC 0-2 Ashburton

South Melbourne FC will look to end a very disappointing week on a high note when it hosts FC Bulleen Lions at Lakeside Stadium in PS4 NPL Victoria action on Sunday afternoon.

Chris Taylor’s side suffered a triple-blow on Tuesday night. South was hammered 4-0 by the Bentleigh Greens and was knocked out of qualifying for both the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 proper and the Dockerty Cup semi finals, with South unable to defend its 2015 Dockerty Cup triumph.

The only consolation from Tuesday’s humiliating defeat is the fact that South can now focus solely on maintaining and strengthening its three-point lead at the top of the PS4 NPL Victoria table. Winning a third straight Premiership will give South the best opportunity to do two things: win the NPL Victoria Championship (via a Grand Final win); and qualify automatically for the 2017 FFA Cup (by winning the Australian NPL Finals Series). This begins with the visit of FC Bulleen Lions on Sunday.

Bulleen have strengthened in the mid-season transfer window, with Andreas Govas (Heidelberg) and Alon Blumgart (Green Gully) the most notable additions to the team. Sami Nour caused South all sorts of problems in the earlier league meeting between the sides in March at Veneto Club and South can expect nothing less than another difficult assignment from Dom Barba’s side on Sunday. Bulleen stormed to a 2-0 lead back in March but South managed to fight back and secure an unlikely 2-2 draw late in the game.

Sunday will only be the second time that South has played against the entity now known as FC Bulleen Lions, however several Italian-backed clubs have merged and de-merged throughout the years to form what is FC Bulleen Lions today. One of those old clubs was Box Hill, a team that kept getting promoted then relegated from the old Victorian State League in the 1960s and 1970s.

Box Hill played ten top-flight league matches against South Melbourne Hellas in 1961, 1969 and from 1971 to 1973. Hellas won 9 of their 10 league meetings, with the biggest win being a 7-0 thumping at Middle Park on 27 May 1972.

South’s senior men’s and women’s teams will be playing on Lakeside Stadium on Sunday in what is only the second double-header in 2016. Socrates Nicolaidis’ women’s side will get proceedings underway at 1:30pm before the senior men kick off at 4pm.

SMFC v Bulleen Lions – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 1
Wins (SMFC): 0
Wins (BLFC): 1
Draws: 0

First/Last match: Bulleen Lions 2-2 South Melbourne (14 March 2016, Veneto Club)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): None
Biggest Winning Margin (BLFC): None

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 2 (2-2 draw, 14 March 2016, Veneto Club)
Most Goals in a Match (BLFC): 2 (2-2 draw, 14 March 2016, Veneto Club)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): None
Biggest Finals Win (BLFC): None

Bentleigh Greens progressed to the 2016 Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 and the Dockerty Cup semi finals with an emphatic 4-0 victory over South Melbourne FC at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Tuesday night.

Luke Adams was rushed straight back into South’s starting eleven after returning from a triumphant OFC Nations Cup with New Zealand over the past month and he was one of South’s few shining lights. John Anastasiadis’ side constantly pressed South throughout the whole game and it just seemed a matter of time before goals would arrive. The first goal arrived shortly before halftime via a South own goal, with the ball deflecting off the unfortunate Matthew Foschini and past Nikola Roganovic.

The cup tie was over as a contest by the hour mark, with two more goals to the Greens and with South captain Michael Eagar given his marching orders. Chris Lucas found former South Championship player Tyson Holmes unmarked at the edge of the area and teed him up to fire past Nikola Roganovic to double his side’s lead. Just a few minutes later, Eagar was sent off by referee Shaun Evans after picking up a second yellow card following a handball.

Holmes and Lucas combined again for the third goal a few minutes after Eagar’s dismissal. Holmes cleanly dispossessed Iqi Jawadi in midfield before setting Lucas up with an excellent through-ball for the striker to finish past Roganovic. Things went from bad to worse in the 78th minute when Bentleigh captain Wayne Wallace met an in-swinging corner at the near post to head home the fourth and final goal of the match.

With nothing to lose and with one less player, South threw bodies forward in the final half-hour in search of goals and Adams – playing as a makeshift centre-forward – headed the ball onto the crossbar. Spanish striker Manuel Herrero came off the bench to partner Milos Lujic up front and showed promise but was unable to score. South had left huge gaps in defence as a result of pushing forward and were thankful largely to Roganovic for not conceding even more goals.

Apart from missing out on the FFA Cup Round of 32, Tuesday’s result also means that South cannot defend its 2015 Dockerty Cup triumph, another disappointing blow for the club.

There is still plenty for Chris Taylor’s side to play for in 2016, with the aim now to win a third consecutive NPL Victoria Premiership, win the Victorian Grand Final and then win the National Finals Series, which brings automatic qualification to the 2017 FFA Cup.

South’s immediate attention now turns to the upcoming visit of FC Bulleen Lions to Lakeside Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Kick-off is at 4pm.

FINAL SCORE: BENTLEIGH GREENS 4-0 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Own Goal (38′)
2-0: Tyson Holmes (53′)
3-0: Chris Lucas (59′)
4-0: Wayne Wallace (78′)

Bentleigh Greens:
1. Ryan SCOTT (GK), 5. Jack WEBSTER, 8. Wayne WALLACE (C), 9. Chris LUCAS, 10. Tyson HOLMES, 11. Dion KIRK (4. Nick APOSTOLOPOULOS 79′), 15. Ross ARCHIBALD (12. Joshua BRINDELL-SOUTH 65′), 16. Troy RUTHVEN, 19. Kieran DOVER, 22. Ryan PACZKOWSKI, 24. Luke PILKINGTON.
Unused Subs: 14. Kamal IBRAHIM, 18. Matthew THURTELL, 21. Daniel NEESHAM (GK).

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C) (sent off 57′), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON / 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS (17. Marcus SCHROEN 57′), 23. Matthew FOSCHINI / 18. Matthew MILLAR, 99. Iqi JAWADI (15. Manuel HERRERO 60′), 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Amadu KOROMA, 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 22. Andy KECOJEVIC

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Luke Adams
Venue: Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Date: Tuesday 14 June 2016

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 2-0 Port Melbourne (Lujic 28’p, Minopoulos 71′)
U20s: SMFC 7-0 Port Melbourne (Herrero 19′, 47′, 50′, Kecojevic 27’p, Layton 35′, Hussainy 74′, Iradukunda 90′)
U18s: SMFC 6-2 Kingston City (Laurie x2, Karasawa, Marafioti, Hawthorne, Johnson)
U16s: SMFC 1-1 Kingston City (Ahmeti)
U15s: SMFC 3-1 Kingston City (Garrow, Di Sisto, Singh)
U14s: SMFC 4-0 Kingston City (Lekatsas, Abdou, Rosenzweig, Zeitoune)
U13s (Catch-up game): SMFC 7-1 Eastern Lions (Chong x2, Longhurst x2, Panakos x2, Vlogianitis)
U13s: SMFC 4-1 Kingston City (Khan, Polymenopoulos, Vlogianitis, Chong)
U12s: SMFC 3-2 Kingston City (Asani x2, Tampakas)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 0-3 Eltham Redbacks
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC 2-1 Eltham Redbacks (Boyd, Taliadoros)
SL2: SMFC 1-0 Croydon City (Tucker)
SL3: Bye
SL4: SMFC 0-5 Old Mentonians
U16s: SMFC 4-1 Spring Hills (Trajkovska x2, Stoic, Trease-Hemming)
U14s: SMFC 5-0 Bundoora United (Stringfellow x3, Ciancio-Knauer, Lynch)
U12s: SMFC 1-2 Langwarrin (Vosnidis)

South Melbourne FC travels to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Tuesday night to face the Bentleigh Greens in a mouthwatering Seventh Round FFA Cup Qualifying tie. The prize for the winning team is qualification for the 2016 Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 proper and a spot in the Dockerty Cup semi finals.

To get to this point in the competition, Bentleigh defeated Diamond Valley United on 18 March (6-1), Goulburn Valley Suns on 4 May (4-0) and Murray United on 25 May (3-0). South reached this stage of the competition by defeating Keysborough United on 19 March (10-0), Altona Magic on 20 April (3-0) and North Geelong Warriors on 1 June (2-0).

South and Bentleigh have enjoyed a league rivalry in recent seasons but have not met before in Dockerty Cup or FFA Cup competition. Both are in the top two of the NPL Victoria Championship standings, though South enjoys a three-point lead at the top of the ladder. Both teams played their last league match at home on Friday night, with South winning 2-0 against Port Melbourne and Bentleigh drawing 1-1 with Hume City.

Bentleigh goes into Tuesday night’s cup match confident due to its recent excellent record against South at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, having not been defeated by South at the venue since 2013. John Anastasiadis’ side will also feel confident having beaten South in the 2015 NPL Victoria Grand Final (3-1) and the 2016 pre-season FFV Community Shield (3-0), with the later being achieved at Kingston Heath.

South are being classified by some as underdogs for Tuesday night’s match but Chris Taylor’s side will be confident of winning the tie due to the fact that South defeated Bentleigh 2-1 in their most recent meeting in April. South is also on a three-game winning run across all competitions and have a better record than Bentleigh in head-to-head meetings, with seven wins, six losses and three draws in 16 meetings against the Greens.

Tuesday night’s cup tie kicks off at 7:30pm at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.

South Melbourne FC maintained its position on top of the Ps4 NPL Victoria ladder with a comfortable 2-0 home victory against Port Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium on Friday night. A first half penalty by Milos Lujic and a second half tap-in by substitute Leigh Minopoulos gave Chris Taylor’s side the result it wanted.

With both teams perhaps mindful of their FFA Cup qualifying games this coming week, Friday night’s match wasn’t played at the level of intensity of the earlier meeting between the two sides back in March. Nevertheless, the result was the most important thing to get out of Friday night and South achieved that with a goal in each half.

The home side opened the scoring just before the half-hour when Lujic went down in the penalty area after what looked like a tug on his shirt. South’s centre-forward stepped up to take the spot kick – instead of the usual penalty taker in Nick Epifano – and made no mistake by sending Port goalkeeper Luke Gavalas the wrong way to give his side the lead.

Early in the second half, South goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic almost gifted Port Melbourne a goal when he lost his balance and fell whilst attempting to clear the ball. With Jamie De Abreu bearing down on him, the custodian calmly headed the ball out for a corner kick and averted any danger. Lujic had the opportunity to wrap the game up just after the hour when he was through one-on-one with Gavalas but fired his shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Minopoulos had only been on the ground for six minutes before he scored to confirm the three points for South. A corner kick was played to the back post, where captain Michael Eagar fired the ball back across goal for Minopoulos to tap in from close range. Port should have halved the deficit late in the game but Erhan Yalaz headed the ball over Roganovic’s crossbar from close range.

South now has a three-point lead over Bentleigh at the top of the NPL Victoria table, after Bentleigh drew 1-1 at home to Hume on Friday night.

It was further good news in the Under 20s as South Melbourne defeated Port Melbourne 7-0. New Spanish signing Manuel Herrero was given a starting berth and he scored a hat-trick of goals (19′, 47′, 50′) before being substituted in the 56th minute. Andy Kecojevic (27’p), Charly Layton (35′), Nashir Hussainy (74′) and Thierry Iradukunda (90′) scored South’s other four goals.

South now turns its attention to Tuesday night, when it travels to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex to face the Bentleigh Greens in Round 7 FFA Cup qualifying. The winning team will qualify for both the 2016 Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 proper and the Victorian Dockerty Cup semi finals, with South being the defending Dockerty Cup winners from 2015.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 2-0 PORT MELBOURNE (HT: 1-0)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Milos Lujic (28’p)
2-0: Leigh Minopoulos (71′)

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 11. Brad NORTON / 77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS, 99. Iqi JAWADI  (8. Mathew THEODORE 65′) / 18. Matthew MILLAR, 17. Marcus SCHROEN (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS 65′), 7. Nick EPIFANO (14. Chris IRWIN 90+2′) / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Amadu KOROMA, 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK).

Port Melbourne FC:
18. Luke GAVALAS (GK), 3. James RICCOBENE, 4. James KARVELIS, 7. Jamie DE ABREU, 8. Bonel OBRADOVIC (14. Trent MANICAS 85′), 12. Alec GOODWIN (15. Dennis KOUTROULIS 79′), 16. Alan KEARNEY (19. Shaun KELLY (C) 76′), 17. Erhan YALAZ, 20. Tyler JAMES, 22. Ryan OPPERMAN, 23. Jacob ELIOPOULOS.
Unused Subs: 2. Andrew VIOLA, 25. Michael STARK.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Michael Eagar
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Friday 10 June 2016