Category: News

South Melbourne FC further consolidated top spot on the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder following an excellent 5-2 victory over the Melbourne Knights in the original Melbourne derby on Friday night. Milos Lujic and Matthew Millar both scored doubles whilst centre-half Luke Adams scored the other goal to win the three points at Knights Stadium.

It was just over 25 years to the day that the two sides faced off in one of the most dramatic domestic Grand Finals of all time. Friday night’s game provided plenty of highlights in the latest chapter of the derby, with five goals in the first half, a red card and seven goals overall in the match. It was the second of two consecutive successful Friday night visits to Knights Stadium for South, with the goal of two wins achieved.

Like in the 1991 Grand Final, it was the Knights that took the lead on Friday night, when Jacob Colosimo got on the end of Stipo Andrijasevic’s cross to head the ball past Nikola Roganovic in only the third minute of the game. South were behind on the scoreboard for only five minutes before Lujic met Marcus Schroen’s cross to score past Knights goalkeeper Michael O’Farrell with a perfect header to level proceedings and give the derby an explosive start.

Chris Taylor’s side then took the lead three minutes later when an initial Schroen shot deflected off a Knights defender, hit the post and rebounded fortuitously to the incoming Millar, who beat Anthony Katiforis to the ball before scoring from close range. South only had the lead for ten minutes before Andrew Marth’s men drew level thanks to an unmarked James McGarry header from yet another excellent Andrijasevic cross that gave Roganovic no chance.

The first half had been an end-to-end affair, with both sides having numerous chances to score more goals. Roganovic stood tall and made a near-post block as the Knights pressed to take the lead again. O’Farrell denied Lujic at the near post and then the Knights had to scramble to clear the ball off the goal line from an Adams header as South started to gain some control.

Shortly before the halftime break, Nikola Jurkovic’s attempted pass forward was intercepted by Brad Norton, who found some space on the left side of the box before firing a perfect low cross for an unmarked Lujic to tap home his second of the night from close range. South could have gone into the sheds even further ahead had O’Farrell not produced an excellent save with his leg to deny Nick Epifano. Schroen also hit a stinging shot that went just wide of the goal.

The match swung further into South’s favour on the hour mark when Epifano – who was just inside his own half – latched onto Schroen’s ball over the top of the Knights defence and sprinted towards goal before being brought down just outside the area by defender Damien Miskulin, who was given his marching orders by the referee as the last defender. Miskulin’s sacrifice was justified when O’Farrell palmed Schroen’s resulting free kick over the crossbar to keep the ten-man Knights just a goal behind on the scoreboard.

The three points were secured with a further two goals in the space of two minutes. On 79 minutes, Adams beat O’Farrell to Schroen’s in-swinging corner and headed into the empty net before South regained possession from the kickoff and streamed forward again against a three-man Knights defence. The ball eventually fell for Millar to score his second of the night despite the best efforts of Joshua Brekalo to clear the ball off the line.

In the Under 20s match played prior to the Seniors, Melbourne Knights and South Melbourne played out a 1-1 draw. Charly Layton scored South’s only goal after 7 minutes.

South returns to Lakeside Stadium next Friday night when it hosts Pascoe Vale. Kick-off is at 8:30pm.

FINAL SCORE: MELBOURNE KNIGHTS 2-5 SOUTH MELBOURNE (HT: 2-3)

Goal Scorers:
1-0: Jacob Colosimo (3′)
1-1: Milos Lujic (8′)
1-2: Matthew Millar (11′)
2-2: James McGarry (21′)
2-3: Milos Lujic (43′)
2-4: Luke Adams (79′)
2-5: Matthew Millar (80′)

Melbourne Knights FC:
1. Michael O’FARRELL (GK), 5. Milan BATUR (C), 6. Damien MISKULIN (sent off 60′), 8. James McGARRY (10. Marijan CVITKOVIC 71′), 9. Jacob COLOSIMO, 11. Nikola JURKOVIC (2. Luke JURCIC 81′), 13. Anthony KATIFORIS (17. Robbie ZADWORNY 64′), 16. Jason HICKS, 18. Joshua BREKALO, 19. Nick GLAVAN, 21. Stipo ANDRIJASEVIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Anthony DEZIC, 20. Hrvoje CARAKUN (GK).

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 12. Amadu KOROMA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 8. Mathew THEODORE (99. Iqi JAWADI 83′) / 17. Marcus SCHROEN (77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 90′), 18. Matthew MILLAR, 7. Nick EPIFANO (14. Chris IRWIN 76′) / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK), 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS.

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Amadu Koroma
Venue: Knights Stadium
Date: Friday 6 May 2016

South Melbourne FC makes a second successive Friday night trip to Knights Stadium, this time to face old rivals the Melbourne Knights in the original Melbourne derby.

South goes into the derby having won six straight matches across all competitions in the month of April, with the most recent being last Friday night’s tough 2-0 win on the road against Avondale FC. Chris Taylor’s men have consolidated a three-point lead at the top of the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder and enjoyed a full seven-day break between games this week, something they did not have the recent luxury of doing.

Andrew Marth’s Melbourne Knights side go into the derby in winning form, having secured a late 2-1 win against Melbourne Victory’s NPL side at Epping Stadium last Saturday. That lifted the Knights to eighth spot on the NPL Victoria ladder and a derby win on Friday night could further elevate them as high as fourth spot if other results also go their way.

Ladder positions mean absolutely nothing in matches between the two sides, with the lower-ranked team defeating the higher-ranked team on many occasions in the past. This occurred as recently as last season, when Chris May saved David Stirton’s penalty kick deep into injury time to secure a memorable 2-1 win for the Knights. The Knights have a solid recent home record against South – with two wins from the last three derbies at Knights Stadium – and will no doubt be using this as inspiration to get one over their old foes.

Season 2016 marks the 33rd consecutive season that SMFC and the Knights have played against each other in league competition, following Melbourne Croatia being promoted into the National Soccer League in 1984. There have been many great derby games in the past and those heading to the game on Friday will be hoping to witness another classic.

Friday night’s match at Knights Stadium kicks off at 8:30pm. 

SMFC v Melbourne Knights – Head to Head (League & Finals)

Matches Played: 97
Wins (SMFC): 48
Wins (MKFC): 26
Draws: 23

First match: SC Croatia 1-2 South Melbourne Hellas (2 April 1960, Corio Oval)
Last match: Melbourne Knights 2-1 South Melbourne (12 July 2015, Knights Stadium)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 7-0 (11 June 2006, Lakeside Stadium)
Biggest Winning Margin (MKFC): 4-0 (3 May 1989, Olympic Park / 23 February 2001, Knights Stadium)

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 7 (7-0 win) – (11 June 2006, Lakeside Stadium)
Most Goals in a Match (MKFC): 5 (5-3 win) – (16 April 1972, Olympic Park)

Biggest Finals Win (SMFC): 4-1 (27 April 1997, Knights Stadium)
Biggest Finals Win (MKFC): 3-2 (30 April 1995, Olympic Park)

SC Croatia*/Melbourne Croatia/Knights weren’t in the same division as SMFC during the following seasons:
1961 to 1962, 1964, 1973 to 1983
(*with thanks to Pave Jusup for his assistance)

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 2-0 Avondale FC (Epifano 24’p, Lujic 90+3′)
U20s: SMFC 2-1 Avondale FC (Maker 10′, Jansz 73′)
U18s: SMFC 1-3 Eastern Lions (Nikolic)
U16s: SMFC 4-0 Eastern Lions (Morgan x2, Loutrakis, Ahmeti)
U15s: SMFC 2-1 Eastern Lions (Kapaklis x2)
U14s: SMFC 12-0 Eastern Lions (Rosemond x2, Cevik x2, Kifle x2, Abdou x2, Lewis-Hanafin x2, Baker, Rosenzweig)
U13s: SMFC v Eastern Lions – Postponed – Date TBC
U12s: SMFC 6-1 Eastern Lions (Chinnama x2, Asani x2, Markovski, Own Goal)

Female Teams (U12-Seniors) – Team App Cup / Catch-Up Round

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC 1-0 Casey Comets (Lee 80′)
SL1 (Reserves): No Game
SL2: No Game
SL3: SMFC 0-0 Beaumaris
SL4: No Game
U16s: No Game
U14s: No Game
U12s: No Game

South Melbourne FC defeated Avondale FC 2-0 at Knights Stadium on Friday night to confirm six straight wins in the month of April. Nick Epifano’s first half penalty and a late goal from centre-forward Milos Lujic ensured three points for Chris Taylor’s side against a difficult Avondale side.

South started the game positively but struggled to create clear-cut opportunities in front of the determined Avondale defence. On 24 minutes, referee Alessandro Arbizzani spotted a handball in the area by Baki Efe and pointed to the spot, where Chris May dived the right way but could not stop Epifano scoring from the spot. South should have gone into the break 2-0 up when Kristian Konstantinidis’ low cross from the right side was somehow missed by three incoming South players, with Avondale let off the hook.

The home side certainly had the better of the second half, with South goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic to thank for making several excellent saves to preserve the away team’s clean sheet. Former South NSL player Massimo Murdocca was substituted onto the field on the hour mark and caused his former club plenty of headaches down the right side of the field. Unfortunately for Avondale, they failed to capitalise on all opportunities they created, with Murdocca, Michele Crazia, Omar Ammache and Oleksiy Khrapko all either putting chances wide or being denied by Roganovic saves.

At the other end, what looked like a handball by May outside his goalkeeping area was missed by the referee as South tried to get a second goal to kill off the game. They did eventually get a second goal with what proved to be the final action of the game, when Lujic found himself one-on-one with May deep into injury time before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting the ball into the empty net to seal a hard-fought but very important 2-0 win on the road.

It was further good news in the Under 20s, with goals from Maker Maker (10′) and Brandon Jansz (73′) helping South Melbourne get back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory against Avondale FC.

South returns to Knights Stadium on Friday night for what is shaping up to be a big Melbourne derby against the Melbourne Knights. Kick-off is at 8:30pm.

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

Goal Scorers:
0-1: Nick Epifano (24’p)
0-2: Milos Lujic (90+3′)

Avondale FC:
1. Chris MAY (GK), 2. Nicholas SYMEOY, 3. James CUMMING, 4. Baki EFE, 5. Jeffrey FLEMING (C), 9. Oleksiy KHRAPKO, 12. Mathew SANDERS (10. Jonatan GERMANO 66′), 13. Yitay TOWNS (8. Massimo MURDOCCA 60′), 16. Omar AMMACHE (37. Abrahim YANGO 84′), 17. Phil RICCOBENE, 31. Michele CRAZIA.
Unused Subs: 11. Jem BERKANT, 40. Evan MARKOGIANNAKIS.

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 3. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON / 23. Matthew FOSCHINI, 8. Mathew THEODORE (17. Marcus SCHROEN 60′) / 27. Leigh MINOPOULOS (99. Iqi JAWADI 65′), 18. Matthew MILLAR (77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 83′), 7. Nick EPIFANO / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 6. Filzgerald MBAKA, 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK).

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Nikola Roganovic
Venue: Knights Stadium
Date: Friday 29 April 2016

South Melbourne FC wishes to update its members, sponsors and the general football public on the recent progress made by the Club in regards to the incident against Melbourne Victory’s NPL team last Sunday 24 April 2016.

SMFC has so far positively identified 21 individuals connected to Melbourne Victory Football Club that organised an unprovoked attack on SMFC supporters in the designated SMFC grandstand early in the second half of last Sunday’s match.

Relevant information relating to these individuals, including names, footage and photographs have been given to Victoria Police, Melbourne Victory Football Club, Football Federation Victoria and Football Federation Australia.

SMFC thanks the many people – including non-SMFC members and supporters – for assisting with information that has helped lead to the 21 positive identifications. The Club continues to investigate the incident as there may be more individuals that need to be identified.

SMFC wishes to once again praise the actions of the SMFC supporters, who despite the unprovoked attack on them, remained in their allocated section to allow for security, parents, Board of Management, staff and club marshals to de-escalate the situation.

Senior Coach Chris Taylor, his football staff and the players have all condemned the actions of the Melbourne Victory supporters but have praised the SMFC supporters and give their best wishes to anyone that was affected by this appalling incident.

The players urge all SMFC supporters to continue their fantastic support of the team tonight against Avondale FC at Knights Stadium.

South Melbourne FC plays the first of two consecutive PS4 NPL Victoria matches at Knights Stadium when it travels there to face Avondale FC on Friday night.

Avondale is using Knights Stadium as its home base in 2016 and will welcome the challenge of hosting South. Anthony Barbieri’s side lost their opening five matches in 2016 but have steadied and go into Friday’s game having won four matches in a row across all competitions. This includes three league wins and a 5-1 thumping of South Springvale in FFA Cup qualifying, elevating Avondale out of the relegation zone and into ninth place on the league standings.

Avondale have a wealth of experience in their team, with players such as Massimo Murdocca, Chris May, Jeffrey Fleming, Jonatan Germano, Matthew Sanders and Spase Dilevski having either been involved in the national league in recent times or having many years of experience playing in Victoria’s top flight. One player in good form has been Oleksiy Khrapko, who scored Avondale’s first goal in the 2-1 win at Port Melbourne last round.

South also goes into the game in excellent form, having defeated Melbourne Victory’s NPL team 1-0 at Lakeside Stadium last Sunday to confirm five straight wins across all competitions. Milos Lujic scored the winning goal with an excellent header as South remained on top of the NPL Victoria ladder. Chris Taylor’s side will be wanting a sixth straight win in order to maintain their position at the top of the tree ahead of the derby against the Melbourne Knights next week.

With a recent heavy schedule of three games in seven days possibly starting to take its toll on his players, it will be interesting to see if Taylor gives other squad members a chance against Avondale.

Friday night’s match kicks off at 8:15pm at Knights Stadium.

SMFC v Avondale – Head to Head

Matches Played: 2
Wins (SMFC): 2
Wins (Avondale): 0
Draws: 0

First match: SMFC 1-0 Avondale FC (8 May 2015, Lakeside Stadium)
Last match: Avondale FC 0-7 SMFC (15 August 2015, Doyle Street Reserve)

Biggest Winning Margin (SMFC): 7 goals (7-0 win, 15 August 2015, Doyle Street Reserve)
Biggest Winning Margin (Avondale): None

Most Goals in a Match (SMFC): 7 (7-0 win, 15 August 2015, Doyle Street Reserve)
Most Goals in a Match (Avondale): 0

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

Male NPL Teams (U12-Seniors)

Seniors: SMFC 1-0 Melbourne Victory (Lujic 59′)
U20s: SMFC 0-6 Melbourne Victory
U18s: SMFC 5-1 Box Hill United (Hawthorne x2, Tselepis, Zarbos, Egan)
U16s: SMFC 5-2 Box Hill United (Kolaj x3, Gaal x2)
U15s: SMFC 0-0 Box Hill United
U14s: SMFC 6-1 Box Hill United (Zeitoune x3, Giannakarios, Rosenzsweig, Mitsonis)
U13s: SMFC 3-0 Box Hill United (Vlogianitis, Chong, Panakos)
U12s: SMFC 3-0 Box Hill United (Asani x2, Markovski)

Female State League Teams (U12-Seniors)

SL1 (Seniors): SMFC v Yarra Jets – Postponed – Date TBC
SL1 (Reserves): SMFC v Yarra Jets – Postponed – Date TBC
SL2: SMFC 0-5 Mooroolbark (Scorers TBC)
SL3: SMFC 9-0 Kingston City (Moloney x4, Weller x2, Belanger, Ross, Vanstekglenburg)
SL4: SMFC 3-2 Monash University (Scorers TBC)
U16s: SMFC 10-0 Eltham Redbacks (Taliadoros x6, Trease-Hemming x3, Boyd)
U14s: SMFC 1-0 Spring Hills (Louloudis)
U12s: SMFC 3-3 Ashburton Gold (Scorers TBC)

South Melbourne FC won a fifth successive match across all competitions following its 1-0 win against Melbourne Victory’s NPL side at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday night. Milos Lujic’s header on the hour mark proved to be the difference as South maintained its position at the top of the PS4 NPL Victoria ladder after nine rounds.

The home side had a series of chances to open the scoring in the first half but was unable to do so. Matthew Millar hit a stinging shot that hit the crossbar before putting another chance wide of the goal after being put through one-on-one with goalkeeper Lucas Spinella.

Lujic also hit the crossbar with a shot early in the second half as a frustrated South continued to be denied an opening goal. The goal finally arrived just shy of the hour mark, when Schroen headed the ball to the back post for a lurking Lujic to head the ball back across Spinella’s goal and into the back of the net.

The home side searched for a second goal that would have killed the game off as a contest but it never came, with the tough schedule of three games in seven days perhaps finally taking its toll on the players.

Victory had the ball in the net in second half injury time, however the goal was rightly disallowed as Seb Pasquali was in an offside position at the time of captain Stefan Nigro’s initial shot.

The result was not good in the Under 20s, with Melbourne Victory enjoying a comprehensive 6-0 win against South Melbourne. It was the first loss for Brian MacNicol’s side in 2016.

South has a five-day turnaround before its next match against Avondale FC at Knights Stadium on Friday night. Kick-off is at 8:15pm.

FINAL SCORE: SOUTH MELBOURNE 1-0 MELBOURNE VICTORY (NPL) (HT: 0-0)

Goal Scorer:
1-0: Milos Lujic (59′)

South Melbourne FC:
1. Nikola ROGANOVIC (GK) / 2. Tim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR (C), 5. Luke ADAMS, 11. Brad NORTON / 8. Mathew THEODORE (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS 68′), 23. Matthew FOSCHINI / 18. Matthew MILLAR, 17. Marcus SCHROEN (77. Stephen HATZIKOSTAS 81′), 7. Nick EPIFANO (22. Andy KECOJEVIC 90+3′) / 9. Milos LUJIC.
Unused Subs: 3. Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 21. Zaim ZENELI (GK).

Melbourne Victory FC (NPL):
1. Lucas SPINELLA (GK), 3. Callum GOULDING, 4. Matt HENNESSEY, 5. Damien MISKULIN, 6. Stefan NIGRO (C), 7. Lucas DERRICK (11. Andre McNAMARA 78′), 8. James XYDIAS, 9. Pierce WARING (33. Joey KATEBIAN 64′), 13. Ryan LAMBERT (10. Seb PASQUALI 64′), 15. Josh HOPE, 19. George HOWARD.
Unused Subs: 2. John VAKIRTZIS, 20. Brandon OSIPOV (GK).

SMFC Melbourne City Toyota Man of the Match: Matthew Foschini
Venue: Lakeside Stadium
Date: Sunday 24 April 2016

South Melbourne FC condemns the actions of a group of Melbourne Victory supporters at its recent NPL Victoria match against SMFC on Sunday 24 April at Lakeside Stadium.

South Melbourne FC prides itself on being a family orientated club and we are dismayed at the threatening actions against our fans and the club as a whole. SMFC had numerous junior players, parents, children, community partners and members of both our senior and junior women’s teams in attendance. There were also elderly SMFC life members who were in the area at the time.

In conjunction with Melbourne Victory, Victoria Police, Football Federation Victoria and the State Sport Centre Trust, South Melbourne FC undertook a major security review prior to the game and put numerous procedures in place that were agreed by all parties.

As part of this, supporters were to enter and be located into specific sections of the venue. South Melbourne fans were to be located in its traditional Bob Jane Grandstand and Victory opposite, coordinated by their supporter marshals and security personnel. These protocols were published online through both clubs’ websites, social media channels and other associated football related media, including FFV.

For the large part of the event, the atmosphere generated by both sets of fans was positive and entertaining. However, early in the second half a small group of Melbourne Victory active supporters infiltrated the South Melbourne supporter stand and proceeded to attack the South fans, as well as attempt to steal numerous items, including fan banners.

In the ensuing minutes, a large portion of the Melbourne Victory fans jumped the fences from their allocated grandstand and violated the restricted area by running across the playing arena to further attack the South fans. The actions that followed included further attempts to steal banners, personal belongings, SMFC TV media equipment and match equipment, including balls and the corner flag. This caused a short stoppage to the game of approximately one minute. At this point, the club also removed its SMFC Ball Boys from the arena due to safety concerns.

This incident was both provocative and violent and has caused distress among many of our key stakeholders, including sponsors, members, general supporters and players of all ages. The club is also aware that some members, including children, received medical attention at the scene and we will continue to support all affected by Sunday’s incident.

We want to specifically praise the actions of our own supporters, who despite the unprovoked attack on them, remained in their allocated section and allowed for security personnel, parents, board, staff and club marshals to de-escalate the situation and ensure that the fans remained safe. By doing so, our supporters continued to cheer on our team for the remainder of the match, which we won 1-0 to maintain our lead at the top of the NPL Victoria table.

The club is working with Victoria Police, State Sports Centre Trust, Melbourne Victory and Football Federation Victoria to gather the relevant evidence, including photos and video supplied by numerous sources, in support of potential criminal charges and infringements against the offenders. The club continues to support a zero tolerance approach on any anti social behaviour and will work with all parties to ensure that relevant action is taken.

The club will be making no further statement at this time and urges its supporters to continue supporting our club and forward any relevant material captured on Sunday to admin@smfc.com.au.

South Melbourne FC will be hoping to make it five straight wins across all competitions when it hosts Melbourne Victory’s NPL team at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday evening.

Chris Taylor’s side has won four tough matches in succession since losing to Richmond in late March and has managed to score in every league and cup match so far in 2016. South overcame a sluggish first-half performance at Paisley Park on Wednesday night to eventually defeat Altona Magic 3-0 and progress through to the Sixth Round of Westfield FFA Cup qualifying.

Taylor himself will be back in the dugout on Sunday, having served a one-match suspension following his dismissal against Oakleigh in last Sunday’s win. Under 20s coach Brian MacNicol took temporary charge of the team on Wednesday night and left several regular starting players on the bench or completely rested in order to be ready for Sunday’s match.

Brad Norton, Kristian Konstantinidis, Nick Epifano, Mathew Theodore, Brad Norton and Leigh Minopoulos did not feature at all in midweek, whilst Matthew Foschini and Iqi Jawadi – finally back after injury – only featured late in the match off the bench. Most of these players are expected to be back in the squad for the Victory match although some of their fellow teammates – Amadu Koroma in particular – played very well against Altona and may remain in the team on Sunday.

Melbourne Victory’s NPL team finished third in NPL 1 last season but won promotion after defeating North Geelong 2-0 in the Promotion Playoff in September 2015. Victory are currently in eleventh place on the ladder with seven points from their first eight matches and with four straight losses. They have struggled to score goals lately due to the absence of captain Joey Katebian and George Howard from the team (injury and first team duties respectively) but will note that South only got one point in meetings against Bulleen Lions and Richmond – the other two 2015 promoted teams – earlier in the season.

Sunday’s main match kicks off at 5pm, with the Under 20s match commencing at 2.30pm. SMFC will also be honouring the memory of the ANZACs in a short ceremony prior to the main game commencing.

Seating Arrangements