Port Melbourne Sharks v Hume City
7th v 6th   
8.30pm, Friday May 16, 2014
JL Murphy Reserve
Radio: Live on NPL VIC Live (or via TuneIn app on smartphones – search ‘Live Cast’)
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #PMvHC #NPLVIC
Highlights to follow on FFV TV

Last round:
Ballarat Red Devils 0-4 Port Melbourne Sharks
Hume City 4-1 Goulburn Valley Suns

Form:
Port Melbourne Sharks: WLLWW
Hume City: LWLWW

Port Melbourne Sharks squad from: Luke Prelevic, Stefan Nigro, Lisandro Paz, Andrew Milicevic, Nick Krousoratis, James Riccobene, Connor Redden, Kamal Ibrahim, Amadu Koroma, Andrew Viola, Nick Tzoulis, John Lazaridis, Phillip Riccobene (C), Chris Grossman, Adam Hrehoresin, Kevin Braniff, Lambros Honos, Alexander Connell, Aaron Maclean

Hume City squad from: Chris Oldfield, Evan Alexandrow-Ridley, Izzy Erdogan, Shane Rexhepi, Baki Efe, Matthew Hennessey, Petar Franjic, Johnny Stojcevski, Jose Guerrero, Kliment Taseski, Devon Bonne, Kaan Korkmaz, Aaron Turner, Joseph Franjic, Ali Turgut, Johnny Buceto, Nick Marinos, Samed Altundag, Richie Cardozo

After an indifferent start, Port Melbourne and Hume City have found their rhythm and will be looking for their third consecutive wins on Friday night. The visitors will be without in-form captain Nick Hegarty though, who succumbed to a lateral meniscus tear and will be out of action for up to eight weeks after undergoing surgery. Follow all the action on NPL VIC Live (details above).

Ballarat Red Devils v Green Gully
11th v 10th   
3.00pm, Saturday May 17, 2014
Morshead Park Stadium
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #BRDvGG #NPLVIC

Last round:
Northcote City 2-3 Port Melbourne Sharks
Oakleigh Cannons 6-0 Dandenong Thunder

Form:
Ballarat Red Devils: LLDLL
Green Gully: LLLWL

Ballarat Red Devils squad from: Aaron Romein, Tristan Romein, Daniel Tinker, Dane Milovanovic, Adrian Curtain, Nelson Salvatore, Ibrahim Ghulami, Michael Trigger, Miles Baker, Dom Swinton, Charlie King (C), Danny O’Donnell, Daniel Firth, Bolish Salvatore, Pat Karras, Jai Cartledge, Steven Thomson, Simon Murphy, Jordan Franken

Green Gully squad from: Jem Berkant, Mitchell Bissinger, Ratip Cileli, Cameron Davies, Akim Abdul, Brent Fisher, Jeffrey Fleming, Sean Harding, Jason Hayne, Dilen Ibrahim, Daniel Jones, Osagie Ederaro, Matthew Sanders, Shaun Timmins, Andy Vargas (C), Rodrigo Vargas, Brian Vanega, Ardian Vuniqi, Kieran Gonzalez

There’s been further change at Green Gully as it attempts to rescue its season, with Slobode Stojcevski stepping up from the U20s to take up the senior coaching role. Stojcevski replaces Aaron Symons, who resigned a fortnight ago. Both sides are languishing near the relegation zone and will be desperate to win, though Ballarat has been hit hard with the suspension of midfielder Shaun Romein.

Goulburn Valley Suns v Bentleigh Greens
14th v 5th    
6.30pm, Saturday May 17, 2014
McEwen Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, hashtags #GVSvBG #NPLVIC

Last round:
Hume City 4-1 Goulburn Valley Suns
South Melbourne 2-1 Bentleigh Greens

Form:
Goulburn Valley Suns: LLLWL
Bentleigh Greens: WWWLL

Goulburn Valley Suns squad from: Nick Kalafatis (C), Craig Carley, Naum Sekulovski, Kristian Sarkies, Stipo Andrijasevic, Hernan Espindola, Fahed Alghazaly, Thomas Langman, Daniel Chaabani, Rudy Saglam, Ben Clarke, Zac Paraskevas, Josh Glover, Phillip Petrovski , Riley Hamilton, Cody Sellwood, Tom Langman, Anthony Calandro, Frankie Lagana

Bentleigh Greens squad from: Wayne Wallace (C), Kyle Nix, Ross Archibald, Stuart Webster, Luke Pilkington, Alastair Bray, Luc Jeggo, Tom Matthews, Luke O’Dea, Liam McCormick, Steve Hatzikostas, Jamie De Abreu, David Stirton, Nick Modaffari, Perry Lambropoulos, Brent McGrath, James Cumming, Anthony Proia, Christian Cavallo, Jack Webster, Lewis Foster

New Goulburn Valley coach Peter Zois saw his first game in charge end in disappointment last week, with his Suns unable to back up their win over Werribee City in Round 7. Bentleigh was also beaten, but didn’t go down without a fight against high-flyer South Melbourne. Despite the trip to Shepparton, McEwen Reserve is proving to be a happy hunting ground for the Melbourne-based teams, with Goulburn Valley yet to grab a single point from five home matches.

Oakleigh Cannons v Northcote City
2nd v 9th
3.15pm, Sunday May 18, 2014
Jack Edwards Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #OCvNC #NPLVIC

Last round:
Oakleigh Cannons 3-1 Melbourne Knights
Northcote City 1-3 Dandenong Thunder

Form:
Oakleigh Cannons: WDWWW
Northcote City: WWWLL

Oakleigh Cannons squad from: John Honos, Aron Wilford, Dominic D’Angelo, Thomas Lakic, Goran Zoric, Evan Christodoulou (C), Bonel Obradovic, Veton Korcari, Adam Le Cornu, Dean Piemonte, Dusan Bosnjak, Nate Foster, Branislav Karaga, Harry Raworth, Laurent Coralie, Ariel Ritz, Gideon Sweet, Andreas Govas, Ian Kamau, Jordan Lowdon, George Krommidas, Michael Karuiki, Evan Kraloglou

Northcote City squad from: Chris Theodoridis, Luke Gavalas, Adrian Chiappetta (C), Kristian Konstantinidis, Tremayne Sadler, Ersin Kaya, Steve Sifinos, Metekan Yilmaz, Benjudah Fitzpatrick, Philip Petreski, Josh Hiles, Jonathan Munoz, Evan Kounavelis, Marino Gasparis, Greg Lombardo, Trent Rixon, Aaron Ward, Jonathan Bounas, Liam Wooding, Michael Catalano, James Kalifatidis, Wade Dekker

Jack Edwards Reserve is Oakleigh’s fortress. The Cannons have won all four home games, scoring 17 goals and conceding just three in the process. It’s a daunting task ahead for Northcote City, which is stuck in another form slump after two consecutive losses. On a more positive note for the visitors, coach Goran Lozanovski will return from his suspension.

South Melbourne v Pascoe Vale
1st v 13th       
5.00pm, Sunday May 18, 2014
Lakeside Stadium
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #SMvPV #NPLVIC

Last round:
South Melbourne 2-1 Bentleigh Greens
Werribee City 1-1 Pascoe Vale

Form:
South Melbourne: WWWWW
Pascoe Vale: LWDLD

South Melbourne squad from: Jason Saldaris, Tim Mala, Andrew Mullett, Michael Eagar (C), Mathew Theodore, Dimitri Tsiaras, Nick Epifano, Milos Lujic, Tyson Holmes, Brad Norton, Iqbal Jawadi, James Musa, Kobbie Boahene, James Reed, Slaven Vranesevic, Christopher Maynard, Andy Kecojevic, Leigh Minopoulos

Pascoe Vale squad from: Stefaan Sardelic, Eli Luttmer, Nathen Megic, Tomislav Milardovic, Alvaro Carrillo, Adrian Talarico, Michael Ferrante, Carl Recchia, Joseph Youssef, Luca Santilli, Jonathon Voulgaris, Roberto Di Vito, Davey Van’t Schip, Marco Santilli, Mark Pistininzi, Matthew Lazarides, Yaren Sozer

South Melbourne can do no wrong at the moment. The league leader faced its biggest challenge against Bentleigh and passed with flying colours, and will be heavily favoured to extend its winning streak to nine matches. Pascoe Vale has a tendency to play a defensive style on the road and will look to constrict the supply to South Melbourne’s in-form strikers Milos Lujic and Jamie Reed.

Dandenong Thunder v Werribee City
4th v 8th
6.00pm, Sunday May 18, 2014
George Andrews Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #DTvWC #NPLVIC

Last round:
Northcote City 1-3 Dandenong Thunder
Werribee City 1-1 Pascoe Vale

Form:
Dandenong Thunder: WDLLW
Werribee City: LWLLD

Dandenong Thunder squad from: Frazer Siddall, Jarryd Barnes, Ilir Pali, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, Faisal Sakhi Zada, Alan Mulcahy (C), Kieran Dover, Matthew Millar, Ivan Skorich, Feston Azizi, Kristopher Kioussis, Brendan Elmazovski, Anthony Giannopoulos, Ryan Burns, David King, Alan Kearney, Marcus Schroen, Brendan Craig, Zaim Zeneli, Jake Nakic, Jack Caminiti, Jarod Blackbourn

Werribee City squad from: Steven Cudrig, Matthew Cundari, Milan Savic (C), Tommy Dunn, Zois Galanopoulos, Nemanja Govedarica, Joshua Groenewald, Ryan Filipovic, Domenico Marafioti, Ray Markley, Damir Marusic, Daniel Petrov, Ivica Praiz, Anthony Ragusa, Daniel Sweeney, Simon Symeoy, Bobby Vidanovski, Simon Zappia

Dandenong is one of the youngest sides in the NPL but showed great maturity to bounce back from a 6-0 drubbing against Oakleigh, with two teenagers (Matt Millar and Kieran Dover) and a 21-year-old (Marcus Schroen) scoring in the 3-1 win over Northcote City. It is slowly gelling under coach Dean Hennessey and will be fancied to defeat Werribee City, which has had a poor past few weeks and became the first side to lose to Goulburn Valley.

Heidelberg United v Melbourne Knights
3rd v 12th
6.00pm, Sunday May 18, 2014
Olympic Village
Radio: Live on NPL VIC Live (or via TuneIn app on smartphones – search ‘Live Cast’)
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #HUvMK #NPLVIC

Last round:
Heidelberg United 4-0 Green Gully
Oakleigh Cannons 3-1 Melbourne Knights

Form:
Heidelberg United: LWWWW
Melbourne Knights: LLLLL

Heidelberg United squad from: Stefan Baricevic, Luke Byles (C), Les Doumbalis, Andrew Cartanos, Gianluca Fantacci, Daniel Heffernan, Dean Jancevski, Kaine Sheppard, Kostas Kanakaris, Petr Kratky, Mark McGough, Griffin McMaster, Paul Miller, Steven Pace, Jack Petrie, Phillip Petrovksi, Ryan Norval, Zane Sole, Haris Stamboulidis, Daniel Vasilevski, Jordan Wilkes, Yusuf Yusuf

Melbourne Knights squad from: Shayan Alinejad, Milan Batur, Adrian Barresi, Anthony Colosimo, Marijan Cvitkovic, Ivan Grgic, Anthony Duzel, Antun Kovacic, Ante Kozul, Chris May, James McGarry, Michael O’Farrell, Joseph Monek, Leo Athanasiou, Damien Rastocic, Michael Simms, Ben Surey (C), Christopher Talajic, Sam Torrens, Tomislav Uskok, Daniel Visevic, Nikola Srbinovski, Chris Stefani, Christopher Talajic

The Knights have slumped to five consecutive losses and are clearly a wounded outfit with a host of injuries to key players, namely Rodrigo Covarrubias and Jack Colosimo. They’ll gain confidence though from their midweek win over State League 1 side Mornington in the Dockerty Cup, though they had to wait until extra time to seal the win. Heidelberg is one of the form teams of the NPL, winning its past four encounters in convincing fashion. Dan Heffernan was the star last week, scoring four goals. Can he register on the scoresheet again?

NPL 1 – Round 8

Richmond v Whittlesea Ranges
12th v 10th
8.30pm, Friday May 16, 2014
Kevin Bartlett Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #RSCvWR #NPLVIC

Brunswick City v FC Bulleen Lions
14th v 6th   
3.00pm, Saturday May 17, 2014
Dunstan Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #BCvBL #NPLVIC

North Geelong Warriors v Avondale Heights
7th v 1st     
3.00pm, Saturday May 17, 2014
Elcho Park
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #NGWvAH #NPLVIC
Highlights to follow on FFV TV

Dandenong City v Sunshine George Cross
11th v 2nd   
3.00pm, Saturday May 17, 2014
Frank Holohan Soccer Complex
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #DCvSGC #NPLVIC

Springvale White Eagles v Kingston City
13th v 4th   
3.00pm, Saturday May 17, 2014
White Eagles Stadium
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #SWEvKC #NPLVIC

St Albans Saints v Moreland Zebras
5th v 8th
3.00pm, Sunday May 18, 2014
Churchill Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #SASvMZ #NPLVIC

Box Hill United v FC Bendigo
3rd v 9th
3.15pm, Sunday May 18, 2014
Wembley Park
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #BHUvFCB #NPLVIC

Image credit: Mark Avellino