By Adem Barolli (@adembarolli)

NPL champion South Melbourne capped off its terrific season in style, defeating Goulburn Valley Suns 4-1 in Shepparton in the final round.

Mathew Theodore started the riot in spectacular fashion, scoring in just the second minute.

After going on a mazy run, Milos Lujic opted to cross the ball in from the right to diminutive midfielder Theodore, who struck home with a left-foot volley that ricocheted of the upright and into the goal.

Unfortunately for the Suns, their start was horrific and South soon doubled its lead through Nick Epifano.

Epifano, another member of South’s talented midfield quartet, slotted home with his left foot, after the Suns were stripped of possession.

Going in at the break 2-0 down, the Suns started brightly in the second half, dictating play while creating chances, and they soon found a breakthrough.

Former Melbourne City youth prodigy Hernan Espindola broke for the Suns and played in their leading goalscorer Craig Carley, whose parried shot beat Christopher Maynard in goal for South Melbourne.

But that was to be the only consolation for the Suns, as South lifted the tempo again as the second half progressed.

The Victorian champion soon regained its two-goal lead through Lujic, who looked certain to score before Naum Sekulovski intruded.

The Suns defender brought down Lujic in the penalty area, and the league’s golden boot winner stood up to calmly place the ball into the bottom left corner, leaving Phillip Petrovski stranded in goal.

South could have found itself further in front, if not for some wasteful finishing.

Both Jamie Reed and substitute Leigh Minopoulos had a number of glorious chances to extend the margin, but their efforts went wide.

With just minutes remaining, Reed found himself in the right place at the right time, slotting home to secure South a three-goal victory from inside the penalty area.

Winning coach Chris Taylor was pleased with his side’s performance, claiming that it was a good chance to breed some youngsters ahead of South Melbourne’s national NPL Finals Series starting next week.

“It was a good chance to introduce one or two players who hadn’t played all season and I thought they acquitted themselves well,” Taylor said.

“So all in all there was not a great deal to play for, but we’re just looking forward to next year and some of the boys that will be with us.”

Suns coach David Davkovski was disappointed with the performance of his charges.

“Team performance - that’s what it’s about and we didn’t quite do a team performance today,” Davkovski said.

“We snatch one back and got to 2-1, we had some opportunities in the first half, but it’s just not enough, we’re not sharp enough.”

MATCH DETAILS

Goulburn Valley Suns 1 (Carley 49’) defeated by South Melbourne 4 (Theodore 2’, Epifano 12’, Lujic 59’, Reed 88’) at McEwen Reserve [HT: 0-2]

Goulburn Valley Suns: 1. Phillip PETROVSKI (GK), 2. Cody SELLWOOD, 3. Naum SEKULOVSKI, 4. Simon COLOSIMO, 5. Riley HAMILTON (18. Joseph HOGARTY) 7. Benjamin CLARKE (11. Thomas LANGMAN), 8. Daniel CHAABANI, 9. Craig CARLEY, 10. Brian VANEGA (14. Rossi LAGANA), 16. Frankie LAGANA, 19. Hernan ESPINDOLA

Unused substitutes: 22. Jake KEATING, 12. Geordie LELLIOT

Yellow cards: SEKULOVSKI 58’

Red cards: none

South Melbourne: 21. Christopher MAYNARD (GK), 2. Shpetim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR, 7. Nick EPIFANO (Andrija KECOJEVIC), 8. Mathew THEODORE (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS), 9. Milos LUJIC, 11. Bradley NORTON, 12. Iqbal JAWADI, 17. Jamie REED, 18. Dion KIRK, 25. Shaun TIMMINS.

Unused substitutes: 1. Jason SALDARIS (GK), 6. Dimi TSIARAS, 10. Tyson HOLMES

Yellow cards: MALA 58’

Red cards: None