PS4 NPL Victoria Round 25

By Damir Kulas

Pascoe Vale 1 (Lazarides 19')  South Melbourne 4 (Lujic 39', 42', pen 61', Schroen 90')

A Milos Lujic hat-trick saw South Melbourne earn an impressive 4-1 away win over the in-form Pascoe Vale at a rain-soaked CB Smith Reserve on Friday night.

The evening got off to a good start for the home side who opened the scoring inside the opening twenty minutes when winger Matthew Lazarides was played through and made no mistake with the finish as beat Nikola Roganovic for his third goal of the season.

That was as good as it got for the hosts as Leigh Minopoulos was brought down in the box by Adam Nakic with the Rams defender receiving his marching orders allowing Milos Lujic to step up from the spot and net home at the second attempt after Alex Pavlidis saved the initial spot-kick.

Minopoulos turned provider once more when he assisted Lujic for the second to hand South the lead at the break. Lujic then won another penalty in the second half after Pavlidis brought him down and being shown a red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity with the league’s leading goalscorer making no mistake from the penalty spot this time around.

Lujic then earned his side another penalty which was taken by Nick Epifano all the wide forward was unable to break his 12 game scoring drought with his penalty saved by Dennis Martin.

A fourth was added to the scoreline in stoppage time as Marcus Schroen scored goal number four of his season to seal an emphatic victory which takes South above rivals Heidelberg heading into their final game of the regular season at home against Green Gully next Sunday.

Port Melbourne Sharks 1 (Kelly 51') Hume City 0

The Port Melbourne Sharks have ensured their status in the top flight with their first win in ten outings following a 1-0 victory over Hume City at JL Murphy Reserve on Friday night. With the Sharks held scoreless in their previous three league meetings, it was perhaps not surprising to see the visitors have much of the early running with a Nick Hegarty ball into the area turned goalwards by youngster Kristian Trajceski only for the 17 year-old to be denied by an alert Peter Gavalas.

Tom Cahill then missed two good opportunities to give his side the lead heading into the break as he shot over the bar on both occasions. The only goal of the night came shortly after the resumption of play as a corner into the area was not dealt with by City goalkeeper Jordan Franken – who started in place of the suspended Chris Oldfield – with the ball bouncing back of the crossbar and into the path of the on-rushing Shaun Kelly who headed home from close range to give the hosts a surprise lead.

The setback seemed to spark Dean Hennessey’s side into action as Nick Hegarty saw his attempt smartly saved by Gavalas while David Stirton tried his luck from range only to be thwarted by Franken. Hegarty was not going to give up without a fight as the Hume captain sent in two further efforts before the end of the 90 without much luck as both shots went wide of goal.

The final whistle came not long after as players, coaches and supporters from the home side celebrated with joy at a precious victory which confirmed the Sharks NPL status for at least another season.

Green Gully 2 (Boland 28' Jones 48') Melbourne Victory (Waring 82')

Green Gully made it three wins from their last three competitive outings as a 2-1 home triumph over the already relegated Melbourne Victory helped consolidate their stranglehold on fourth place on the competition standings.

Unsurprisingly it was the hosts who had much of the early running as Todd Dekker saw a goal ruled out for offside while Jay Davies was unable to make full usage of a Liam Boland knock-down by firing wide of the target.

The deadlock was soon broken and in some style when FFA Cup hero scored his third goal in as many matches – and his 12^th overall this season - with a spectacular long range free-kick putting Arthur Papas’ men in front heading into the half-time interval.

A second goal was added minutes into the second period when defender and club captain Daniel Jones turned and finished from close range to compound Victory Youth’s misery. The goal did however sprung the visitors into the life as James Xydias pounced upon a Gully defensive error only to place his shot wide off target in his attempts to reduce the deficit.

The lead was halved late on in the contest when Victory grabbed a goal back as former Joeys forward Pierce Waring finished off from a Lucas Derrick cross for his second of the campaign.

That goal proved to be a mere consolation and couldn’t dampen Gully’s joy post game just days after the Keilor East based club learned their FFA Cup Round of 16 fate as they were paired off against near neighbours Melbourne Knights.

Northcote City 2 (Crowley pen 53' Papadimitriou 71') Bentleigh Greens (Webster 45')

Northcote City dug deep to keep their survival hopes alive after producing an upset come-from-behind victory over ladder leaders the Bentleigh Greens on Saturday afternoon at John Cain Memorial Reserve.

A curling free-kick from reigning Gold Medalist Kamal Ibrahim eventually found its way to Jack Webster but the Englishman’s close range shot was saved well by the scrambling Phil Petrovski.

Up the other end, in-form former Newcastle Jets forward Braedyn Crowley tested Ryan Scott with a shot on target from outside the box before Ibrahim fluffed his lines after being played through by Tyson Holmes.

The former Sharks midfielder made amends seconds before the half-time whistle when his driving run into the area saw him tee up Webster who netted goal number five of his campaign. A handball in the box from Greens defender Ross Archibald saw Crowley step up and slot the ball home from the spot for his 13^th goal in 18 league games and in the process put City on level terms.

One became two soon after as the relegation strugglers edged in front after a Todd Norris knock-down was poked into the back of the net by James Papadimitriou with the goal taking the former Zebras forward into double figures for the year following his mid-season move from Moreland.

Northcote hang on to temporarily postpone Bentleigh’s title celebrations which will have to wait another week as the hosts gave themselves a fighting chance of avoiding drop as they prepare for a do-or-die battle away to the Oakleigh Cannons next Sunday.

Avondale 5 (Germano 14' 61' Symeoy 37' Berkant 44' Kraphko 49') Melbourne Knights 0

Jonatan Germano’s fourth brace in the space of a month has helped Avondale dismantle a depleted Melbourne Knights 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at Knights Stadium.

The Avengers were looking to complete the league double over their co-tenants at Somers Street having prevailed over their hosts 3-1 earlier in the season.

With the Knights still on a high following their mid-week FFA Cup triumph, the scoring was opened inside the opening 15 minutes as Germano tapped home from close range to edge Avondale ahead. Full-back Nick Symeoy then doubled his side’s lead with his third goal of the year – his previous two also coming against the Knights – with a well taken finish past Fraser Chalmers.

Fellow youngster Jem Berkant added a third on the stroke of half-time as the former Green Gully midfielder after smashing the ball home at the near post.

Ukrainian-born forward got the scoring rolling in the second half with his third goal of the campaign after a number of near misses in the opening half.

Germano then rounded off his double on the hour mark with what was his 14^th goal of the campaign to heap more misery on the fatigued opposition as Avondale recorded their fourth consecutive victory thanks partly to the contribution of their Argentine star.

Heidelberg United 0 Oakleigh Cannons 0

Archie Thompson’s debut for Heidelberg United finished in a stalemate as the Bergers were held to a 0-0 draw at home to the Oakleigh Cannons on Sunday afternoon.

A four figure crowd flooded the turnstiles at Olympic Village as the hosts brought the former Socceroos striker into the starting eleven in place of suspended forward and top goalscorer Kenny Athiu.

A cagey opening half saw both sides struggle to create any clear cut opportunities on goal with home-team goalkeeper Chris Theodoridis alert when called into action to deny Dusan Bosnjak from opening the scoring.

The game’s defining moment came just after the hour mark when Heidelberg substitute Harry Noon played a clever through ball into the path of Thompson who managed to beat the offside trap but unable to get the ball past Cannons custodian John Honos, with the veteran producing a good save to deny the former Victory attacker’s clever dink from going goal wards.

With the game evenly poised and heading for a dire scoreless tie, former Northcote pair Dean Piemonte and Adrian Chiappetta linked up from the free-kick, but the defender’s flick on went just wide of Theodoridis’ goal as the former City trio exchange pleasantries post game.

Failure to obtain three points saw Heidelberg concede second place to rivals South Melbourne heading into the final round of the regular season although consolation can be found in the fact that the result saw the Bergers finish the campaign undefeated at home for the first time since 1969.

Bulleen Lions 0 Richmond 1 (Roorda 58')

Richmond completed a league double over Bulleen with a 1-0 win over the Lions at David Barro Stadium on Monday night meaning three teams will face the threat of relegation heading into the final day.

A quiet opening half saw both sides unwilling to take any risks as both seemed comfortable with the scoreline. Star Richmond winger Alex Caniglia had the best chance of the first half only to see his effort well saved by Griffin McMaster in Lions goal.

The away side grabbed the lead just before the hour when a foul on Hamlet Armenian just outside the box from Ersin Kaya saw Dutchman Geert-Arend Roorda step up and place his free-kick past McMaster with the former Netherlands youth international netting his third of the season.

Japanese attacker Takanori Nishimoto almost opened the scorer only for his header to be denied by a superb save from Richmond’s Frenchman goalkeeper Tony Foglia as Bulleen searched for an immediate response.

Dominic Barba brought on former Newcastle Jet Joshua Barresi in attempt to turn the game and the substitute almost made an immediate impact only for his shot on the turn to be deflected wide for a corner.

Late drama saw Richmond coach Rick Mensink punted from the technical area although he was all smiles minutes later as the final whistle went with the 2015 NPL1 Champions moving into 12^th, one point behind Bulleen and two ahead of Northcote heading into the final game of the season.

PS4 NPL Victoria Women's Round 21

Southern United 2 (Dudley-Smith 1' Murray 67') Calder United (Alonso 11' Barilla 74')

Southern's determination to avoid the wooden spoon almost caught out premiers Calder United at Comets Stadium.

But both instances of Southern scoring would be cancelled out by Calder equalisers soon after.

Brittany Dudley-Smith scored in the first minute to put Southern in the ascendancy, but Rachel Alonso would equalise for the visitors within 10 minutes. Similarly in the second half, Shaunna Murray's go-ahead goal for Southern was nullified by a goal from Enza Barilla.

Alamein FC 1 (Ayres 39') Geelong Galaxy United 0

A 23rd goal of the season for Melina Ayres sealed the golden boot for the Alamein striker and second place on the league table.

Geelong will now prepare for an elimination final against FC Bulleen Lions while Alamein earns the right to challenge Calder United for progression to the grand final.

FC Bulleen Lions 0 Box Hill United 1 (Heller 34')

A lone goal from Maren Heller was enough to win their clash with Bulleen Lions, but enough enough to grab fifth place on the table.

Box Hill United ends the season on 33 points, one behind Heidelberg United on 34 as best-of-the-rest outside finals.

Box Hill finished the season on a four-game winning streak, while Bulleen is on a three-game losing streak, its last to matches and the Team App Cup final.

Bayside United 1 (Anthony 65') Heidelberg United 1 (Gray 80')

A first goal of the season for Bayside defender Marianna Anthony had the home team on track to end the season with a win, only to be denied by an equaliser from Heidelberg United's American striker Leigh Gray.

PS4 NPL Victoria 2 East-West cross-over Round 25

By Damir Kulas

Brunswick City 2 (Le Page 51' Portillo 70') Sunshine George Cross 0

Brunswick City stretched their undefeated run to 11 matches as another Andrew Le Page free-kick helped seal a 2-0 triumph over Sunshine George Cross at Dunstan Reserve.

Both sides exchanged early chances on goal as in-form pair Yusei Kitade and Le Page latched onto scoring opportunities to no avail. Spartans captain Frank Serratore then tested his opposing counterpart Robert Santilli with a header which the Georges skipper did well to keep out as the sides went into the break deadlocked.

However the scoring was opened five minutes following the re-start when Le Page buried home his third free-kick in seven days and his sixth goal in nine games for the club following his mid-season move from State League 4 outfit the Northern Falcons.

Sunshine’s hopes of finding an equaliser were ended with twenty minutes to go when Jose Portillo received the ball from the corner kick before squeezing the ball home from an acute angle for his fifth goal of the campaign as City consolidated their position in fourth place on the NPL2 East standings.

Dandenong City 3 (Antoniadis 2', Matkovic 65', Cassar 86') Melbourne City 3 (Athanasiou pen 29', Hall 44', Gallo 74')

A last minute strike from substitute Anthony Cassar helped Dandenong City earn a share of the spoils in a thrilling six-goal draw which has all but ended Melbourne City’s promotion hopes.

The hosts opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes when forward Chris Antoniadis netted his seventh goal of the campaign.

The visitors were back on level terms on the half hour as Leo Athanasiou successfully converted his spot-kick despite Hajduk goalkeeper Damir Salcin guessing the right way.

Opposition goalkeeper Yaren Sozer fared much better when he saved Dario Matkovic’s penalty minutes later as defender Jordon Hall gave Joe Palatsides’ side the lead heading into the break.

Matkovic redeemed himself mid-way through the second half when the veteran’s delightful lob from outside had the home side back on level terms.

Winger Luke Gallo then helped the away side regain the lead with his fourth goal of the season but any hopes the youngsters had of taking home three points was snatched away from them at the death as Cassar propped up to restore parity on an action-packed day of football at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex.

Eastern Lions 1 (Ajao 88') Moreland City 0

The Eastern Lions late-season good run of form continued as a late Philip Ajao goal handed them a 1-0 home victory over Moreland City.

Chances were exchanged at either end of the pitch with City striker Trent Rixon failing to convert Apai Ukuno’s cut-back into the back of the net while Welshman Casey Thomas also saw his shot well saved.

Just as the game looked to be heading for a scoreless stalemate, a searching through ball over the top from William Ellis picked out Ajao who tucked the ball past City goalkeeper Kieran McDowell for the winner, with the Nigerian-born forward scoring in consecutive matches after an injury-plagued campaign so far this year.

That strike was his third in 15 league games and helped propel the Lions to their fourth win from their last games as they look ahead to next week’s road trip to the state border where they will face Murray United.

Kingston City 1 (Zwed 66') St Albans Saints 3 (Grgic 42', Jozeljic 83', Monek 88')

Two late goals from the St Albans Saints saw the NPL2 West league leaders earn a precious 3-1 away victory over Kingston City whose own automatic promotion hopes took a massive dint.

A cagey opening half hour saw clear-cut chances few and far between before the deficit was broken minutes before the break when Dinamo midfielder Michael Grgic was allowed enough time and space to place the ball into the bottom corner of the net with a well hit shot from outside the area.

City were back on level terms mid-way through the second half when substitute Mouad Zwed popped up at the back post to tuck in the equaliser before a terrible back pass presented Kingston forward Damian Iaconis the perfect opportunity to equalise only for the teenager to sky his effort over the bar when one-on-one with goalkeeper Alex Baird.

The miss proved costly as Saints substitute striker emphatically headed home from the corner before youngster Joseph Monek netted goal number nine of his season after a wonderful run from inside the centre circle saw him outpace two Kingston opposing defenders before slotting home to provoke jubilant scenes between Dinamo players, bench and supporters.

Whittlesea Ranges 2 (Ofli 7' pen 29') Murray United 1 (Lino 21')

Ten man Whittlesea ended a three game winless run with a hard fought Atilla Ofli-inspired 2-1 win over the league struggles Murray United at Epping Stadium to keep pressure on St Albans and North Geelong as the race for promotion in the West heats up.

The Ranges opened the scoring early on in the contest as Ofli scored from distance for the second time in successive games as his free-kick beat United goalkeeper Rohan Peace.

The visitors were on level terms shortly after the 20 minute mark when striker Geoffrey Lino pounced upon a defensive error from the Whittlesea backline to tuck home the equaliser.

Lino was played through on goal for a second only to be brought down by Ranges captain Naum Sekulovski who was shown a straight red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity and leaving the hosts a man down for the remainder of the clash.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, a handball in the box presented Ofli with an opportunity to restore the Ranges lead which he did for his 32^nd league goals in 25 starts this season.

Zac Walker did his best in search for an equaliser only to be denied by Ranges shot-stopper Luke Gallo while his opposite number did his best to prevent Whittlesea adding to their advantage as Ofli went in search of a hat-trick.

Vinko Buljubasic’s side held on for the three points to get their promotion aspirations back on track heading into the final three rounds of the season.

Box Hill United 0 North Geelong Warriors 2 (Thorne 49', Eze 57')

North Geelong condemned Box Hill to another home defeat as they secured their fourth consecutive win with a 2-0 triumph at Wembley Park to heap pressure on sister side St Albans at the top of the West standings.

In-form forward Kene Eze had the first real major opportunity at goal only to be denied by an alert Keegan Coulter as towering Warriors defender Anthony Banovac had his shot cleared off the line as they score remained deadlocked at the break.

North came out of the break the better of the two sides and immediately applied pressure onto the United defence in search of an opener.

They were rewarded minutes into the second half when Englishman Matthew Thorne netted a fantastic header.

One quickly became two when Eze pounced and finished well for his 12^th league goal of the season and sixth from the last four matches as the Warriors held onto second place on the ladder ahead of Whittlesea on goal difference, one point adrift from the top of the conference ladder.

Bendigo City 4 (Younan 8', Castel-Martinez 48', pen 50', Beever 63') Springvale White Eagles 5 (Joseph 15', 44', Min Fa 28', V.Milojevic 80', Stoilovic 88')

A nine-goal thriller at Epsom Huntly Recreation Reserve was settled by birthday boy Damir Stoilovic whose late winner saw Springvale defeat Bendigo City 5-4 in one of the games of the season.

The home side opened the scoring inside the first ten minutes of the match when attacker David Younan finished well to hand City the early lead.

However the visitors took control of proceedings for the remainder of the half as teenager Isaiah Joseph netted a brace either side of a goal from White Eagles right-back Jeremy Min Fa.

The hosts came out of the half time interval fired up and pulled a goal back from Spaniard Sergio Castel-Martinez inside the opening minutes of the half before the same player stepped up to convert a penalty which had City level five minutes after the restart.

Things got better for Jose Santamarta’s side just past the hour mark when young defender Lachlan Beever handed them a lead to complete a remarkable turnaround for the regional outfit.

Springvale sprung into life after falling behind and levelled proceedings when winger Vojislav Milojevic netting his first goal in ten matches with a little over ten minutes on the clock remaining.

The road trip back down the Calder was made easier for Springvale when Stoilovic stepped up and scored goal number 14 of the season two minutes from time to kick start a night of wild celebrations for player and club alike.

Ballarat Red Devils 4 (Mitrovic 12', 36', 79', Salvatore 65') Nunawading City 1 (Gathercole 31')

A hat-trick to teenage striker Dejan Mitrovic helped Ballarat dispatch Nunawading 4-1 at Morshead Park on Saturday evening for their third straight win to consolidate their position in sixth place in the West standings.

The Red Devils opened their account not long after the ten minute mark when a well worked team move was finished off by Mitrovic from close range.

Chances were then exchanged at either end of the park as City went in search of a response and were duly rewarded just after the hour mark when Dan Gathercole netted goal number three of his campaign after pouncing on a defensive mistake to toe-poke the ball past Aaron Romein.

Mitrovic then had an opportunity to restore Ballarat’s advantage only to hit the side netting although that miss proved irrelevant as he immediately made amends by turning his marker and finishing home to hand James Robinson’s side the edge heading into the break.

The hosts ended any possibility of a Nunawading comeback when David King’s long ball was met by star man Michael Trigger who then teed up Nelson Salvatore to add a third via a deflection.

Mitrovic then sealed the victory and his own personal career highlight by rounding off his hat-trick after being set-up by substitute Isaac Ellis for another comprehensive victory.

Goulburn Valley Suns 2 (Heffernan 47' 90') Moreland Zebras 1 (Nikolic 60')

A stoppage-time strike from Daniel Heffernan saw the Goulburn Valley Suns end the Moreland Zebras promotion hopes with a 2-1 win over their opponents at McEwen Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

With Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou in attendance to watch his former side in action, with the visitors having the bulk of the early chances on goal to little avail.

Moreland shot-stopper Stefaan Sardelic was called into action on the half hour mark to make a tremendous one-handed save to deny the Suns an opener as the hosts finished the first half the stronger of the two sides.

The deadlock was broken two minutes into the second period when from the former Heidelberg and Central Coast forward Heffernan chipped Sardelic for the opener.

Danny Gnjidic’s side responded well to the setback and were back on level terms when Joel Nikolic beat the offside trap to level scores on the hour mark as the veteran forward bundled the ball home.

With both teams chasing all three points, Zebras defender Milos Tosic was shown his second yellow late on with the Suns capitalising on their numerical advantage immediately with Heffernan slamming home the winner for his eighth goal of the campaign after joining the club in June.

Werribee City 0 Dandenong Thunder 1 (Catherine 45')

The Dandenong Thunder took full advantage of Kingston’s slip-up with an important 1-0 away win over Werribee City at Galvin Park with Samuel Catherine’s goal on the stroke of half time proving to be the difference between the two sides.

The visitors entered the clash without the services of former Bees defender Simon Colosimo who was missing the game through suspension and were dealt another blow as Afghan international defender left the field with a suspected broken arm.

With the two teams seemingly destined to head to half time on level terms, Catherine drifted into the box and sent his shot on target to break the deadlock.

Thunder striker Brandon Barnes almost doubled the lead following the restart of play only for his shot to strike the post.

Not to be outdone, City struck the woodwork themselves on two separate occasions as they were making Thunder custodian Fraser Maclaren work hard to keep his clean sheet.

Barnes was then played through late on but failed to take full advantage of the opportunity presented to him when he blasted his shot off target when one-on-one against Werribee goalkeeper Marko Stevanja.

However that miss proved insignificant in the end as the visitors jumped three points ahead of Kingston City on top of the NPL2 East standing heading into next week’s clash between the two.