PS4 NPL Victoria Finals Week 1 - Elimination Finals

Oakleigh Cannons 5 (Vargas OG 15', Zoric 28' Chiapetta 54' Hatzimouratis 73' Bosnjak 76') Green Gully 2 (Boland 14' Krousoratis 72')

Oakleigh Cannons knocked Green Gully out of the finals with a powerful display of attacking prowess at Jack Edwards Reserve.

Gully did take the lead early when a parry from John Honos sat up kindly for Liam Boland to score in the 14th minute.

But Oakleigh responded swiftly, with Goran Zoric's cross from the right shanked in for the equaliser.

Zoric then scored himself after a pass from Dusan Bosnjak to play him through the right side of the area.

Adriano Chiapetta rose highest at the back post on a set piece to put Oakleigh 3-1 to the good on 54 minutes.

Even though substitute Nick Krousoratis would peg a goal back after a Boland flick-on, the Gully revival would be brief. A volley from Dimi Hatzimouratis and close-range finish from Bosnjak sealed progression for Oakleigh.

South Melbourne 3 (Schroen 4' Lujic 38' Minopoulos 81') Hume City FC 0

An early goal from Marcus Schroen put South Melbourne in the ascendancy early as the free-scoring hosts continued their strong finish to the season at Lakeside Stadium.

Schroen volleyed in from the right side of the box after a cross from Brad Norton was bunted into the midfielder's path.

South doubled their lead when Norton's cross was headed in by Milos Lujic at the right hand post.

In the second half Matthew Miller teed up Leigh Minopoulos to secure progression, after South had seen off the best of Hume's attacking chances.

PS4 NPL Victoria Women's Preliminary Final

By Damir Kulas

Alamein FC (Runnalls 6') Geelong Galaxy United 1 (Jensen 34') Geelong won 6-5 on penalties

Geelong Galaxy United advanced to the grand final against Calder United after a penalty shoot-out win following a 1-1 draw.

It took eight kicks each to separate the sides, with Melissa Taranto converting the decisive penalty after Alamein's Harriet Cordner had fired her shot over the bar.

Earlier, both Melissa Maizels had saved from Sadie Murphy to keep Alamein in the shoot-out as Geelong shot for the chance to win.

During the match, both goals came from headers with Emma Runnalls connecting with a Hannah Keane cross from the left in the sixth minute to open the scoring.

Sky Jensen's run to the near post ended with a headed goal in the 34th minute as the Geelong defender connected with Murphy's corner.

Melissa Taranto had the best chances for Geelong to win, hitting the crossbar in extra time with a free kick. Hannah Keane was denied by a one-on-one save by Geelong goalkeeper Kelsey Quinn.

Geelong will play Calder United in the grand final.

PS4 NPL 2 East Round 27

Eastern Lions 4 (Ajao 22, 33, pen 41, Barrero 55) Dandenong Thunder 1 (Sarkies)

A Philip Ajao hat-trick helped the Eastern Lions produce one of the shocks of the season after prevailing 4-1 over Dandenong Thunder with the result knocking Huss Skenderovic’s side off the top of the ladder.

The home side came into the game on the back of last week’s disappointing 2-0 defeat away to Murray but took the lead early on as a Chris Droutsas cut-back found its way to into the path of Ajao who made no mistake to tuck home the opener.

The visitors restored parity when a Kristian Sarkies free-kick deflected off the wall and into the back of the net.

The Lions restored their lead soon afterwards as Sebastian Barrero’s run from the right flank saw him cross the ball into the area with Ajao bundling the ball over the line.

The Nigerian born forward sealed his hat-trick before the break as a foul from Thunder goal-keeper Fraser Maclaren on Droutsas saw Ajao doubled his season tally to six goals.

Dandenong’s misery was compounded in the second half when Barrero headed home from close range to rule out any possible hopes of a Thunder comeback.

Kingston City 1 (Koukal 34') Goulburn Valley Suns 0

Thunder’s pain became Kingston City’s gain as Nick Tolios’ men leapfrogged their rivals to top spot following a 1-0 triumph over the Goulburn Valley Suns at the Grange on Saturday afternoon.

City came into the contest on the back of last week’s memorable 4-3 victory away to Thunder and looked to continue their momentum against a Suns outfit which was missing talismanic striker Dan Heffernan who departed mid-week to sign a deal in Indonesia with Bali United.

The game’s defining moment came towards the end of the first half when a crafty turn inside the box from Kingston playmaker Velibor Mitrovic saw him pick out Czech midfielder Zdenek Koukal who pounced to score his fourth goal in as many matches.

Unlike their earlier meeting in Round 12, there was to be no late drama as Kingston held on to put themselves in driver’s seat ahead of next week’s final round of fixtures with a point away to Brunswick all that is needed to ensure promotion, five years after earning the same feat.

Springvale White Eagles 2 (Joseph 27, Stoilovic 54) Murray United 2 (Lino 45, Walker 71)

Murray United ended their 8000 kilometres on the road this season with an entertaining 2-2 draw against the Springvale White Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors came into the contest on the back of last week’s first home win of the season over the Eastern Lions but found themselves behind when White Eagles teenager Isaiah Joseph netted from close range for his sixth strike of the campaign. However James Coutts’ men ensured they went into the half time break on level terms as Geoffrey Lino scored his third goal of the month to make it all square heading into the interval.

Springvale edged in front once more after the break as 19 year-old forward Damir Stoilovic scored his 16^th goal of a fantastic individual campaign in a breakthrough season for the youngster.

However Murray returned home back to the border with a point as Zac Walker was played in by Lionel Masudi and made no mistake to net his eighth of the year to round out the scoring in a four-goal end to end contest.

Box Hill United 2 (Boahene 51, Osei-Safo 82) Brunswick City 1 (Wright pen 65)

Box Hill United ended Brunswick’s impressive 12 game undefeated streak with a 2-1 win over the Spartans at Wembley Park on Saturday afternoon.

In-form Welsh forward Adam Wright saw his two half-volley efforts go over the bar while the visitors also had a goal-bound header cleared off the line in a half where George Karkaletsis’ side had the better of play.

United’s best chance to open the scoring came when Michael Kariuki missed a guilt-edged header at the back post following an accurate cross into the area by Japanese attacking midfielder Kazuki Okada.

The hosts did however take the lead shortly after the break as Travis Chalk-Hatton got the better of City goalkeeper Wesley Coles and saw his effort tapped in from close range with the head of Kobbie Boahene who got himself on the scoresheet for the second game in a row.

The visitors levelled proceedings when a foul in the box on the dangerous Jose Portillo saw Wright step up from the spot and score his 16^th goal of the season. However Greg Kassidas’ side grabbed a late winner when Okada combined with substitute Ben Osei-Safo who tucked the ball home from an acute angle and past Coles at the near post for his fifth of the season as Pythagoras sealed their second consecutive 2-1 home win in the space of a week.

Nunawading City 1 (Antoniadis 47) Dandenong City (4 Filipovic 12, 20, Frame 43, Freddi 79)

Dandenong City ended a three-game winless run following a 4-1 win over last-placed Nunawading City at Mahoney’s Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

The game was over by the half-time break as a brace form Hajduk box-to-box midfielder Shaun Filipovic saw him take his season tally to five goals while Welsh forward Ross Frame also got himself on the scoresheet to have Aaron Healey’s side comfortably up at the break.

Nunawading captain Samuel Antoniadis reduced the deficit in the second half by scoring his third of the campaign on a day when he came up against his brother Chris. However the result was put to bed when Argentine playmaker Gonzalo Freddi entered double digits for the season.

PS4 NPL 2 West Round 27

Whittlesea Ranges 1 (Slefendorfas 33') Ballarat Red Devils 8 (Mitrovic 6' Karras 15' 17' 84' Trigger 42' 65' Francis 68' Launton 89')

Whittlesea's title challenge ended in spectacular fashion as three players were sent off against Ballarat Red Devils in an 8-1 capitulation.

Goals to Dean Mitrovic and a double to Patrick Karras had Ballarat 3-1 up when Naum Sekulovski and goalkeeper Abdulkerim Koc were sent off in consecutive phases of play.

Further Ballarat goals were scored by michael Trigger, Jake Francis and Brandon Lauton.

Whittlesea's scorer George Slefendorfas was sent off late in the second half for a second bookable offence.

Moreland City 1 (Reynolds 76') Melbourne City 2 (Athanasiou 65' Metcalfe 87')

Melbourne City's late winner ultimately counted for nothing as results elsewhere ended its outside hopes of staying in the promotion picture.

All the goals came in the second half, with Leo Athanasiou putting City in front only to be cancelled out by Jake Reynolds' equaliser. Connor Metclafe would net the winner three minutes from time.

North Geelong Warriors 3 (Thorne 14' Saglam 82' Cichello 84') Moerland Zebras 0

North Geelong maintained its pursuit of ladder leader St Albans with victory against Moreland Zebras.

An early Matt Thorne goal put the Warriors on course before Rudi Saglam and Vito Cichello goals late in the second half sealed the win.

Bendigo City 0 St Albans Saints 2 (McGuffie 20' Grgic 57')

Goals either side of half time kept St Albans on track to win the league and secure automatic promotion.

Ryan McGuffie opened the scoring after 20 minutes while Michael Grgic's goal early in the second half secured the points.

Sunshine George Cross 0 Werribee City 1 (Martin 2')

Angus Martin's early goal was the only scoring as Werribee City spoiled the celebration of Sunshine George Cross' last senior home game at Chaplin Reserve.