It still might be early days, but Greek Australian fans will be ecstatic with the way the NPL season has started.
Four out of six Greek sponsored teams have taken home wins in the first round of the NPL, with South Melbourne, Bentleigh Greens, Port Melbourne Sharks and Heidelberg United leading by example.
The not so lucky Oakleigh Cannons and Northcote City will be vying to make amends and join the four this week, as they take on some interesting opponents.
Northcote City have a tough match against Melbourne Knights tonight, after their 4-1 thrashing by Green Gully is still raw.
Coach Goran Lozanovski has been quietly realistic about his side’s health, after some shock transfers left him and the club reeling.
Defender Kristian Konstantinidis left the squad a week before the season start moving to 2014 champions South Melbourne, while captain Adrian Chiapetta secured a move to Oakleigh Cannons.
“[It’s] hard to swallow sometimes but if a player does perform and have a good season, suddenly these big clubs come poaching them and start giving them all the dreams that they think are going to happen in one season,” he told The Corner Flag this week.
“It’s part and parcel of football. It’s disappointing on our behalf, especially losing KK [Kristian Konstantinidis] a week before the season starts, but I’ve been a player, I understand where they come from and it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but you need to move on.”
Northcote City management has told Neos Kosmos that the club is being realistic about its revival, and expects a fully fledged premiership contending team in the next two years.
A team that is a far cry from its 2014 self is Port Melbourne Sharks. Eric Vassiliadis’ team has carved out its first solid win of the season after a hugely successful pre-season.
Calling the club the NPL’s “best kept secret”, Vassiliadis saw his team secure a clinical 3-1 win against Hume City last week.
Former Northcote City boy, Trent Rixon proved he was worth the money after he scored two out of the three goals for the team and will be integral in their match against Pascoe Vale tonight.
FFA Cup darlings, Bentleigh Greens come back to more familiar territory when they take on Dandenong Thunder Saturday.
The Greek sponsored team took on NPL newbies North Geelong last week and came out with a 2-0 clean sheet while Dandenong Thunder almost mimicked them with a 2-1 win over Werribee City.
Greens coach John Anastasiadis has been working hard to gel the new team, with six of the starting 11 in the North Geelong match being new recruits.
Oakleigh Cannons might have been the first casualties of the season after their disappointing 1-0 loss to South Melbourne, but Miron Bleiberg’s boys aren’t ones to dwell on lost chances.
They’ve had more than a week to fix any problems before they take on current leaders Green Gully on Monday.
They were the better team last week, showing an impressive style on the pitch and pushing the ball back to their side amazingly quickly.
Sadly, their tries fell short, with South Melbourne’s goalie making a number of tough saves.
The Green Gully match will be a great test to show if the club has any premiership chances this year.
Heidelberg United started their season on a high thanks to former A-League player and young Socceroo Daniel Vasilevski. His two goals and plus Kaine Sheppard’s kick catapulted the team to a very easy 3-0 win over Pascoe Vale.
George Katsakis’ side take on Werribee City on Sunday in their new makeshift home of Epping Stadium brimming with confidence.
South Melbourne have a seemingly easy match tonight, travelling to Geelong to take on a defeated North Geelong.
South weren’t that impressed with their opening performance last week despite winning the match. On the back foot for most of it, the players weren’t fussed with Oakleigh winning possession for the majority of the second half.
Complacency is a worry for coach Chris Taylor, as the team enters the season as champions.