Only two games remain for the VPL teams to play until one of them lifts up the champions trophy. With continual victories, Northcote City has held the top of the ladder position at the end of almost every round. Now only Melbourne Knights are coming close, three points behind.
After a week off, round 21 of Victorian Premier League kicked off last night with an important Bentleigh Greens/Green Gully match.
Green Gully Cavaliers will enter the game after securing the 2013 State Knockout Cup with a 3-1 win over Dandenong Thunder last weekend at the Knights Stadium. For Cavaliers, it was their fifth title in the premier statewide knockout competition and the first one since the Dockerty Cup in 2004.
Bentleigh Greens will enter the third versus fifth match after their strong performance in a derby with Port Melbourne two weeks ago. With six of their starting 11 players missing, the Greens beat the odds and took home a win.
The game to be played tonight (Friday) will decided who will make it to the finals – Greens from Bentleigh or the Greens from Keilor.
The two last on the ladder, Richmond and Southern Stars, also meet on Friday evening. Richmond has been marking down some impressive form, including a great one in round 20 against Oakleigh Cannons. For the Stars, the last of the VPL season won’t bring much change, as they can’t escape the sealed 12th on the ladder position.
On Saturday, after being defeated in the State Knockout Cup, Dandenong Thunder will host Port Melbourne Sharks. The week off will have the fourth on the ladder Sharks ready to bite back against their opponent. Dandenong has the same points as Oakleigh and still has a mathematical chance to play finals.
The match of the round for Greek supporters will undoubtedly be played at Lakeside Stadium, where South Melbourne takes on the leader Northcote City on Saturday.
Both sides find themselves close to their best at the end of the season. Though the form of the Northcote side has been discussed many times in last months, Hercules Boys have shown in the previous two rounds that they are up for the fight to win the title. With the week off behind them, refreshed and back in training, club president Peter Kotsiris says the boys know exactly where they are standing and what they want to achieve.
“The end of the season is approaching, but there are still two very important games for us. The morale in the team is fantastic. Obviously, we had a bit of a run with some bad form and the results showed that – but we’ve come out of that. Our last two wins have been very good – Bentleigh away and then Dandenong. Everyone is positive and confident now,” Kotsiris told Neos Kosmos.
Given the way the season has been developing for the Northcote side this year – with the exceptional first part of the season and continuous wins – it’s realistic to say that Hercules Boys will be satisfied only with the trophy in their hands.
“I think that maybe, in retrospect, our players had a bit of a difficulty handling the fact that they were the hunted and not the hunter, as everyone wanted to kick us off from the top. Other teams were a bit hungrier than us in that period, but we’ve come out of it well.”
With a full list to pick from and no injuries, Hercules Boys are confident that they can get the job done in the next two weeks.
A win to South Melbourne will mean securing the minor premiership for Goran Lozanovski boys. But, they won’t have an easy task against the sixth placed South Melbourne, who have been playing some great football under coach Chris Taylor. Northcote City has a top-two finish and second chance in the finals guaranteed, but it’s South Melbourne which has more to lose here – it’s a spot in the finals.
“The derby game tonight against South Melbourne is a critical game for both sides. Their second part of the season has been pretty impressive, Chris Taylor has them playing much more directly, which I suppose suits them in their game style. It will be a very tough game – they are playing for a finals spot and we are playing for a top spot. I think the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will win the game,” said Kotsiris.
Hume City will host Melbourne Knights on Sunday, the second on the ladder side that sits just three points behind the leading Northcote. Earlier this season, their Sunday opponent, Hume City, left Knights Stadium as a 1-0 winner – a result hardly to be achieved tomorrow by now seventh placed Hume City.
Oakleigh Cannons need a miracle to play finals, but a Sunday win at home against 10th placed Pascoe Vale would make teams above nervous heading into the last round. Cannons will be playing without Veton Korcari who received two yellow cards against Richmond. In their last encounter, Oakleigh carved out a victory over Pascoe Vale.