South Melbourne capped off a hugely successful round for Victoria’s Greek clubs with a stunning success against St Albans, solidifying their place atop the ladder for another round.

The league leaders scored all three points in the Victorian NPL’s 17th round, with Heidelberg United, Bentleigh Greens and Port Melbourne Sharks following suit.
Heidelberg stunned Oakleigh with a 2-3 away win on Monday afternoon to end the Cannons’ 16-match unbeaten streak, with their previous loss having also come at the hands of “Alexandros” back in March.

“Hellas” downed the Saints 4-0 at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday evening to extend the gap over their closest title challengers, Oakleigh.
Maximilian Mikkola’s first-half brace (27’, 33’) gave the hosts a healthy lead going into the break before Harrison Sawyer (50’) and Marcus Schroen (61’) made it a fantastic victory.

South Melbourne coach Estaban Quintas was thoroughly impressed with his side’s all-round performance, especially in the wake of a disappointing defeat last week.

“We were able to create many scoring chances and, at the same time, be orderly and tough in defence. We were able to get a great result against a tough rival,” Mr Quintas told Neos Kosmos.

Port Melbourne beat Eastern Lions 3-1 at home for their fourth win in their past five matches.

The visitors took a shock early lead, thanks to Marcus Dimanche (5’), but the Sharks soon equalised via Valentin Cesnik (21’) and his teammate, George Mells, found the back of the net twice (38’, 73’) to secure the victory.

A last-minute winner handed Bentleigh a vital 2-1 home success over Melbourne Knights on Friday night.

The Knights stunned the Greens with an opening minute goal through Trevor Ssemakula, though Tristan Strickland soon cancelled it out (21’) and, in the dying minutes of the match, George Lambadaridis stepped up to earn all three points (90+1’).

Oakleigh and Heidelberg played on Monday in the round’s last fixture.

NPL Victoria Ladder
1-South Melbourne: 40
2-Oakleigh Cannons: 36
3-Port Melbourne Sharks: 34
4-Green Gully: 31
5-Avondale FC: 30
6-Bentleigh Greens: 27
7-Heidelberg United: 26
8-Altona Magic: 23
9-Melbourne Knights: 22
10-Dandenong Thunder: 22
11-St Albans: 20
12-Hume City: 12
13-Dandenong City: 10
14-Eastern Lions: 6

NSW
A late equaliser forced Sydney Olympic to settle for a 1-1 home draw against Wollongong Wolves on Monday afternoon in their 15th round encounter, with the Blues dropping one place to second on 28 points.
Roy O’Donovan found the back of the net within the first minute of the game and Olympic held onto their lead for nearly the whole match until Darcy Madden found an equaliser (90+4’).
In Northern NSW, Newcastle Olympic’s fixture with Charlestown Azzuri was postponed due to the former’s Australia Cup sixth round match, which they won 2-0 against Lake Macquarie City.

QLD
Olympic FC (2nd) recorded a 4-2 home triumph in their 13th round clash against Brisbane Roar U21 on Saturday night to go to 26 points, only three off of first with a game in hand.
It was goals galore in the first half, with Shannon Brady (19’, 27’) and Zachary Kierpal (42’) scoring for Olympic and Nathan Nguyen (24’) and Corban Burrowes (45’) for the Roar. Shelford Dais’ 71st minute effort sealed a much-needed win for the hosts.

WA
A late flurry helped Floreat Athena to a 12th round 3-1 home success over Perth SC on Saturday evening, helping the club move to third on 23 points.
Chris Saldaris’ penalty (17’) gave Athena the lead at the break but it was soon cancelled out by Paul Zimarino (47’). Laat Mathiang bagged a crucial late winner (89’) before Robert Petkov’s eliminated any hopes of a result for the visitors (90+5’).

ACT
Canberra Olympic played out a home 1-1 stalemate against O’Connor Knights in the ninth round on Saturday afternoon, maintaining their place in sixth on ten points.