Last year’s champions, Oakleigh Cannons, stormed through Heidelberg West on Friday. Although down to ten players in the 23rd minute, they had no difficulty imposing themselves on their opponents, shocking friends and enemies with the tactical skills they displayed in the last third of the field.
Chris Taylor’s team managed to open the scoring in the 36th minute thanks to striker, Alex Salmon, who took advantage of Alexander’s weak defence to make it 0 – 1. The second half started with the guests doubling their goals, this time with Anthony Pantazopoulos.
Brandon Lundy took a corner from the left in the 49th minute, the Greek defender jumped alone in the heart of the box and with a powerful header brought the score to 0 – 2
The third goal came in the 73rd minute after a disastrous mistake and an own goal made by the defender of the home team, Anthony Theodorakopoulos, while the fourth goal for the “Cannons” was scored in the 82nd minute by Chris Lucas. The same player finally put the icing on the cake, making it 0 – 5 in the 89th minute.
Difficult but successful was the passage of South Melbourne (Hellas) from the home of Dandenong Thunder, on Saturday. They moved the ball well, found automation, and showed that their skills are improving with each game.
Patrick Langlois scored the golden goal for South Melbourne in the 23rd minute. Andrew Brennan gave the crowd a great show, from the moment he went on the field as a substitute, adding speed and attacking versatility to Esteban Quinta’s’ squad.
The Argentinian coach was rubbing his hands with pleasure after the final whistle, knowing very well that matches like this one will ultimately decide a season’s success. With its fourth victory in four games, Hellas captured first place again, showing that the team is on the right track.
Bentleigh Greens (Pagyprios) experienced a fourth consecutive defeat this weekend. The “Greens” travelled on Sunday evening to the north-western suburbs of Melbourne in order to face the “Croatian” Knights. The visitors came into the game strongly, showed they could look for something better than another poor night, threatened the home defence on a couple of occasions but ultimately shot themselves in the foot in the 32nd minute when they were reduced to ten men after Carrigan fouled Bramwell in the box. Gian Albano converted the penalty to a goal in the next minute and that was the end of the story for the Bentleigh side. The home team managed the match properly, were not seriously threatened and finally “pocketed” the three points of victory.
Port Melbourne Sharks (New Hellas) suffered an away defeat on Friday night at the home of Green Gully, who has been in excellent form in recent weeks.
Although the Greek team opened the scoring very early on, in the 5th minute with Michael Eagar, they failed to show the defensive power that the team has, earning three goals and finally experiencing defeat with a 3 – 2 goal score. The home side equalled out the score in the 29th minute with Pierce Waring’s long-range shot but the visitors managed to fight back and took the lead again in the 36th minute with Luca Tevere firing past the “Greens” keeper within close range. The joy of the Greek team lasted only four minutes after Gully levelled the match in the 40th minute, thanks to a fine header from Taylor Schrijvers. The “Greens” striker, Pierce Waring, gave his team the victory in the 85th minute with a perfect header that left no room for Andrew Wither to react.
Kingston City was the winner of the NPL2 derby against Northcote City (Iraklis) by 2 – 0 while Leonidas won the match against Melbourne City’s youth team by 2 – 1.
NPL Victoria Men’s Results
Heidelberg United – Oakleigh Cannons 0 – 5 (36′ A. Salmon, 49, A. Pantazopoulos, 73′ A. Theodorakopoulos [Own goal], 82′ + 89′ C. Lucas)
Green Gully – Port Melbourne 3 – 2 (29′ + 85′ P. Waring, 40′ T. Schrijvers – 5′ M. Eagar, 36′ L. Tevere)
Dandenong Thunder – South Melbourne 0 – 1 (23′ P. Langlois)
Hume City – St Albans 1 – 1 (60′ J. Bingham – 71′ B. Summerskill [P])
North Geelong Warriors – Avondale 1 – 4 (54′ N. Jurkovic – 18′ + 94′ K. Trajceski, 32′ S. Zinni, 82′ G. De Niese)
Moreland City – Altona Magic 1 – 1 (82′ Christos Theodorakopoulos [P] – 60′ J. Markovski)
Melbourne Knights – Bentleigh Greens 1 – 0 (33′ G. Albano[P])
NPL Victoria Men’s Ladder
(Team, played, points)
1. South Melbourne 4 12
2. Oakleigh Cannons 4 10
3. Avondale 4 10
4. St Albans Saints 4 6
5. Green Gully 4 6
6. Port Melbourne 4 5
7. Moreland City 4 5
8. Altona Magic 4 5
9. Dandenong Thunder 4 4
10. Hume City 4 3
11. North Geelong 4 3
12. Melbourne Knights 4 5
13. Heidelberg United 4 1
14. Bentleigh Greens 4 0
NPL2 Victoria Men’s Results
Pascoe Vale – Manningham United Blues 0 – 3
Brunswick City (Leonidas) – Melbourne City (Y) 2 – 1
Werribee City – Dandenong City 3 – 3
Eastern Lions – Langwarrin 3 – 2
Western United (Y) – Preston Lions 0 – 1
Kingston City – Northcote City 2 – 0
NPL2 Victoria Men’s Ladder
(Team, played, points)
1. Pascoe Vale 4 9
2. Langwarrin 4 9
3. Preston Lion 4 9
4. Manningham 4 6
5. Melbourne City (Y) 4 6
6. Brunswick City 4 6
7. Eastern Lions 4 6
8. Kingston City 4 6
9. Western United (Y) 4 6
10. Werribee 4 5
11. Dandenong 4 4
12. Bulleen 3 3
13. Northcote City 4 3
14. Brunswick Juventus 3 1