Last weekend’s Rd 2, NPL 1 action left both of last season’s two grand finalists South Melbourne FC and Oakleigh Cannons still in search of their first wins of the season ahead of this weekend’s Rd 3 matches.

Undoubtedly the surprise result of the round was the Port Melbourne Sharks 4-0 win over the reigning champion South Melbourne last Friday night, thanks to a brace of goals to Oleksiy Khrapko, and singles to Andreas Govas and Christopher Cristaldo.

Sharks coach Dom Barba said after the match: “In terms of the way we played tonight and the way we carried out instructions and discipline, it was probably one of the best performances I’ve ever coached. So I’m really happy with that result.”

The Sharks play their Round 3 match on Friday at home against the Cannons who last week again gave up a two goal lead late in the match to settle for a 2-2 draw against Bulleen Lions.

South’s heavy loss to Port last week has left it second-last on the table and it will be determined to get its first win of the season this evening when it travels to Knights stadium in Sunshine to take on second placed Avondale FC.

Against the Sharks, South missed injured regular defenders and leaders Michael Eager and Brad Norton and they may have to go into the Avondale match without the services of those two. Avondale will be looking to claim a third win in a row and a second big scalp in a row after last week taking all three points away from Heidelberg United with a 1-0 win at the Village.

The Bergers will be looking to bounce back on Saturday evening with a good result away to newly-promoted St Albans Saints, which has yet to open its account in the new season. The Bergers will be without Andrew Cartanos who suffered a hamstring injury last week against Avondale.

“We need to be bit more clinical in that last third,” Bergers coach George Katsakis said after that match.

“Our set pieces need some work in terms of our defensive duties. We’ll work on that during the week and hopefully we’ll come back with another win and find ourselves again and work towards a target.”

None of the newly-promoted clubs have won a game yet although that could change on Monday evening at the Grange when Kingston City hosts North Geelong Warriors. Kingston is yet to taste defeat after playing out an exciting 3-3 home draw against Green Gully last Monday. Damian Iaconis, Velibor Mitrovic and Erhan Yalaz each scored for City which was disappointed not to score a win over a nine-man Gully. Kingston will be without full back Daniel Bennett for some weeks after he suffered a broken collarbone in the clash with Gully.

In late developing news during the week, Gully coach Arthur Papas announced his resignation as manager of Green Gully to take up an appointment as an assistant coach at Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq.

Saturday’s NPL 2 action features a Hellenic derby between undefeated NPL 2 W league leader Northcote City and Brunswick City at John Cain reserve. Northcote has made a flying start to the season with three straight wins under new coach Zeljko Kuzman.

His opposite number at Brunswick, George Karkaletsis said ahead of the Spartan-Hercules derby, “I am pretty confident actually”.

“The squad is confident going into this week. I think the boys generally get up for the bigger games. I’m not saying Whittlesea wasn’t a big game, I think the boys did enough to win it.”

Another match sure to attract interest is the NPL 2 E clash between Box Hill United and third-placed Dandenong Thunder. An undefeated United is still looking for its first goal and win of the season after three scoreless draws. Box Hill fans will be hoping for a repeat of the last time these two sides met when Box Hill ended Thunder’s remarkable unbeaten run last season.

“We’re pretty confident about this game,” Box Hill’s assistant coach Chris Yena said ahead of the match.

“We feel we’ve got the right structures, the right players. We know what they’re about and how they play. We’re going to be up for it at home.”