The Sharks continued their brilliant form of late to finish in second and qualify directly for the semi-finals, while Bentleigh and Heidelberg took advantage of Avondale’s final day loss to scrape into the finals series.

Only Oakleigh missed out on victory in a thrilling 22nd round and final matchday of the Victorian NPL on Sunday afternoon which saw all five teams of Greek and Greek-Cypriot origin advance to the championship play-offs.

Port Melbourne managed a 2-0 win at home over Melbourne Knights to extend their phenomenal recent form (seven matches unbeaten), thanks to efforts from Chris Duggan (55′ pen.) and Troy Ruthven (90+2′).

Oakleigh lost 0-1 in their home game with Hume City via a late Simon Ford strike (82′) to end the regular season in third, a disappointing outcome after spending large parts of the season fighting for the premiership.

South Melbourne downed Avondale 0-1 away to end their opponents’ prospects of finals football, with Patrick Langlois (21′) providing the killing blow to the hosts’ campaign.

Bentleigh and Heidelberg responded with dominant away successes, the Greens beating Dandenong City 0-5 and “Megas” defeating Eastern Lions 1-5 as both squeezed into the top six.

NPL Victoria Ladder

1-South Melbourne: 62

2-Port Melbourne Sharks: 56

3-Oakleigh Cannons: 51

4-Green Gully: 45

5-Bentleigh Greens: 42

6-Heidelberg United: 42

5-Avondale FC: 40

8-Dandenong Thunder: 38

9-Melbourne Knights: 30

10-St Albans: 30

10-Altona Magic: 27

12-Hume City: 26

13-Dandenong City: 20

14-Eastern Lions: 8

NSW

The dream of the double is over for Sydney Olympic after they suffered their second consecutive loss on penalties at home to Blacktown City in the Preliminary Final on Sunday afternoon, losing 5-4 in the shoot-out to be eliminated from the play-offs.

City took an early lead through defender Grant Lynch (10′) before goal machine Roy O’Donovan brought it back on level terms (14′), with the match finishing 1-1 after extra time.

Blacktown goalkeeper Dylan Niski reigned supreme, saving two penalties to his right as the Premiers cracked once again under the pressure of the penalties to crash out of the finals.

In Northern NSW, Newcastle Olympic secured a magnificent 2-1 home victory over league leaders Maitland on Sunday afternoon in their 22nd round encounter, remaining in fifth with 31 points.

Jared Muller’s brace (12′ pen., 52′) was enough to guide the Hamilton-based side to the win, successfully cancelling out Adam Blunden’s effort (33′) for the travellers.

QLD

Olympic FC was smashed 0-4 at home by Sunshine Coast Wanderers in the 22nd round, ending the regular season currently in third with 38 points and winless from their last seven outings.

WA

Floreat Athena played out a goalless draw at home against Stirling FC in the 21st round on Saturday evening, protecting their place in first on 44 points with one league match remaining.

ACT

Canberra Olympic delivered a 4-0 home thrashing to Belconnen United in their 18th round meeting on Saturday afternoon, extending their streak to three straight wins and moving into fourth on 22 points.

TAS

Olympia Warriors blew a two-nil lead to fall 3-2 away against bottom-placed Riverside Olympic in the 18th round on Saturday afternoon, remaining in seventh on six points.