PS4 NPL Victoria Round 22

By Damir Kulas

Bentleigh Greens 2 (Wallace 43, Lucas 81) Pascoe Vale 0

Pascoe Vale’s six game unbeaten run has come to an end following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of table-topping Bentleigh Greens on Friday night at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex. Goals in each half from Captain Wayne Wallace and Chris Lucas saw the reigning Champions maintain their five point buffer in first place heading into the final four rounds of the season. Troy Ruthven came close to opening the scoring 41 minutes into the contest when his free-kick struck the crossbar after Lucas was fouled just outside the box. His captain then went one better two minutes later when he nut-megged his opponent before unleashing an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box past Alex Pavlidis in Paco goals. Both sides had their opportunities in the second half with Joseph Youssef seeing a couple of opportunities on goal fail to trouble Scott while Lucas was denied by Pavlidis from extending the margin. However that was not to be the case for long as he finished home from a Kamal Ibrahim cut-back to seal the points with his 13th league strike of the season.

Richmond 0 Heidelberg United 1 (Athiu 33)

Kenny Athiu’s 15th goal of the season was enough to hand Heidelberg United a hard-fought 1-0 victory over relegation threatened Richmond at Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Friday night. The hosts began the contest on the front foot and had a couple of decent opportunities in the opening 15 minutes only for Alex Caniglia’s half-volley and Hamlet Armenian’s header to go off target. However from there onwards it was all Heidelberg with Athiu and Sean Ellis both denied by the in-form French goalkeeper Tony Foglia who made another fantastic save to deny Ellis on the half hour mark. However he was powerless to stop Kenny Athiu from slotting in a header at the near post to open the scoring as the heavens opened up. The second half was primarily a game of half-chances with Rick Mensink’s men struggling to create many clear cut opening as Athiu was thwarted from doubling his and Heidelberg’s tally by another good save from Foglia with a quarter of an hour on the clock remaining. The Bergers held onto all three points to keep the pressure on second placed South Melbourne as they look to beat their great rivals to a top two finish.

Avondale 2 (Berkant 41' Khrapko 81') Port Melbourne Sharks 0

Avondale have all but secured their position in the top flight by condemning the sinking Port Melbourne Sharks to their seventh straight defeat after a 2-0 victory at Knights Stadium on Saturday afternoon. David Stirton returned from suspension and fitted into the Sharks starting eleven who were missing winger Adrian Zahra following his sending off in last week’s 3-1 defeat to Northcote. With the rainy weather playing its part, it took until the 42nd minute for the deadlocked to be broken when Jem Berkant finished well after initially gaining possession in the centre circle for his first goal for the club. The lead was extended with eight minutes on the clock remaining when Abrahim Yango was played through and rounded Sharks shot-stopper before cutting back for Alex Khrapko to tap home for just his second league goal of the campaign against a Port side in dire need of three points to steer them away from relegation danger.

Hume City 2 (Cahill 58; Dixon 84) Green Gully 0

Hume City ended a tumultuous week on a high by avenging their defeat to Green Gully in the Dockerty Cup semi-final with a 2-0 win at ABD Stadium on Saturday night. Dean Hennessey took over the City managerial hotseat having previously served as the club’s technical director under departed manager Lou Acevski. The hosts had much of the running in the opening half but failed to trouble Rani Dowisha in Gully goals and it took a sensational volley from outside the box by former Gully forward Tom Cahill to open the scoring just shy of the hour mark. The visitors almost equalised with 20 minutes on the clock remaining when Evan Christodoulou’s deflected strike struck the post much to the relief of ex-Gully boss Hennessey. The three points were confirmed late on when Theo Markelis played in fellow substitute Danny Dixon who slotted in for his first goal for the club with a neat finish as Hume looks towards their home FFA Cup Round of 32 tie against the Marconi Stallions on Wednesday.

Melbourne Victory 1 (Maclean 11) South Melbourne 4 (Lujic 3, pen 90, Minopoulos 73, Manolo 80)

South Melbourne kept the pressure on Bentleigh as a late flurry of goals helped Chris Taylor’s men secure a 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon. A frantic opening saw Milos Lujic’s third minute strike cancelled out by Victory captain John Maclean who scored his third goal of the season to level proceedings ten minutes into the contest. The reigning Premiers were left frustrated throughout much of the next hour as the youthful hosts did their best to keep the South attack quiet. However Leigh Minopoulos’ near post finish restored South’s lead which was doubled when Lucas Spinella spilled a Lujic header into the path of Spanish substitute Manolo to tuck home. Lujic then won and converted a penalty in the 90th minute as the tall forward took back the outright lead in the Golden Boot race from Oakleigh’s Dusan Bosnjak as he looks to secure his fourth successive top goalscorer award.

Oakleigh Cannons 2 (Lovemore 20, Bosnjak 90+3) Melbourne Knights 1 (Andrijasevic 77)

The Oakleigh Cannons recorded their fourth consecutive win after a last gasp winner helped them claim a 2-1 win over the Melbourne Knights at Jack Edwards Reserve on Sunday evening. The home side opened the scoring when Goran Zoric played through Sean Lovemore with the Kiwi guiding his shot past Fraser Chalmers for the opener in his first start for the Cannons after last week’s debut goal. Oakleigh’s attacking culprits had the Knights defence at sixes and sevens for large periods of the half with Chalmers doing well to tip Bosnjak’s free-kick onto the crossbar. The Knights came out of the interval rejuvenated and had a goal disallowed for an offside before James McGarry’s stinging shot smashed off the underside of the crossbar. Substitute Luke Jurcic then teed up skipper Stipo Andrijasevic who took his goal tally to six goals for the season with an instinctive finish inside the box. The Knights were then reduced to ten men when Nikola Jurkovic picked up his second caution for a foul on Bosnjak who was on hand in added time to secure the victory by scoring in his seventh successive fixture and move one to 18 goals for the campaign – one behind leader Lujic.

Bulleen Lions 1 (Kaya pen 85) Northcote City 1 (Crowley 17)

Honours were split even at David Barro Stadium on Monday as the Bullen Lions and Northcote City played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the round’s second crucial relegation six-pointer. The visitors took the lead early on when Braedyn Crowley continued his good run of form by scoring past Lions custodian Griffin McMaster from a central position for his 11th goal in 13 outings for the club. Dominic Barba’s side suffered a huge blow in the second half when danger men Christian Cavallo and Matteo Ballan departed from the field injured although their replacements Nathan Tidmarsh and Alon Blumgart would have a telling contribution on proceedings as they became integral to the Bulleen fight back. Tidmarsh’s corner was eventually met by the head of Will Abbott whose goal-bound header was handled on the line by Anthony Ramzy who was promptly sent off as Ersin Kaya converted past former teammate Phil Petrovski for a share of the spoils on a night when Melbourne Victory’s fate in the top flight was confirmed as they became the first club to be relegated from the NPL this season.

PS4 NPL Women's Round 19

Calder United 0 Box Hill United 2 (Hulbert 49' Hall 52')

A double-strike in quick succession early in the second half delivered Box Hill United an upset win against Calder United.

Playing for the chance to take top spot on the table, Calder was foiled on a regular basis by Box Hill goalkeeper Emily Shields.

Two well-taken goals, first from Emily Hulbert and then Kristina Hall, fired Box Hill into the lead.

An organised defensive performance thereafter kept Calder from genuinely threatening a comeback.

Heidelberg United 1 (Gray 52') Southern United 0

Leigh Gray's goal early in the second half was enough to snare victory for Heidelberg in a struggle at the State Football Centre.

Southern United created the best chances of the first half, but errant finishing failed to adequately test Heidelberg goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.

A parry from Southern goalkeeper Freya Crocker fell into the path of Gray who tapped in an easy chance.

Heidelberg balanced out the match in open play thereafter, holding out to win by the solitary goal.

FC Bulleen Lions 1 (Coppock 67') Geelong Galaxy United 0

Bulleen continued its title challenge by edging Geelong Galaxy United in an arm-wrestle at the Veneto Club on Sunday.

Geelong failed to produce clear-cut chances to challenge Bulleen's stand-in goalkeeper Keely Lockhart.

Against the run of play, Em Coppock would score the only goal of the match when she connected with Caitilin Friend's through ball.

Geelong goalkeeper Emily Kenshole saved Coppock's initial shot, but a sliced right-foot follow up fell into the net to give Bulleen the lead, and ultimatley the win.

Alamein 3 (Keane 9' 35' Malander 90') Bayside United 0

An early goal set the tone as Alamein recorded a comfortable win against Bayside United at HA Smith Reserve.

Hannah Keane scored the opening goal when a goal-line clearance from Bayside's Steph Parton was knocked straight into the Alamein forward's path.

Keane then doubled the advantage when a handball sent Alamein to the penalty spot on 35 minutes.

Keane turned provider for Amy Malander in the 90th minute, crossing a ball in from the left for a far-post finish from the second-half substitute.

PS4 NPL 2 East Round 22

By Jordan Lim

Dandenong City 1 (Matkovic pen 81') Kingston City 2 (Eterovic OG 2', Mitrovic 54')

A 10-man Kingston City have effectively sewn up a top two spot in the PS4 NPL Victoria 2 East with a 2-1 victory over Dandenong City. The game was billed as match of the round given the heavy significance of the tie on the promotion race; Dandy requiring nothing but a win to gain ground on second place, while it was much the same for Kingston, with a win drawing them temporarily level on points with ladder-leaders Dandenong Thunder.

The game got off to a flying start through live wire Muad Zwed, who created the opening goal after just two minutes as he was allowed space on the right wing to cross dangerously to the far post.

Dandenong defender Halil Gur was left with no choice other than to make contact with the tailing cross, however his diving interception was turned into his own net, in front of the grandstand at Frank Holohan Reserve. A purposeful run from Keegan Ziada helped work in Ross Frame, who shot on the turn to force a good save from Sermin Sadikovski. Kingston's Jerry Karpeh twice tested Damir Salcin in goals but the custodian was up to the task to produce two quality saves, the second created from a chipped ball squeezed forward by Rowan McNamee.

In a game where the keepers reigned supreme, Sadikovski produced a game turning moment with a monumental double save just after half-time. A Frame header was palmed away by the gloveman who recovered to then deny Ziada at the near post, who'd struck on the follow up.

His efforts weren't in vain as Kingston went down the other end just minutes later to win a penalty, with Zwed once again the architect of the goal. The crafty winger went on a tantalising bolt down the left wing, which saw him beat three defenders before being brought down on the byline by Gur, the referee pointing to the spot immediately.

Velibor Mitrovic stepped up to convert his 15th goal of the season, tucking the ball to the right, just passed the fingers of Salcin who dove the right way. Chris Antoniadis was brought on for the hosts who were desperate to salvage the game.

His introduction nearly bore fruit as his parried shot allowed Frame to tap in on the 74th minute, however the offside flag was raised by the assistant referee.

He continued to look the most likely from open play, however Dandenong's reprieve came from the spot, with Gonzalo Freddi brought down right on the cusp of the 18-yard-box by Nick Teichmann, who was show a red card as a result.

Captain for the day Dario Matkovic steered his shot low and left to bring them back into the contest on 81 minutes. Despite the game heating up in the final 10 minutes, Kingston were able to grasp on for the full complement of points, which keeps their aspirations for automatic promotion well and truly alive.

Dandenong Thunder 3 (Elmazovski 28' 60', Barnes 87') Goulburn Valley Suns 2 (Gaillard 31', Heffernan 81')

An enthralling contest at George Andrews Reserve saw Brandon Barnes grab a late winner for Dandenong Thunder in a 3-2 win over Goulburn Valley Suns.

It was a return to winning ways for the Thunder, who were on the wrong end of a late goal against Box Hill United last week, however the win on Saturday saw them push three points clear of second place Kingston City.

The two sides headed into the rooms at half-time at 1-1, with captain Brendan Elmazovski opening the scoring for the hosts on 28 minutes, only for Anthony Gaillard to hit back just three minutes later.

Elmazovski had the Thunder out in front once more with a well taken volley, proving an unexpected source of goals in a tight affair.

The Thunder were however pegged back once more by Dan Heffernan's goal nine minutes from time, only for Elmazovski to pop up once more to provide an assist for Barnes' late winner.

It's a crucial three points for the hosts who have Kingston City hot on their heels in search of an automatic promotion spot.

Box Hill United 0 Springvale White Eagles 3 (Stoilovic 16', Joseph 22', Erakovic 26')

Springvale White Eagles earned their first win in five games with a comfortable 3-0 win over Box Hill United at Wembley Park.

The result comes as somewhat of a surprise given the respective form trajectories of the two sides, given Box Hill having ended Dandenong Thunder's 20-game unbeaten run last week.

The opener came via a sharp counter attack, which saw their attacking outlets John Pykett and Damir Stoilovic combine, with the latter finishing with a first time effort on his right foot from the former's cross.

It was soon 2-0, courtesy of Issy Joseph who found himself unmarked to scrap the ball home from on the goal mouth. The game was over by half-time as Springvale added a third through Dejan Erakovic, who capped off a delightful Vojo Milojevic cross and some good build up play with an unstoppable finish.

Nunawading City 1 (Antoniadis 31') defeated by Eastern Lions 2 (Ellis 5' 55')

A brace to William Ellis was enough for Eastern Lions to claim a narrow 2-1 win over Nunawading City on Sunday afternoon. Eastern Lions opened the scoring with a well executed half volley from William Ellis' left foot, with Nunawading keeper Jason Koutsondis' not able to keep the shot out despite getting a hand on the effort.

A smart cutback allowed captain Sam Antoniadis to slide home an equaliser and give some hope to the home crowd at Mahoney's Reserve. They were dashed in the second half as a poor error from Koutsondis saw Ellis score his second, squeezing an off-balance shot into the keepers near post from a tight angle.

Nunawading's Liberian forward Emile Damey was then shown a red card in the second half for dissent, having initially been given a yellow card as a warning, before once again retaliating to earn a second straight after

PS4 NPL 2 West Round 22

Moreland Zebras 0 Sunshine George Cross 1 (Manoljovic 10')

A stunning strike from young Sunshine defender Ilija Manoljovic was enough to decide the match at CB Smith Reserve.

Sunshine regularly exploited Moreland Zebras on the counter attack, sitting deep in defence and inviting on the home team.

But the Zebras could not capitalise on possession and territory, lacking a cutting edge in the front third.

A penalty for a hand-ball just after the hour mark gave Moreland its best chance to level the match. But striker Joel Nikolic skied the spot kick.

North Geelong Warriors 4 (Eze 51' Townley pen 55' Julardzija 66' Thorne 83') Bendigo City 1 (Castel-Martinez 49')

Falling behind to last-placed Bendigo proved the spur for North Geelong to respond and post a vital win in the title race.

Serio Castel-Martinez opened the scoring in the 49th minute but North Geelong was swift to respond through American striker Kene Eze.

Matt Townley's penalty then put the Warriors in front, with Juso Julardzija and Matthew Thorne securing victory.

Moreland City 2 (Doig 60' Gallo OG 80') Whittlesea Ranges 1 (Ofli pen 90+5')

Moreland City shocked ladder leader Whittlesea Ranges with a hard-fought win at Campbell Reserve.

Andrew Doig's perfectly placed header put Moreland City into the head as he nodded in a cross from the right on the hour mark.

A goalkeeping error, the ball fumbled into the net by Luke Gallo, doubled the advantage.

Atilla Ofli won and converted a penalty for Whittlesea deep in stoppage time, but time ran out on an attempted comeback.

Ballarat Red Devils 0 Melbourne City 2 (Zinni 25' 66')

Melbourne City's outside shot at promotion received a boost, winning away to Ballarat Red Devils at Morshead Park.

Stefan Zinni opened the scoring in the 25th minute and doubled City's advantage in the 66th.

St Albans Saints 0 Werribee City FC 1 (Mammone 90+1')

A curling strike from Werribee City's Ben Mammone sealed an upset win for the lower-placed team.

St Albans missed the chance to close the gap on promotion leader Whittlesea Ranges with the late slip-up.

St Albans remains in the promotion play-off spot on 38 points, still four adrift of Whittlesea Ranges.