Triple delight for South Melbourne

By Riley Beveridge (@RileyBev)

South Melbourne withheld a late comeback from a nine-man Green Gully outfit to retain top spot on the NPL table, winning 5-3 at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors took a 4-0 lead into halftime thanks largely to a Milos Lujic hat-trick, but saw Green Gully pull three back in quick succession.

Amid the chaos came two red cards to Green Gully’s Kieran Gonzalez and Stephen Downes, before South Melbourne sealed the points with a late strike from substitute Leigh Minopoulos.

South Melbourne had scored six goals in two matches prior to the weekend and it took them just five minutes to open the scoring this time around.

Nick Epifano’s cross was palmed away by Gonzalez, but straight to the feet of Lujic, who touched home.

The goal clearly rattled the hosts, and soon after Lujic’s dangerous cross caused havoc in the Green Gully defence. This time Gonzalez was on the scene to palm away Jamie Reed’s ensuing shot.

But Gonzalez would soon have his head in his hands. In attempting to clear a back-pass, the Green Gully keeper was charged down by Lujic, with the ball rebounding off the striker and in.

It would soon be three for South Melbourne and Lujic. A wicked ball across the face from Tyson Holmes was met by an emphatic far-post finish from the imposing striker, who registered his hat-trick in just 26 minutes.

A fourth would arrive just five minutes later for South Melbourne. Epifano, orchestrating all of the visitors’ attacks, slipped Reed through on goal and he chipped the advancing Gonzalez.

Virtually straight from the restart, South Melbourne was unlucky not to have another. Green Gully gave possession away far too easily and Epifano raced through, only to hit the upright with his shot.

Green Gully eventually found some life as the half ticked to a close, with Rodrigo Vargas’s powerful header crashing against the post.

It was a completely different Cavaliers side after the interval. With renewed confidence and flare, Mathew Sanders scored twice inside the first four minutes.

Downes’s driving run created the first, with Sanders touching home. Just moments later and the striker had another, turning inside the area before shooting past a despairing Jason Saldaris.

On 65 minutes, the momentum of the match would swing again. Gonzalez, already at fault for South Melbourne’s second, saw his day go from bad to worse, receiving his marching orders for a cynical kick on Lujic, who was racing through on goal.

Frustrations were high and soon reached boiling point as both sides met in the centre of the field. From the ensuing commotion, Green Gully was reduced to nine men, with Downes shown red for dissent.

It wouldn’t bother the hosts, though, who ensured a tense finish when Vargas scored from a corner in the first minute of stoppage time.

But a nervous South Melbourne survived, with substitute Minopoulos scoring in the final minute to seal a 5-3 win for the visitors.

“All I can take away from today is the three points,” South Melbourne manager Chris Taylor said on full time.

“There were good signs in the first half and we could have scored more goals. It was a typical Jekyll and Hyde performance.”

Both sides will be on the road next week, with Green Gully to visit Oakleigh Cannons in the Round 4 broadcast match and South Melbourne away to Hume City.

FT: Green Gully 3 (Sanders 47’, 49’, R. Vargas 90+1’) defeated by South Melbourne 5 (Lujic 5’, 15’, 26’, Reed 31’, Minopoulos 90+4’) at Green Gully Reserve

Green Gully: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ (GK), 2. Daniel JONES, 4. Mitchell BISSINGER, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 6. Stephen DOWNES, 7. Jeffrey FLEMING (10. Jem BERKANT 85’), 8. Jason HAYNE, 12. Mathew SANDERS, 17. Andy VARGAS (23. Dilen IBRAHIM 67’), 20. Osagie EDERARO, 21. Brian VANEGA (16. Sean HARDING 45’)

Unused Subs: 9. Brent FISHER, 11. Ratip CILE

Yellow Cards: Daniel JONES (61’), Rodrigo VARGAS (73’)

Red Cards: Kieran Gonzalez (65’), Stephen DOWNES (86’)

South Melbourne: 1. Jason SALDARIS (GK), 2. Sheptim MALA, 4. Michael EAGAR, 7. Nick EPIFANO (27. Leigh MINOPOULOS 75’), 8. Mathew THEODORE (Slaven VRANESEVIC 90’), 9. Milos LUJIC, 10. Tyson HOLMES, 11. Brad NORTON (Andrew MULLETT 90+4’), 12. Iqbal JAWADI, 14. James MUSA, 17. Jamie REED

Unused Subs: 6. Dimi TSIARAS, 21. Chris MALINARO

Yellow Cards: Brad NORTON (45’), Nick EPIFANO (61’)

Red Cards: None

Pictured: South Melbourne goalscorer Jamie Reed (image credit: Jason Heidrich Photography)




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