Melbourne Knights – Port Melbourne Sharks
Port Melbourne had a huge away win on Friday night against the Melbourne Knights. From the first minute, the guests showed they would make it difficult for the “Croatians.” Adam Piddick’s players showed tremendous concentration in their manager’s tactical plan, covering every part of the pitch exquisitely. They first secured a clean sheet in defense and, when they found the opportunity, they caught their opponents by surprise, scoring the match-winning goal in the 87th minute. Just a few minutes before the end, and at a point where the home team had no chance to react.
This goal will be remembered by the “Sharks” for a long time and is a candidate for one of the most beautiful of the season. Lucas Tevere crossed from the right, the ball headed towards the small area of the “Croats” where Chris Duggan, like another Cristiano Ronaldo, executed the opposing goalkeeper with an extremely spectacular scissor kick, which forced the football fans present at the Knights Stadium to be thrown from their seats.
This was an important win for the “Greek” team, bringing them even closer to the top four in the standings.
Oakleigh Cannons – St Albans
The Cannons showed strength at home against St Albans. Despite playing for almost twenty minutes with one man less, they not managed to secure the lead they had from the 9th minute thanks to a beautiful goal from Joe Guest, and doubled their lead with a successful penalty kick from Alex Salmon in the 89th minute.
The Cannons showed their quality, circulating the ball beautifully and, if they had been a little more careful with their final efforts, they could have scored even more goals.
From the hosts, the captain, Guest, stood out again, as well as the talented Pantazopoulos, who put in an excellent performance despite being forced to play at right back, a position he is not familiar with since he usually plays on the left wing of the pitch.
This was an important win for the “Greek” team, bringing them even closer to the top four in the standings.
Dandenong Thunder – Bentleigh Greens
There is still life on the green planet of Bentleigh Greens. The “Cypriots” reacted with passion and intensity and eventually managed to leave the home of the Thunder with one point from the tie.
The home team opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Grad Damen, which worried the guests who thought they were in for another bad result.
However, after overcoming a quarter of an hour of pressure and some missed opportunities by the hosts, they leveled the game and eventually managed to equalize a few minutes before the half-time break after Thomas Strickland’s double try. With this draw, the “Cypriots” came within two points of 12th in the Moreland standings, adding a touch of optimism to the very difficult fight that the Greens will have from now on in order to stay in the division.
The NPL2
The two Greek teams that competed this weekend in the NPL2 championship did not make it. Northcote’s Iraklis were forced to a 1-2 home defeat by Werribee, while Brunswick’s Leonidas were beaten 4-2 at home by Langwarrin. Kingston City will play on Monday (19/06) against Bulleen Lions.
The NPL3
Pythagoras in in great form lately. The “Greek” Club of Box Hill achieved their second consecutive victory in the league, this time against Nunawading with a score of 2-1. It was an extremely important victory which filled the people of the historic club with optimism.
The State Leagues
Yarraville drew 2-2 away to Upfield in a match marked by strong personal duels from the footballers in every corner of the pitch. Aris from Springvale achieved a very important away victory in the house of Bentleigh Cobras with a score of 0-4. The God of War played beautiful football, scored spectacular goals, and left promises for the difficult continuation of the championship. Malvern remained at 0-0 against the White Eagles. The Greek team failed to find an answer to the defensive cohesion of the Serbians, as a result of which the two teams shared the points and the impressions.
NPL – Results
Melbourne Knights – Port Melbourne Sharks 0 – 1 (87′ C. Duggan)
Heidelberg United – South Melbourne [Postponed]
Green Gully – Altona Magic (16′ T. Woerndl [A], 20′ P. Waring, 45′ P. Waring [P], 76′ P. Waring, 82′ P. Waring – 13′ J. Markovski, 87′ C. Cuba)
Oakleigh Cannons – St Albans Saints 2 – 0 (9′ J. Guest, 89′ A. Salmon [P])
Moreland – Avondale 0 – 3 (45′ L. Boland, 70′ L. Diaz, 75′ L. Boland)
Dandenong Thunder – Bentleigh Greens 1 – 1 (12′ G. Damen – 43′ T. Strickland)
Hume City – North Geelong Warriors 1 – 2 (19′ J. Bingham – 36′ L. McGrath, 77′ L. McGrath)
NPL – Table
1. Avondale 18 49
2. South Melbourne 17 46
3. Oakleigh Cannons 18 42
4. Melbourne Knights 18 34
5. Port Melbourne 18 30
6. Green Gully 18 27
7. Dandenong Thunder 18 23
8. Altona Magic 18 23
9. Heidelberg United 17 19
10. Hume City 18 17
11. St Albans Saints 18 16
12. Moreland City 18 12
13. Bentleigh Greens 18 10
14. North Geelong 18 10
NPL2 – Results
Dandenong City – Western United (Y) 0 – 2
Pascoe Vale – Melbourne City (Y) 2 – 4
Preston Lions – Manningham United Blues 0 – 0
Northcote City – Werribee City 1 – 2
Langwarrin – Brunswick City 4 – 2
Eastern Lions – Brunswick Juventus 0 – 0
Bulleen Lions – Kingston City*
*The match will be played on Monday (19/06)
NPL2 – Table
1. Preston Lions 18 32
2. Western United (Y) 18 31
3. Kingston City 17 30
4. Dandenong 18 29
5. Eastern Lions 18 29
6. Manningham 18 27
7. Werribee 18 26
8. Melbourne City (Y) 18 25
9. Langwarrin 18 25
10. Northcote City 18 23
11. Brunswick City 18 23
12. Pascoe Vale 18 20
13. Bulleen 17 19
14. Brunswick Juventus 18 18
NPL3 – Results
Ballarat City – Melbourne Victory (Y) 1 – 5
Doveton -Goulburn Valley Suns 2 – 2
Boroondara Carey Eagles – Beaumaris 3 – 0
Box Hill United – Nunawading 2 – 1
Caroline Springs George Cross – North Sunshine Eagles 6 – 3
Essendon Royals –Geelong 3 – 1
NPL3 – Table
1. Melbourne Victory (Y) 14 34
2. Caroline Springs 14 28
3. Nunawading 14 25
4. Goulburn Suns 14 25
5. North Sunshine 14 22
6. Doveton 14 20
7. Boroondara 14 20
8. Box Hill 14 17
9. Essendon 14 16
10. Beaumaris 14 15
11. Geelong 14 15
12. Ballarat 14 2