Image: Drazen Jurina
The Dandenong duopoly continues to grow in the East after 17 rounds as City and Thunder extended their lead at the top, with nearest opponents Melbourne City and Murray dropping points after a score draw. Eastern and Box Hill shared the points, while the Goulburn Valley Suns inflicted more pain on Nunawading, whose slide down the table continues.
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Brian Vanega discovered just how significant the gulf in class is between and the top and bottom of NPL2 East as Dandenong City recorded a fairly straightforward 3-0 win over Richmond.
No surprises as Shaun Filipovic again starred with a double, taking his season count to 15 goals in 16 games before the break.
Nick Kalmar added to the tally in the second half to ensure Hajduk stay on top with a two-point lead over Thunder, who remain in hot pursuit. Most pleasing for Stuart Munro however would have been the three points and a clean sheet.
There were numerous debuts for both sides with Daniel Visevic, Brad Clarke (returning) and Liam McCormick all starting for Hajduk, while Rowan McNamee and Dion Paola (off the bench) featured for Richmond.
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After a couple of comeback 3-2 wins in the past month, Springvale White Eagles lost their lustre and have copped four goals twice, losing to GVS 4-2 last week and were most recently handed a 4-0 thrashing by relentless rivals Dandenong Thunder.
The goals were evenly spread as a trademark Kristian Sarkies free kick and a Brandon Barnes strike from a Roddy Vargas pass out of defence – his 22nd goal of the season – had the hosts up 2-0 at the break.
Alon Blumgart netted after the hour mark after catching the keeper off his line, while Sam Catherine sealed proceedings two minutes later by finishing off Barnes’ classy backheel assist.
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After making a splash earlier in the season and pushing mid-table, Nunawading have fallen back towards the bottom of the table and continue to ship goals, conceding another four against the Goulburn Valley Suns.
But the hosts didn’t have it all their way early as James Brown opened the scoring for Nunawading as they looked to address their recent slide in form.
However, Jamie England pegged one back, and Will Papageorgiou swung the pendulum in the hosts’ favour after the break.
The scoreline ballooned out in the 90th minute onwards as the home side took advantage of Nuna’s weariness towards the end, with Stefan Papageorgiou and Craig Carley – his second for the club upon his return from Avondale – adding to their goal difference.
GVS have been freescoring recently (16 goals in their last four games), while Nunawading now sit alone in second last, just a point above Richmond, with their last win coming in Round 13.
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Box Hill’s unbeaten form continued but they were so close to earning another three points in their mid-season revival with a 2-2 draw against Eastern Lions, whose late point is one they’ll take regardless in a bid to stave off relegation.
All four scorers on the day have been ones to have been on the scoresheet fairly regularly this season or in recent times.
Todd Dekker and Ryan Losty couldn’t repeat their hauls of five and four last week, but the former opened the scoring this time – his 12th for the season, 11 of those coming in the last five rounds – while the latter produced a dramatic equaliser in the dying stages.
Kostas Droutsas netted a 55th minute equaliser having also scored last week, taking advantage of a good build-up involving Phil Ajao and Losty. Ryan Go also continued his decent goalscoring form this campaign with his fourth, tucking away Dekker’s cross in what looked like the winner before Losty’s effort at the death – making amends for an earlier clear-cut miss in the game.
NPL2 2017 Eastern Lions v Box Hill United match highlights from Eastern Lions Soccer Club on Vimeo.
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It’s now three 2-2 draws in a row for Melbourne City, who held off Murray United despite the regional outfit twice having a lead. Given last week’s defeat to Box Hill, where they gave up a lead four times, it’s an inconvenience to James Coutts’ men in dropping points from winning positions too often recently.
There was a flurry of activity early as Zac Walker netted his eighth for the season, squeezing in a finish despite being surrounded by defenders, before Marko Delic made it two in as many weeks to square the ledger with another good turn and close-range finish. But soon after Alex West netted his first NPL goal for the club, heading in Coutt’s free-kick in the 13th minute.
It was a long time coming for the second equaliser, when a late penalty allowed Ali Eyigun to step up and emphatically put away the penalty to salvage a draw for the visitors, who had finished the stronger of both sides.