Photo: Bulent Yontem
A point to Northcote City against Green Gully saw them gain ground in the battle for NPL Victoria survival, while Hume City gave us a reminder as to why they shouldn’t be discounted heading into finals.
Northcote and Gully earned a share of the spoils in an entertaining 1-1 draw, with the Cavaliers the dominant side early with a number of half chances.
The hosts grew into the contest as the game went on, and fashioned an opener on 39 minutes, as Greek defender Michalis Karvouniaris headed home from a corner.
Gully salvaged an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, through Jay Davies, who flicked the ball home from close range, his second goal since making a mid-season switch from SL1 outfit Cairnlea FC.
Braedyn Crowley fired over the bar, while the ever dangerous Borbor Sam had an effort palmed away by the immense Rani Dowisha.
At the other end, Bouzanis was on call to deny goal scorer Davies as well as Rodrigo Vargas from good opportunities, as the game remained deadlocked at one a piece.
For Hume, goals came much easier as they completed a comprehensive win over a young Melbourne Victory outfit, piling on six unanswered goals in front of a home ABD Stadium crowd.
Chris Oldfield nabbed himself an assist, launching a ball over the defence for Craig Carley to chip home after seven minutes.
Petar Franjic -in just his second appearance since returning from injury – headed home from a Nick Hegarty corner to double the lead just three minutes later, while Oldfield was kept busy at the other end to retain the two-goal buffer.
Hegarty then turned scorer to scorer on both his 100th league game for the club, and his 30th birthday, a perfect reward for one of the leagues most highly-respected midfielders.
Kristian Trajceski made it four before the break, after a brilliant flowing passage of football, which saw each outfielder get a touch on the ball before the youngster applied a good finish from a low cross.
Tom Cahill joined in on the fun in the second half, converting a Jeremy Walker cross, with Carley completing the rout with his second – and his sixth since making the mid-season swithc to Hume – finishing well from a tight angle.
Heidelberg United remain above Hume on goal difference, after grabbing a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Avondale FC at Knights Stadium.
The visitors were the faster starters but fell behind after Abrahim Yango was fouled in side the area, allowing Jonatan Germano to convert from the penalty spot once more – his third in as many games.
Kenny Athiu thought he’d hit back in the first half, but his goal was disallowed, much to the dismay of the Heidelberg coaching staff.
Evan Markogiannakis – in his second straight league start – did well to deny chances from Sean Ellis and Athiu once more, however they found a way to break through on 71 minutes.
A dangerous free-kick deliver from Ellis hit the crossbar which broke to Kosta Kanakaris who misfired, allowing defender Steven Pace to sweep in to bundle home.
Just a couple minutes later and they had the lead, with Athiu combining with Ellis, with the Scotsman flicking home past Markogiannakis.
Francesco Stella missed a late chance for an equaliser, which leaves Avondale perilously close to the drop.
The final game of the round sawthe Bulleen Lions and Melbourne Knights play out a 1-1 draw on Monday night, the hosts fifth draw in nine home fixtures at the Veneto Club.
The night’s scoring was done within the opening half, with two mid-season signings joining forces for Bulleen’s opener.
Christian Cavallo was allowed to volley home from a Andreas Govas free-kick, which came off the post into the path of the former Victory man, who broke the offside trap to perfection.
Shayan Alinejad had earlier seen an opportunity saved by by former teammate Griffin McMaster, on his return to his old stomping ground.
Were it not for the efforts of Fraser Chalmers in goal, Bulleen could’ve doubled their lead, but he made a number of classy saves to deny Cavallo and Govas.
A sweeking counter attack saw the Knights grab their equaliser through Marijan Cvitkovic, who converted after two bites at the cherry following a Robbie Zadworny ball into the box.
The game remained open in the second half, but neither side were able to produce the quality required in the final third to grab a decider.
Knights defender Ivan Grgic was denied a winner due to an offside call.