Image: Kevin Juggins
Two Friday night fixtures saw two key developments that will shape the end of the 2016 NPL Victoria campaign.
The first saw South Melbourne defeat Pascoe Vale 4-1 – while that most likely won’t have any bearing on the premiership result, a hat-trick to Milos Lujic saw him take his season record to 23 goals in 24 appearances, meaning a fourth consecutive FFV Golden Boot is on the horizon with closest rival Dusan Bosnjak still on 18.
The other saw Port Melbourne defeat Hume City 1-0 and take their season tally to 26, out of reach of 12th placed Richmond on 19, guaranteeing their survival in 2016.
***
South Melbourne didn’t have it all their way early when Matt Lazarides was put through on goal and made no mistake with the finish.
That’s as good as it got for them, as a penalty earned by Leigh Minopoulos, which subsequently saw Adam Nakic sent off, saw Milos Lujic score on the rebound as his penalty was initially saved by Alex Pavlidis.
Both Minopoulos and Lujic then combined again when the former played through the latter for the lead just before the break.
The big striker then earned a penalty of his own early in the second half which led to Pavlidis receiving his marching orders – Lujic then converted for his hat-trick and a 3-1 scoreline to South.
He earned another penalty minutes later, but it was Nick Epifano who stepped up to the spot and had his effort saved by Dennys Martin
Marcus Schroen put on the finishing touches in added time to wrap up the 4-1 win.
Despite the result, Bentleigh Greens will have the chance to wrap up the premiership against Northcote City.
***
Meanwhile, a third clean sheet in a row for Port – and an impressive 1-0 win over finals-bound Hume City – has seen them secure a three points that ensures their top flight status for another season.
Despite a difficult second half of the season, the recent unbeaten run helped the Sharks pick up enough points.
It were Craig Carley and Tom Cahill with the better chances that missed in the first half that ended scoreless for both sides.
The deadlock was broken in the second when a corner kick that keeper that Jordan Franken couldn’t deal with bounced off the crossbar and into the path of Shaun Kelly, who nodded the ball into an empty net.
Carley had a later chance when he flicked on from a corner but Luke Gavalas made the save.
David Stirton nearly sealed the result with another goal but Franken saved wide – it didn’t matter in the end as Port held on for the vital three points.