It was a pretty balanced week, a good Round for defenders who don’t always receive the praise they deserve. I mean, c’mon, we’re talking an actual flat back five here. How often do you see that?
GK: Fraser Maclaren (South Melbourne)
In the best way to endear himself to fans, South’s mid-season acquisition perhaps single-handedly preserved a clean sheet and a precious three points on his NPL debut – in place of the suspended Nikola Roganovic – against a rampant Dandenong Thunder, who were left wondering just how they didn’t score.
RB: Jacob Eliopoulos (Northcote City)
A huge effort at right back against the more fancied Hume City. Did his job in defence but was also threatening going forward, contributing two vital involvements – a goal and assist – to the victory.
CB: Luke Byles (Heidelberg United)
Barely allowed Port Melbourne a sniff in the first half, and while conceding a goal was almost a shock to the system, did well to prevent the Sharks another opportunity to sneak a late goal in a commanding performance.
CB: Aron Wilford (Oakleigh Cannons)
A solid all round defensive performance from the experienced Scotsman who was dominant at the back, limiting Barisic after his early strike, before producing a fantastic goal-saving block which diverted Marijan Cvitkovic’s goalbound effort away from the target.
CB: Matt Townley (North Geelong Warriors)
With North Geelong protecting a precious lead and three invaluable points, Towley repelled wave after wave of Green Gully advances with crucial interceptions, tackles and clearances. Played a vital part in his side’s victory.
LB: Faisal Sakhizada (Dandenong Thunder)
An absolute jet on the left side of defence. As quoted in the match report, “Faisal Sakhizada was a man mountain for Dandy, winning everything that came his way whilst moving ball forward accurately to keep Thunder on the front foot”.
CM: Liam McCormick (Bentleigh Greens)
Another busy shift in Bentleigh’s engine room sees McCormick firmly cement his spot in both the Team of the Week and Greens’ XI. His most telling contribution was a squaring delivery to tee up De Vries for one of his two goals
CM: Tim Purcell (Dandenong Thunder)
It was a tireless effort in the middle of the park from Purcell, who was winning challenges, chasing down balls all over the pitch and distributing clinically to launch his side’s forays forward. Deserved better than a 0-1 defeat.
RW: Ryan De Vries (Bentleigh Greens)
Such is De Vries’ talent that we’ve thrown him on the right flank, because he’d do the job anywhere. Put Werribee to the sword with two well taken goals from the wing and was a constant danger throughout the contest.
ST: Mirjan Pavlovic (Oakleigh Cannons)
Took both of his chances extremely well for the Cannons, finishing with a crucial brace. The former Sydney United man expertly tucked the ball past May for the first goal, before an excellent finish saw him turn his man and open up space before unleashing a shot into the bottom corner for the second. Grgic and Batur struggled to combat the big man’s presence throughout.
LW: Reuben Way (Heidelberg United)
Dangerous on the left side of midfield, his movement and shooting from distance kept the Port defence on its toes. Almost scored a few times before equalising for Heidelberg with a brilliant finish into the top corner from the edge of the area.
BENCH:
Evan Kounavelis (Northcote City)
A constant threat in his 77 minutes on the pitch, Kounavelis created havoc in the front third, getting in behind the Hume defensive line on several occasions. Whilst unlucky not to be personally rewarded for his efforts, he did execute his role with aplomb in the 3-1 victory.
Bryan Bran (Port Melbourne Sharks)
The mid-season acquisition was very solid at the back for Port in his debut, keeping a dominant Heidelberg out for as long as possible with some crucial tackles whilst being composed in possession
Luca Santilli (Pascoe Vale)
Paco may well feel like they missed out on three points after a number of chances went begging in the 0-0 draw. Santilli did his best to try break the deadlock though, playing in a number of dangerous deliveries that just weren’t converted on the day.
Reardo Luka (North Geelong Warriors)
Makes the team by virtue of his early strike that proved to be the winner, which made a mockery of North Geelong’s recent struggles to score a goal from open play. It was
Robert Zadworny (Melbourne Knights)
While the result would not have pleased Knights’ coach Andrew Marth, the performance of the former North Geelong winger was a positive. He set up Barisic for the opener with a great ball into the box, before creating additional chances for the Knights in the second half which went unrewarded.