Here comes the most unbalanced, difficult team to compile, dominated by attackers with hardly any defenders. With so many mammoth attacking efforts from a select few sides, there were so many worthy players who missed out on a spot in the XI, let alone the whole side, despite our extended bench.
***
GK: John Honos (Oakleigh Cannons)
A position we really struggled to fill, with hardly any nominations. Honos made two good saves in the opening minutes of the contest to deny Webster and the returning Thurtell, as well as another smart save to deny Lucas shortly after the opener. Couldn’t do much about either of the goals and held firm at the end, resisting continuous Bentleigh attacks.
RB: Nick Glavan (Melbourne Knights)
His task involved making sure the threat of in-form forwar Sami Nour was nullified, and he performed his role with aplomb. Played his part in keeping a clean sheet and keeping Bulleen grounded after their recent good run.
RCB: Ramazan Tavsancioglu (Hume City)
Okay, we’ll admit one of Rama or Shane Rexhepi could’ve made the team, but we’ll hand a spot to the latter, his first in Hume colours. Helped the backline contain the likes of Joey Katebian and George Howard, resulting in a clean sheet and allowing the Hume attackers do their thing.
LCB: Les Doumbalis (Heidelberg United)
Ever since Heidelberg’s opening round derby demolition at the hands of South Melbourne, they’ve conceded once in four games, and held clean sheets in the last three. Now, we’ve featured all of Steven Pace, Luke Byles and Milos Ilic in TOTW, but now it’s time to add Doumbalis to the list. This spot is an accumulation of weeks of good work despite flying under the radar, including another solid performance in the win against Avondale.
CM: Jason Hicks (Melbourne Knights)
Just his usual, dangerous self in the Knights midfield. When he’s not linking cleverly with teammates, he’s scoring the winning goals, as proved on the weekend against Bulleen Lions.
CM: Jake Barker-Daish (Richmond SC)
How sweet a feeling it would have been to score two goals – the second one in particular following a nice one-two and finish past the keeper – against your former side. He was clever in his build-up, purposeful with his runs and played like he had a point to prove.
LAM: Jamie de Abreu (Port Melbourne Sharks)
With the game deadlocked late and red cards flowing in abundance towards the end of the contest, Jamie de Abreu burst through midfield with a barnstorming run to give the game’s narrative one more twist. The finish was clinical and earned his side three hard fought points.
CAM: Dusan Bosnjak (Oakleigh Cannons)
A man of the match performance from the attacking midfielder, who appears to be getting back to his best form following injury troubles. Scored the winner and provided a threat in attack which Bentleigh struggled to contain throughout the 90.
RAM: Nick Krousoratis (Green Gully)
A hat-trick of the highest quality and an assist to Boland would make Krousoratis the player of the week. Deadly with both feet, he was an absolute menace along the forward line and Northcote just couldn’t contain him throughout the game. And he didn’t even play the full 90.
ST: Liam Boland (Green Gully)
Another day at the office for the striker, who notched up a brace and an assist. Scored with his head and feet, showing a range of abilities on the park. Could’ve had a couple more as well if not for the efforts of Petrovski between Northcote’s sticks.
ST: Nicolas Niagoran (Richmond SC)
A goal and two assists on debut is impressive enough, but when you consider it’s against two-time NPL premiers with one of the most miserly defences in the league, it’s an even more impressive feat. Did cop a red card for his over-enthusiasm later on, but we’ll forgive that.
Substitutes:
Liam Flynn (Richmond SC)
Really stiff to miss out, considering he scored a brace against South Melbourne. Rick Mensink’s tinkering with the lineup ahead of the game worked wonders for Flynn, who did extremely well to get forward and net two good goals.
Reuben Way (Heidelberg United)
Will be remembered for that wonder goal against Avondale, in which he scored with an acrobatic effort that made the rounds on social media. Another who could have made our starting XI if not for the abundance of attackers already featuring.
Daniel Clark (Hume City)
Had that poacher’s instinct to be at the right place at the right time to tuck home a brace and punish Victory’s sloppy moments at the back.
Sean Ellis (Heidelberg United)
A first league goal for Ellis, and also had an assist for his efforts. Any other week may have made the XI, if not for our abundance of standouts.
Luke Walker (Green Gully)
A rock in midfield who flew under the radar, but his contribution was nonetheless invaluable. Helped Gully establish a stranglehold on Northcote and barely allow the ball in their defensive half.
Danny Dixon (Bentleigh Greens)
A goal and an assist on his first start for the Greens following his summer move from Perth SC marked a good night out in a losing side on the night, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.