Image: M&A Sports Photography
A round full of upsets showed the Western Conference can be just as tight as the East as we reach the half-way point of the season.
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League leaders Northcote City welcomed 4th placed Moreland City to John Cain Memorial Park for a heavyweight northern suburbs derby on Saturday afternoon. It was to be a tricky assignment for the hosts against a strong opposition, and this task was made all the more challenging when Nathan Cook was given his marching orders in the 33rd minute for an incident during a set piece. With the scores level at the break, the visitors started the better in the second half, breaking the deadlock on 49 minutes when Osman Kose struck from the top of the box to stun Northcote, who had only lost once all season.
Moreland were unlucky not to have a second with 18 minutes to go through Trent Rixon, who was denied by a stunning save from Northcote shot stopper Griffin McMaster. That save would prove invaluable as, with 90+5 minutes on the clock, substitute Liam Flynn stepped up to curl home a stunning free kick into the top corner and make it 1-1.
Cue wild celebrations and a valuable point for the hosts who are on course to bounce straight back into the NPL at the first time of asking. Heartbreak for Moreland City who, before the match, probably would have taken a point but will see this as two points dropped.
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Sunshine George Cross handed Whittlesea Ranges their third loss in a row as they ran out 3-1 winners at Epping Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It would be a game of two halves as Sunshine had the run of play in the first half, Sergio Azagane opening the scoring when he met Adrian Logozzo’s cross on the back post for an easy tap in. George Tsiakalakis and Sergio Azagane missed free headers either side of the opener, however captain Chris Dib would step up just before half time to flick in from Dom Falla’s corner to double the visitors lead. Chris Talajic missed a golden opportunity for the hosts as he squandered a chance and put his shot into the side netting.
The hosts came out firing in the second half, Talajic bringing a cross down before smashing it into the roof of the net, giving keeper Matt Jones no chance and putting his side back in the game. Whittlesea maintained most of possession but never really troubled Jones’ goal until late in the game. Phil Petrovski kept his side in it late in the game but that would prove to be worthless as a wayward Nick Tzoulis back pass went past Petrovski, allowing Chris Dib to capitalise and run into an empty net and put the game to bed. The win means George Cross and Ranges swap spots on the table.
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Werribee City put some much needed distance between them and the drop zone with a superb away win against Moreland Zebras on Saturday afternoon. Things looked ominous for the away side as Amir Osmancevic got the CB Smith crowd going in the 9th minute with a nicely finished goal. That same crowd was silenced just 10 seconds later as Peter Deng brought down Darcey Den Ouden in the box after a long ball from the kick off.
Domenico Marafioti stepped up to smash home from the spot to leave everyone needing a breather after a mad couple of minutes. After some good chances for the home team, the visitors went in front on the hour after good work down the right from Robert Naumoski allowed him to cross to Marafioti who tapped it in to the roof of the net. Not too sure about the celebration (see highlights) but a good finish!
Werribee should have had a third but a stunning reflex save from Zebras ‘keeper Andre Jannese kept them in it for the time being, but it wasn’t to be. Two in a row for Werribee as they look to get their season going.
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We are only at the half way point, but it has been a long season for Bendigo City. They travelled to Dunstan Reserve on Saturday afternoon in desperate need of some points but Brunswick City were just too strong. Braces from Adam Wright and Juan Portillo capped off a dominant display from the home side, who went in only 1-0 up at the break. A consolation from Anthony Marafioti in stoppage time gave the traveling Bendigo fans something to cheer about but unless drastic changes are made, State League 1 is looking more of a likelihood for the regional club.
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Sunday afternoon saw Melbourne Victory travel to Morshead Park in search of some gold, but as many a traveller has encountered when travelling to the city of Ballarat, they came up short. The away side broke the deadlock in the 19th minute through Christian Theoharous and went in ahead at the half-time interval. Coach Danny Gnjidic obviously said something to get his side going as they drew level just three minutes into the second period, Joshua Romein with a lovely chip over Hatzikourtis in the Victory goal. With the game looking like the points would be shared, up stepped substitute Dom Swinton to glance home the header and give the home side a fantastic win.