Friday night football in the NPL saw the Oakleigh Cannons claim their win in a row with a resounding 4-1 away triumph over a poor Port Melbourne Sharks who succumbed to their third straight defeat. In the night’s other fixture Richmond and Hume City shared the spoils following a 1-1 result that saw former Richmond captain Tom Cahill score against his former club as Hume’s Championship ambitions suffered another dint. Another improved showing from the hosts came hours after the club had announced the signings of three new faces to the dressing room, while four others departed the club.
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Port Melbourne Sharks 1-4 Oakleigh Cannons (Stirton 90′, Hatzimouratis 23′ 47′, Bosnjak 76′, 83′)
In-form playmaker Dusan Bosnjak was in inspired form once more as him and teammate Dimitri Hatzimouratis each collected a brace in a dominant 4-1 success over the Port Melbourne Sharks for whom David Stirton grabbed a late consolation.
Eric Vassiliadis elected to hand a debut to teenage goalkeeper James Kapuranovski, with Adrian Zahra seeing his early opportunity saved by John Honos after a cutback from former Cannon Erhan Yalaz. However, the visitors took the lead in the 23rd minute when Hatzimouratis was played in behind the Sharks defence to open the scoring. The same player would once again find himself on the scoresheet minutes into the second half when he pounced upon a scramble to double Oakleigh’s lead and in the process registered his seventh goal of the campaign. The visitors hit the post soon after, while shot-stopper Honos was called into action when he thwarted his brother Lambros, whose free-kick was well saved by the elder sibling.
From there onwards, it was the Dusan Bosnjak show as the former Melbourne Heart Youth captain scored a quick-fire double to join Kenny Athiu, Chris Lucas and Dusan Bosnjak on nine goals at the top of the goalscoring charts. Substitute Stirton scored his sixth of the campaign in stoppage time, but that goal only served to give the scoreboard a touch more credibility as Oakleigh surged into third on the competition ladder, while the hosts remain in seventh but are five points behind sixth place Hume.
Richmond 1-1 Hume City (Kokolakis 43′, Cahill 37′)
Hume City’s recent spate of inconsistent form continued after the 2015 FFA Cup semi-finalists were held to a 1-1 draw against a determined Richmond side, who came up against former talisman Tom Cahill for the first time since his off-season move to ABD Stadium. The visitors came into the contest with a four-day turnaround from Monday night’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bulleen.
Three early shots in succession saw English pair Nick Hegarty and Cahill come close to open the scoring, before Chris Oldfield was forced to make a great double save to deny Dutchman Geert-Arend Roorda on the volley. However, as is often the case, a player’s return to their former stomping ground had desired results for their current employers as Cahill reacted quickest in the penalty area to score his first goal in his third league game for Lou Acevski’s men.
Not to be undone, midfielder Kokolakis restored parity soon after as his strike levelled the scoring as the two sides headed into the half-time break. Both goalkeepers had to be at their best to deny the opposition from taking the lead, with Gian Tapia making another good save to deny Hegarty. Further chances for the visitors followed as they brought on Kofi Danning and Kym Harris in search of a winner, with the latter and Cahill coming close. Richmond defender Bryan Bran nearly got on the end of a free kick with Danning and in-form Richmond winger Alex Caniglia both trying their luck in stoppage time to no avail. Another point sees Rick Mensink’s side undefeated in their last three encounters, where they have only shipped in three goals – a marked improvement from the 39 they conceded in their opening 11 fixtures.
Richmond makes three additions as four depart Kevin Bartlett Reserve
The relegation battlers strengthened their squad with the signings of defender Jakob Williams and midfielders Sergio Mshali and Ratip Cileli.
21 year-old Williams was part of the AIS set-up before making his mark in senior football in the nation capital at Canberra Olympic. Successive A-League youth stints with the Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanders followed before he joined Heidelberg United in 2014. After making 23 appearances and scoring three goals under George Katsakis, Williams made the mid-season switch to the Oakleigh Cannons, where he went onto make a further 14 league appearances under Arthur Papas. The versatile Williams – who is also capable of playing in midfield – had agreed terms with the Bentleigh Greens but left the club earlier this month after failing to break into the Greens starting XI.
24 year-old Mshali, who also goes by the name of Souheil Azagane, joins from Hume City, having made five appearances for them this season. The Malaga-born midfielder joined the club late last season as a trialist and scored two goals in a memorable 4-3 defeat against the Melbourne Victory in a friendly match in September before making further appearances for the club in the FFA Cup.
Fellow midfielder Ratip Cileli moves to league strugglers having featured for Green Gully this season. 20 year-old Cileli made his breakthrough into senior football at the club in 2014 after being handed his debut by Aaron Symons, scoring two goals in 25 appearances over the course of the season. He was then promoted into the Melbourne City Youth team and featured under Joe Montemurro in their inaugural NPL2 campaign last year, before failing to find his feet upon his return to Green Gully Reserve this season, making only one appearance off the bench.
Former Dandenong Thunder captain and recently departed Port Melbourne midfielder Alan Mulcahy could be announced as another new signing for the 2015 NPL2 Champions, with the Irishman currently training with the club. Meanwhile, the club parted company with Samuel Catherine, Josh Valadon, Travis Chalk-Hatton and Nik Popovich.
Catherine and Valadon joined the club in 2015 having spent 2014 with Box Hill United, with former Knox City midfielder Catherine making 31 appearances for the club, scoring two goals. Mauritian international defender Valadon made just two starts this campaign and has not been seen on the pitch since their Round 2 drubbing at hands of Bentleigh – and in total played 27 league games for the club, scoring 3 times. Both have been rumoured to return to United, where Travis Chalk-Hatton signed from, with the defender-come-central striker making seven league appearances under Rick Mensink this term. Canberra-born forward Popovich departs after only featuring twice this term and it is unknown whether he will stay in Victoria or return home.
Further moves across the league as transfer window approaches
With the mid-season transfer window opening on Monday morning, there has been a flurry of movements in the past few days. The Oakleigh Cannons bolstered their attack with the acquisition of former Wellington Phoenix forward Sean Lovemore in addition to former Perth Glory defender Jacob Collard. Former Melbourne City Youth midfielder Anthony Rizk joins from Northcote City, while South Springvale midfielder Kostas Stratomitros joins former teammates Ali Hameed and Perry Lambropoulos at Jack Edwards Reserve.
Northcote have replaced one former Melbourne City midfielder with another after Anthony Taranto joined from Nunawading City last week, while ex Brisbane Roar Youth and Perth Glory Youth Todd Norris also joined the league struggles. 2013 Championship winner Nick Tzoulis departs John Cain Memorial Reserve by agreeing terms with Whittlesea Ranges where the holding midfielder is expected to fill the hole left by Stefan Baricevic, who has suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Avondale have parted company with former Springvale White Eagles winger Vojislav Milojevic, with the 21-year-old’s time at the club curtailed by injury. In NPL2, Michael Gerace and Lucas Johns have left Box Hill, while Lewis Foster has exited Dandenong Thunder. Springvale has brought back midfielder Milan Jovanovic from the South Melbourne 20s, while winger Bradley Blumenthal has left the club, joining State League One high-flyers Mornington – for whom he came on as a substitute in last night’s 0-0 away draw to third placed Casey Comets. Meanwhile, former Melbourne City man Nick Gonzales is expected to headline Sunshine’s mid-season overhaul, with the club in the process of making a number of further changes to propel itself up the ladder.
Image: Smile for Peter