Last minute strike sends Oakleigh into Preliminary Final

A last minute strike by substitute Craig Goodwin was all that was needed for Oakleigh to defeat South Melbourne and set up another date with Hume City to decide who will face Green Gully in this year’s VPL Grand Final.

The contest began evenly as both sides battled and tackled hard in the early stages causing a lack of clear cut chances. The best opportunity early on fell to Steven Weir, whose header beat goalkeeper Peter Zois but was denied by the crossbar.

Oakleigh had two great chances saved in the space of ten minutes by Zaim Zeneli, firstly palming a James Robinson header over the bar and minutes later pulling a stunning save denying Hayden Doyle’s low shot.

With minimal chances created in the first half, the 2000+ crowd would have been disappointed with the football on offer by two sides who must win to stay alive in the finals.

South Melbourne came out attacking early in the second half, putting some pressure on the Oakleigh defence, however their final touch and delivery let them down. In the 55th minute Robinson was in action again as he dribbled past a South defender, but his weak effort was straight at Zeneli.

Both sides continued to struggle with their final touch, as Milovanovic had an opportunity to give the host’s the lead but his shot was easily saved by Zeneli. On 83 minutes Jesse Krncevic made his way into the Oakleigh 18 yard box looking to hand South the lead however his weak strike was saved by the legs of Zois.

Just when it looked as the game would be going into extra time, Oakleigh substitute Craig Goodwin was found lurking in the visitors penalty area and with a left foot strike beat Zeneli and much to the delight of the home supporters, kept his side in this year’s Victorian Premier League title race.

Oakleigh will now face Hume City on Saturday 27th of August at SS Anderson Reserve in a game which will decide who will face Green Gully for the Victorian Premier League title at AAMI PARK.

Oakleigh Cannons: Peter ZOIS, Bonel OBRADOVIC, Ramazan TAVSANCIOGLU, James CUMMINGS, Ari DRAKOS, Luke WALKER, Ante CICAK ( Frank LAGANA 62nd min), Dane MILOVANOVIC ( Craig GOODWIN 85th min), Hayden DOYLE ( Jeremy WALKER 93rd min) , James ROBINSON

South Melbourne: Zaim ZENELI , Tom MATTHEWS, Rhodri PAYNE, Steven O’DOR, Daniel VASILEVSKI, Carl RECHHIA ( Kyle JORYEFF 90 Min), Jesse KRNCEVIC,Trent Waterson, Steven WEIR, Daniel DRAGICEVIC (Fernando DE MORAES 69 min), Yannis GALANOS.