South Melbourne comeback secures home final

Liam Coventry-Poole of Football Federation Victoria.

South Melbourne came back from a 3-1 deficit to equalise before half time and hold onto a point, which secures them a home final against Heidelberg next Sunday.

It was a great day of football, as around 1000 fans showed up to SS Anderson Reserve to support two clubs, one of the best atmospheres the Alanic VPL has seen in years.

Northcote looked destined to clench fifth spot when Trent Rixon put them 3-1 up in the 33rd minute, but two sensational goals from Jesse Krncevic and Steve Weir shortly after guided South to the draw.

South Melbourne almost clenched third spot and the double chance at the end of the second half, but Krncevic missed the easiest of chances from close range with his head.

The match started with a bang when Jesse Krncevic opened the scoring in the third minute. He was played in behind Northcote’s defence, before finishing with a classy shot to the far bottom corner of the net.

Northcote hit straight back, equalising within 60 seconds. Dean Piermonte made a brilliant run down the left before making his way into the box to play a very cheeky back heel into the path of James Kalifatidis, who had the simple task of tapping it into the back of the net.

Dean Piermonte almost clenched the lead for Northcote in the 13th minute. Rixon played Piermonte through and into the box giving Piermonte enough time to bring Zanelli into action, before firing his shot wide.

South Melbourne believed they deserved a penalty in the 19th minute when they pleaded for a handball in the box, before being waved away by the referee.

Jonathan Voulgaris snatched the lead for Northcote in the 24th minute after a messy turnover by South Melbourne in defence. Zanelli should have done better, making it effortless for Voulgaris to score Northcote's second.

Northcote had their third in the 33rd minute, this time it was goal scoring machine Trent Rixon who was fed a brilliant through ball into the box before smashing the ball into the back of the net, giving Zanelli no chance.

South almost pulled one back in the 36th minute after a Daniel Oragicevic ball into the box found Steven Weir six yards from goal. Weir’s first touch was too heavy and fell into the arms of Treacey who was courageous in coming at Weir’s feet.

South Melbourne pulled one back in the 38th minute. It came via some Jesse Krncevic magic, who played an amazing lob shot over Charles Treacey who came off his line prematurely.

Amazingly Steven Weir equalised in the 41st minute with a terrific free kick which rocketed into the bottom corner of Treacey’s net, giving him no chance.

Seb Petrovic came close to putting South into the lead in the 42nd minute with a vicious strike from 20 yards which flew narrowly wide of Treacey’s goal.

Both sides had chances to snatch the win in the second half, none more so than Daniel Dragicevic who had a hat-trick of chances, but ultimately neither side could take advantage of their opportunities.

The final whistle was welcomed by wild celebrations, as South celebrated with their faithful along the fence, doing a lap of honor for their fans.

South Melbourne’s captain, Steven O’Dor credited his team mates after the match.

“It was a great effort by the boys, we showed a lot of belief towards the end, and sometimes that’s what it takes, grinding out results. Sometimes we play attractive football and don’t get the results, but today we did everything possible to get the result and it really showed”.

O’Dor went on to talk about next week’s massive clash against Heidelberg United.

“Next week is massive, we haven’t got a result against them in a while, and that’s going to be in the back of our minds heading into the game. We've got to believe in the team and if we show the resilience we showed today there are no excuses in getting a result”.

The loss means that Northcote miss out on a finals birth, while a draw takes South Melbourne to fourth, securing a home final against Heidelberg United.

Next Sunday afternoon South Melbourne host rivals Heidelberg United at SS Anderson Reserve at 3PM, while Northcote’s season is now over.

Northcote City: 1. Charles TREACEY (GK), 12. Hayden D’AGOSTINO (17. Gianni DE NITTIS 80’), 2. Adrian CHIAPPETTA, 3. Kristian KONSTANDINIDIS, 11. Harry KINIGOPOULOS (16. Paul SAVIO 69’), 7. Jonathan VOULGARIS (8. Nicholas CURTIS 69’), 10. Glen TRIFIRO, 23. Jason TRIFIRO, 19. Dean PIERMONTE, 9. Trent RIXON, 18. James KALAFATIDIS

Unused subs: 22. Chris THEODORIDIS-PETROPOULOS (GK), 5. Nick TZOULIS

Goal scorers: James KALAFATIDIS 4’, Jonathan VOULGARIS 24’, Trent RIXON 33’,

Yellow cards: James KALAFATIDIS 66’, Jason TRIFIRO 84’, Kristian KONSTANDINIDIS 90+2’

South Melbourne: 21. Zaim ZENELLI (GK), 4. Steven O’DOR, 5. Daniel VASILEVSKI (33. Yannis GALANOS 87’), 6. Steven TOPALOVIC, 8. Carl RECHHIA, 11. Jesse KRNCEVIC, 15. Fernando DE MORAES (25. Kyle JORYEFF 80’), 16. Trent WATERSON, 17. Steven WEIR, 20. Daniel DRAGICEVIC (2. Tom MATTHEWS 69’), 23. Sebastian PETROVIC

Unused subs: 1. Abdelhadi DEROUNE (GK), 80. Arinos GASPARIS

Goal scorers: Jesse KRNCEVIC 3’, 38’, Steven WEIR 41’

Yellow card: Steven TOPALOVIC 11’