VPL Wrap - The race for second place

Its officially a race for second place now as Dandenong Thunder continue to scoot away with the Victorian Premier League title. The interest now turns to the bottom end of the table with Heidelberg staring down the barrel of an unthinkable relegation, much as the Knights were last season. A small gap is starting to appear between the top and bottom six teams and Green Gully have their work cut out for them but if there was one team you could bank on coming home like Might and Power then its the boys from the Gully.


Bentleigh Greens 1 O’Dea (78’)
South Melbourne 0
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

Bentleigh continued their assault on second spot with a hard fought win over South Melbourne. Melbourne Victory player Luke O'Dea slotted home a penalty twelve minutes from time to consign South to the bottom four and in real danger of finding themselves in the relegation fight come season's end. The Greens have the mouthwatering clash against fellow top two aspirants Oakleigh Cannons to look forward to next weekend.

Hume City 1 Hegarty (63’)
Southern Stars 1 Brown (43’)
Epping Soccer Stadium

Southern Stars earned a point against Hume City to keep their heads above water for the time being while Hume kept their spot in the top five. Stars took the lead just before half-time but Hume pegged it back with a well deserved goal after the break.

Dandenong Thunder 3 Sherbon (42’ pen), Kearney (49’), McIlroy (55’)
Green Gully Cavaliers 0
George Andrews Reserve

Its Dandenong by how far this season as they easily put aside last years Grand Final winners Green Gully. The Thunder look unstoppable and with the next four games coming against bottom sides it is hard to see where they will drop points to let the pack back in. A goal just before and two just after half time was all Dandenong needed. Gully on the other hand will have to rely on their usual late charge to have another shot at this years title.

Northcote City 3 Drakos (14' Own goal), D’Agostino (24') Okai (90')
Oakleigh Cannons 2 Diaco (6') Krncevic (86')
John Cain Memorial Park

The game of the round was at John Cain Memorial Park where Northcote defeated a gallant Oakleigh 3-2. In terrible conditions the crowd were kept on their feet with three goals inside the first 25 minutes and two in the last five minutes. Parys Okai was the hero for Northcote scoring a penalty in the 90th minute to lift them above Oakleigh and into third position. In the days following Oakleigh's loss, there have been rumours that Head Coach Huss Skenderovic has left the club...



Melbourne Knights 1 Surey (62’)
Richmond 0
Knights Stadium

The Knights' great run under new coach 'Stabber' Marth continues with another win and another clean sheet. The Knights grabbed their first home win of the season when Ben Surrey struck from 20 metres out to boost them into finals contention and stamp Richmond into the drop zone.

Heidelberg United 0
Moreland Zebras 4 Radojicic (37’), Kaya (41’), Faherty (51’), Salvatore (90+3’)
Olympic Park

The Zebras went a little way to staying up with a 4-0 thrashing of fellow strugglers Heidelberg. Two goals either side of half-time was plenty as the big spending Zebras got into second gear for the first time this season. A winnable local derby against Hume this weekend will have Moreland up and about while Heidelberg need to start gaining points soon or the unthinkable will become a reality for one of Victoria's biggest clubs.

Ladder after Round Ten

POS		TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1		Dandenong Thunder	10	8	2	0	23	3	20	26
2		Bentleigh Greens	10	6	1	3	18	13	5	19
3		Northcote City	10	6	1	3	16	15	1	19
4		Oakleigh Cannons	10	5	2	3	15	12	3	17
5		Hume City	10	5	2	3	11	10	1	17
6		Green Gully Cavaliers	10	5	0	5	14	14	0	15
7		Melbourne Knights	10	4	0	6	10	12	-2	12
8		Southern Stars	10	3	3	4	11	16	-5	12
9		South Melbourne	10	3	2	5	12	12	0	11
10		Richmond	10	2	4	4	10	12	-2	10
11		Moreland Zebras	10	2	1	7	12	19	-7	7
12		Heidelberg United	10	1	2	7	8	22	-14	5

Round Eleven Fixtures