VPL: Everything fine and Dandy again

Normal programming has resumed in the Victorian Premier League with Dandenong Thunder back on the winner list with a 4-0 victory over Moreland. At the other end it looks like 2012 might be the final season before Heidelberg hits the cutting room floor as they remain bolted to the bottom. In the middle only six points separate third from ninth.


Bentleigh Greens 1 (Wallace 83')
Hume City 1 (Leech 18')
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

Bentleigh managed to keep themselves inside the top five and keep Hume City out when the two sides shared the points on Friday evening. Hume opened the scoring through Mark Leech but were unable to hold on with Wayne Wallace slotting home the equaliser seven minutes from time.



Oakleigh Cannons 1 (Drakos 71')
Green Gully Cavaliers 1 (Sanders 45'Pen)
Jack Edwards Reserve

The points were shared in the rematch of last season's Grand final at Jack Edwards Reserve. Green Gully were gifted the lead right on half time with a penalty, but didn't do enough to keep the Cannons at bay. The point didn't help either sides chance of catching leaders Dandenong and left them both vulnerable for the chasing pack.


South Melbourne 1 (Rixon 83')
Richmond 3 (Armenian 68' 90', Cahill 78')
Lakeside Stadium

Richmond took all three points from the genuine six pointer against a disappointing South Melbourne. Newly signed Hamlet Armenian helped his new side with a double whilst South Melbourne blew their chances when Trent Rixon was red carded not long after teammate Shaun Kelly had been shown a second yellow. The win is Richmond's third on the trot and catapults them up to 6th; consigning South Melbourne to 10th.

Northcote City 3 (Lujic 63, 75, 81)
Melbourne Knights 2 (Sweeney 74' Talajic 93')
John Cain Memorial Park

Northcote City gave themselves a big finals boost with a win over Melbourne Knights on Saturday. In a battle which saw all five goals scored in the last half hour, City were able to hold on and bridge the gap to second and third places who could only manage a point each. Milos Lujic was the hero for Northcote with a hat trick.

Dandenong Thunder 4 (Sherbon 4' 41' 89'Pen, Kearney 14')
Moreland Zebras 1 (Recchia 51'Pen)
George Andrews Reserve

The Thunder put themselves back on the rails with a decisive 4-1 win over the struggling Zebras. Luke Sherbon again put his name in lights with another hat-trick. Dandy find themselves six points clear again after 2nd and 3rd played out a draw.

Heidelberg United 2 (Sarkies 6`Pen, Davidson 75`)
Southern Stars 2 (Kearney 23`Pen, Harrhy 51`)
Olympic Village

Heidelberg United blew their chance to gain three valuable points with a draw at home to promoted Southern Stars. A sixth minute penalty to Kristian Sarkies was just the tonic the Warriors needed to start their slow grind out of the bottom but it wasn't enough to keep the Stars down. Southern, although 9th, are only three points out of a finals spot and must fancy themselves to at least challenge for that spot in the run home

POS		TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1		Dandenong Thunder	15	10	3	2	30	8	22	33
2		Oakleigh Cannons	15	8	3	4	23	18	5	27
3		Green Gully Cavaliers	15	8	2	5	22	17	5	26
4		Northcote City	15	7	4	4	20	21	-1	25
5		Bentleigh Greens	15	7	2	6	23	19	4	23
6		Richmond	15	5	6	4	18	16	2	21
7		Hume City	15	6	3	6	17	16	1	21
8		Melbourne Knights	15	7	0	8	18	19	-1	21
9		Southern Stars	15	5	5	5	17	23	-6	20
10		South Melbourne	15	5	3	7	19	21	-2	18
11		Moreland Zebras	15	3	2	10	18	29	-11	11
12		Heidelberg United	15	1	3	11	16	34	-18	6

Goals
13 – Luke Sherbon, Dandenong Thunder
8 – Nate Foster, Dandenong Thunder
7 – James Kalifatidis, Northcote City
6 – Nicholas Hegarty, Hume City
6 – Ricky Diaco, Oakleigh Cannons
6 – Mathew Sanders, Green Gully Cavaliers
6 – Mark Leech, Southern Stars

Yellow Cards
5 – Steven Topalovic, Richmond
5 – Daniel Jones, Green Gully Cavaliers
5 – Brian Bran, Dandenong Thunder
5 – Jonathan Voulgaris, Northcote City
5 – Adam Zilic, Melbourne Knights
5 – Craig Sweeney, Melbourne Knights
5 – Saso Alexovski, Heidelberg United
5 – Isiyan Erdogan, Hume City

Red Cards
3 – Richmond (Liam Cannell, Michael Ferrante, Mate Medjedovic)
3 – Southern Stars (Lean Williams, Ridvan Saglam, Halil Gur)
3 – South Melbourne (Thomas Matthews, Trent Rixon, Shaun Kelly)
2 – Green Gully Cavaliers (Patricio Vargas, Mile Medjedovic)
2 – Melbourne Knights (Ben Surey, Timislav Uskok)
1 – Heidelberg United (George Papadopoulos)

Round Sixteen Fixture
Hume City v Heidelberg United, 8:30pm Fri 27 July, Epping Soccer Stadium
Richmond v Oakleigh Cannons, 8:30pm Fri 27 July, Kevin Bartlett Reserve
Dandenong Thunder v Northcote City, 7pm Sat 28 July, George Andrews Reserve
Southern Stars v South Melbourne, 7pm Sat 28 July, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Moreland Zebras v Green Gully Cavaliers, 3pm Sun 29 July, Epping Soccer Stadium
Melbourne Knights v Bentleigh Greens, 3pm Sun 29 July, Knights Stadium