VPL: Tighter than a fat guy in spandex

Top spot might be locked away and bottom spot is almost guaranteed but it is the spots in between that is making the Victorian Premier League as exciting as it was during last seasons run home. Ten points separate second and tenth with six games to go and if we can get a final day half as exciting as we did last season then everyone's a winner.


Hume City 3 (Hegarty 28'[pen] 69' Leech 55')
Heidelberg United 1 (Bonne 42')
Epping Soccer Stadium

Put a fork in them, they are done. Heidelberg with six games to play are 14 points from safety with only six points in the bank. Hume on the other hand are now one point adrift of the final five and are playing some good football. A good second half was all that was needed to get the points on Friday night.

Richmond 2 (Cahill 13' 23')
Oakleigh Cannons 3 (Honos 5' Zoric 33' Festerson 38')
Kevin Bartlett Reserve

A mid-week friendly against Melbourne Victory didn't hamper Oakleigh's run at the title as they defeated aspiring finalists Richmond on Friday night. The floodgates opened early with the Cannons scoring in the first five minutes in a match which had five goals at half time half time but unfortunately for the the neutral still only had five goals at the end.

Dandenong Thunder 3 (Sherbon 14' 22' Bowen 76')
Northcote City 1 (Bran 90' [OG])
George Andrews Reserve

Dandenong Thunder continued on their merry way with a convincing 3-1 win over finals contender Northcote. Luke Sherbon did what Luke Sherbon does best; scoring twice in the win. Dandenong remain six points clear on top and it will take something drastic for them to be toppled. Northcote are very much still in the hunt for a finals spot.

Southern Stars 2 (Harrhy 10' 68')
South Melbourne 3 (Fitzpatrick 46' [OG] Burton 90' Jacobs 90+4')
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

Call the police, there's been a robbery. South Melbourne pulled of one of the great football heists on Saturday night as they scored twice in injury time to snatch and grab the points from Southern. News during the week that Jason Trifiro has signed up with new Hyundai A-League side Western Sydney is another shot in the arm for the VPL although it might hurt South Melbourne short term, as will the 11 week ban handed down to super striker Trent Rixon.

Moreland Zebras 1 (Skorich 47')
Green Gully Cavaliers 2 (Sanders 11, Ederaro 35')
Epping Soccer Stadium

Moreland Zebras only have themselves to blame for another poor loss on Sunday. Schoolboy mistakes is a term too kind for the Zebras defence as they coughed up the ball on two occasions and were made to pay by last season's Champions. Green Gully are still a point off second spot. The Zebras need points desperately if their Victorian Premier League adventure is going to continue next season.

Melbourne Knights 0
Bentleigh Greens 4 (Bulloch 38' Pain 45' D'Angelo 55' Batsis 75')
Knights Stadium

The Knights suffered their biggest defeat of the season with a 4-0 loss to the highly rated Bentleigh Greens at Knights Stadium on Sunday. The goals were shared around for the Greens as they consolidated their spot in the final five while pushing Melbourne four points short of a finals spot. I wouldn't have liked to be in the dressing room with coach 'Stabber' Marth after this one.

POS		TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1		Dandenong Thunder	16	11	3	2	33	9	24	36
2		Oakleigh Cannons	16	9	3	4	26	20	6	30
3		Green Gully Cavaliers	16	9	2	5	24	18	6	29
4		Bentleigh Greens	16	8	2	6	27	19	8	26
5		Northcote City	16	7	4	5	21	24	-3	25
6		Hume City	16	7	3	6	20	17	3	24
7		Richmond	16	5	6	5	20	19	1	21
8		South Melbourne	16	6	3	7	22	23	-1	21
9		Melbourne Knights	16	7	0	9	18	23	-5	21
10		Southern Stars	16	5	5	6	19	26	-7	20
11		Moreland Zebras	16	3	2	11	19	31	-12	11
12		Heidelberg United	16	1	3	12	17	37	-20	6

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

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
5 – Nicholas Marinos, Heidelberg United

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)
3 – Melbourne Knights (Ben Surey, Timislav Uskok, Shaun Romein)
2 – Green Gully Cavaliers (Patricio Vargas, Mile Medjedovic)
1 – Heidelberg United (George Papadopoulos)

Round Seventeen Fixture
Bentleigh Greens v Dandenong Thunder, 8:15pm Fri 3 August, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Oakleigh Cannons v Southern Stars, 8:30pm Fri 3 August, Jack Edwards Reserve
Green Gully Cavaliers v Richmons, 3pm Sat 4 August, Green Gully Reserve
Northcote City v Moreland Zebras, 3pm Sat 4 August, John Cain Memorial Park
Heidelberg United v Melbourne Knights, 3pm Sun 5 August, Olympic Villiage
South Melbourne v Hume City, 5pm Sun 5 August, Lakeside Stadium