NPL Victoria: New league new faces in Rd 1

The National Premier Leagues has now officially been rolled out in Victoria, with Round One now complete. Whilst many of the teams in the top flight of football in Victoria remain the same, there are new entrants in Ballarat Red Devils, Goulburn Valley Suns and Werribee City.

Heidelberg United 0
South Melbourne 3 (Theodore 12’ Lujic 21’ Reed 87’)
Olympic Village

Traditional rivals Heidelberg and South Melbourne kicked off the National Premier League Victoria with a bang in front of over 3000 people at Olympic Village on Thursday night.

Matthew Theodore took the honour of scoring the first ever goal in the newly formed league, nine minutes before 2013 Golden Boot winner Milos Lujic extended their lead. English signing Jamie Reed sealed the game with less than three minutes to go.

Both sides will play in the Dockerty Cup next weekend. Heidelberg travel to Oakleigh, while South Melbourne will take on Port Melbourne when the league returns in a fortnight.

Port Melbourne 2 (Braniff 22’ 31’)

Dandenong Thunder 2 (Craig 33’ Nakic 36’)

JL Murphy Reserve

Dandenong Thunder fought from two goals down to share the spoils with Port Melbourne on Friday night. In an entertaining first half, Kevin Braniff bagged his brace with two goals in less than ten minutes and that gave the visitors the spark they needed.

Goals from Brendan Craig and a super long range strike from Jake Nakic against his old side was enough for both sides to share the spoils.

Port Melbourne host South Melbourne in a fortnight, while Dandenong Thunder travel to Green Gully.

Melbourne Knights 3 (Covarrubias 6’ 35’ Cvitkovic 84’)

Northcote City 2 (Gasparis 17’ Rixon 81’ P)

Knights Stadium

A late Marian Cvitkovic ensured the Knights would clinch all three points against last year’s Victorian Premier League Champions Northcote City.

Rodrigo Covarrubias bagged a brace on debut, however missed a penalty for the chance to put the Knights in a commanding position with half an hour remaining.

The miss looked like it may come back to haunt them when Trent Rixon successfully converted his with less than nine minutes remaining, however substitute Cvitkovic ensured the home fans would have something to celebrate, scoring with six minutes left on the clock.

Knights travel to Pascoe Vale, while Northcote City play host to Bentleigh Greens.

Bentleigh Greens -

Ballarat Red Devils -

Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

Ballarat will have to wait a fortnight to make their debut in the NPL after lightning and heavy rain postponed play on Saturday evening.

The match has been rescheduled for August 30. Should either side make the Dockerty Cup final, the fixture will be played midweek.

Ballarat will now make their debut against Goulburn Valley Suns, while Bentleigh will kick off their season away to Northcote.

Goulburn Valley Suns 0

Oakleigh Cannons 1 (Piemone 4’)

McEwan Reserve

A gallant Goulburn Valley Suns proved to the rest of the competition that they would be no walkover this season, going down 1-0 to Oakleigh courtesy of a 4^th minute Dean Piemonte goal.

The Suns had their chances to equalise throughout the contest through Kristian Sarkier and Rudy Saglam, however the weather conditions in the North of the state made it difficult for both teams in the second half.

Oakleigh host Heidelberg United while Goulburn Valley take on Ballarat Red Devils.

Hume City 3 (Hegarty 18’ Stojcevski 25’ P. Franjic 65’)

Pascoe Vale 0

Broadmeadows Valley Park

Hume City started off their season with a commanding 3-0 win over Pascoe Vale on Sunday afternoon.

Two first half goals by Nick Hegarty and John Stojcevski saw the hosts with a comfortable lead before Petar Franjic sealed the deal with 25 minutes remaining.

Pascoe Vale had very few chances to get themselves on the scoresheet, with Luca Santilli coming closest just after the half time break.

They will look to improve their performance against Melbourne Knights in a fortnight, while Hume City will travel to Werribee City when they host their first NPL game.

Green Gully 4 (Ederaro 41’ Sanders 43’ 56’ Fisher 79’)

Werribee City 0

Green Gully Reserve

Werribee City did not make the impression they wanted in their first hit out of the NPL season, going down 4-0 to a powerful Green Gully outfit on Sunday afternoon.

Two goals before the half time break gave the hosts a commanding lead, and that did not stop them when returning to the park for the second half.

Matthew Sanders captured his brace in the 56^th minute mark before a superb strike from Brent Fisher put the icing on the cake for the Cavaliers.

They play host to Dandenong Thunder after the Dockerty Cup weekend, while Werribee City host Hume City.