The final four teams of this year’s NPL season have been decided and it is set to be a thrilling round of football with championship glory in sight.
Port Melbourne host Oakleigh Cannon on Saturday, September 3 at 6pm while South Melbourne take on Green Gully at Lakeside Stadium the following day at 4pm.
Port Melbourne v Oakleigh Cannons
The Sharks host the Cannons in the first preliminary final of the round on Friday night with one team to be eliminated and one to make it to the NPL Grand Final. The Sharks finished second on the table at the end of the home and away season with 17 wins from 26 games, with the Cannons ending the regular season in third place, one win behind Port Melbourne.
Port Melbourne had the first week of the finals off and will be refreshed ahead of the huge clash as Oakleigh scrapped through to the final four by winning an intense penalty shootout last weekend.
Oakleigh backed this win up with another dramatic victory midweek. A spectacular 2-1 win against Sydney FC in the Australia Cup Quarter Finals in front of more than 3000 fans will have the Cannons head into this game on a high.
Oakleigh’s Wade Dekker finished equal second in the Golden Boot with 15 goals for the season as Port Melbourne’s Chris Duggan was only one goal behind for the season in fourth place.
Port Melbourne has been hard to stop in the back end of the season with their last loss coming in round 19, although the same can’t be said for Oakleigh with the Cannons winning only two of their last six with a highly congested list of fixtures that included Australia Cup and Dockerty Cup matches.
Last Friday night’s elimination final between Oakleigh and Heidelberg went down to the wire with the Cannons winning 3-1 on penalties. After conceding the first goal in the 23rd minute, Oakleigh’s Joe Guest got on the end of a blistering counterattack to level the scores.
The Cannons took the lead in the 79th minute as Anthony Pantazopoulos headed the ball home after a mad scramble proceeding a corner kick.
Heidelberg continued to look for an equaliser until the dying minutes and in the 93rd minute, Luka Ninkovic headed the ball home off an Oakleigh defender to send the game into extra time.
Oakleigh’s Chris Lucas hammered the ball home after a brilliant first touch from just outside the box to potentially win the game for his side before Heidelberg’s Sean Ellis scored an epic free kick on the brink of full time.
After some clutch saves from keeper Nick Freely and precision penalty taking, Oakleigh found themselves looking ahead to a preliminary final against Port Melbourne.
Head-to-Head
The Sharks and Cannons have faced off twice this season with Oakleigh claiming a one-game advantage.In round six the two teams could not be split with the match ending a 1-1 draw.
Chris Duggan opened the scoring for Port Melbourne with a creative run and a thunderous strike, however, ended the match on a sour note as he was sent off with a red card.
Joe Guest equalled the match for the Cannons in the 42nd minute after he was able to get his boot on the end of a brilliant Joseph Knowles cross.
13 rounds later it was Oakleigh who got the best of Port Melbourne 3-1 in a dominant performance.
The Cannons got off to the perfect start as they scored in the opening two minutes of the game as Daniel Clark was able to get out the back of the Sharks' defence.
Clark scored his second goal for the match not long after in a case of Deja Vue for the Cannons' front man.
Key Oakleigh playmaker Joe Guest scored his side's third goal with a desperate lunging effort in the 56th minute to give his side an unassailable lead.
Fletcher McFarlane scored a late consolation goal after placing the ball in the bottom right corner to avoid their opponents keeping a clean sheet.
South Melbourne v Green Gully
The ladder-leading South Melbourne side host Green Gully in a do-or-die clash at Lakeside Stadium. South Melbourne finished on top of the NPL ladder with 20 wins for the season and Green Gully ended their year in fourth, six fewer wins than their opponents.
After a dominant season, South Melbourne’s Harrison Sawyer claimed the Golden Boot with 17 goals for the season, two ahead of second place.
Luc Jeggo was Green Gully’s highest scorer for the season with nine goals, while Nahuel Bonada (seven goals) and Alex Salmon (six goals) also contributed throughout the season.
South Melbourne has had a terrific end to the season as they have only lost one game in their past 10 matches with Port Melbourne defeating them in round 24 2-1.
Green Gully will hope to continue their strong run of form as they only lost one out of their past six matches.
Last Friday night, Green Gully defeated Bentleigh Green 2-0 to advance to stay alive in the competition.
Alex Salmon was able to squeeze between two opponents to open the scoring in the 36th minute before Luc Jeggo secured the victory in the 83rd minute as he smashed through a boggling ball near the penalty spot.
Head-to-Head
South Melbourne will be confident of claiming victory this Friday night as Green Gully has been able to defeat them in two attempts this season.
In round six, South Melbourne travelled to Ballarat and came home with an impressive 0-2 win.
South Melbourne gained the early lead as Marco Jankovic drilled home a penalty into the bottom right corner in the 7th minute.
Golden Boot winner Harry Sawyer booted home South Melbourne’s second of the match following a very long throw-in from Maximilian Mikkola in the 27th minute.
In the return clash, the two sides could not be split, and the match ended in a 0-0 draw at Lakeside Stadium.