Dramatic comebacks, red cards, highlight-reel goals and a little bit of history - round three of the NPL Victoria season had a little something for everybody.
The weekend’s action began on Friday night at JL Murphy Reserve, with Port Melbourne Sharks and Eastern Lions both looking to keep the momentum going after the former upset Bentleigh Greens in their last hitout and the latter scored an emotional 1-1 draw with South Melbourne.
The two sides unable to be separated in the opening 45, it was the visitors that eventually broke the deadlock in the 50th minute of the contest when Chris Droutsas, who had looked threatening throughout the entire opening stanza, took advantage of an error in the Sharks’ defence to force a high turnover, advance in on goal and fire a shot past Andrew Withers.
Five minutes later it was two when the Lions’ left-sided standout Ziggy Razuki, rapidly becoming one of the cult-heroes of NPL Victoria, stepped up to take a close-range free-kick - whose infliction had earned the Sharks’ Luke Barforosh his marching orders - and curled an effort inside the near post.
Down to ten men, the Sharks were able to pull one back in the 64th minute when Chris Duggan grabbed his second goal of the season with a headed effort but it wasn’t enough for the hosts as Lions secured their first-ever win in the Victorian top-flight and leapt into the eighth position on the table.
Elsewhere on Friday, Oakleigh Cannons and South Melbourne were forced to share the spoils of one of the state’s biggest fixtures: the Cannons and Hellas playing out a 1-1 draw at Jack Edwards Reserve.
Looking to bounce back after being held to a surprise 1-1 draw with Lions in their previous fixture, South took the lead in the 28th minute of the contest after Queensland import Henry Hore collected a loose cross at the back of the Cannon area before driving back inside and laying off a cutback that Josh Wallen stabbed into the net from close-range.
Wade Decker’s scintillating chest down and long-ranged volley in the 60th minute brought the contest back to an equilibrium from which it would then not shift. Still undefeated on the season, South sits in sixth place following three games, while the Cannons occupy twelfth.
Fans at George Andrews Reserve didn’t have to wait long for the first goal of Friday evening’s third and final contest: Bentleigh Greens’ Braedyn Crowley turning in a James Xydias cross after just 45 seconds to give coach Nick Tolios’ side the lead against Dandenong Thunder.
Daniel Bowman promptly doubled the host’s pain seven minutes later after he stepped up to take a free-kick and perfectly bent it over the four-man wall assembled before him and beyond Francis Soale in the Thunder net.
Looking for their first win of the season, the Thunder was able to peg one back in the 24th minute of play when Ali Sulemani’s corner fell perfectly for Mersim Memeti to let fly with an effort that, after taking a deflection, halved their deficit. But that would not kickstart a further fight-back from coach Sam Elmazi’s side, with the Greens maintaining their one-goal buffer for the rest of the contest and moving to second on the table.
On Saturday, wet and wild conditions and a one-man disadvantage at Avenger Park couldn’t stop Green Gully from continuing their red-hot, table-topping start to the season as coach Stephen Downes’ team downed Avondale FC 2-0.
Perhaps lending weight to the theory of nominative determinism, Gully’s Alex Salmon thrived under the afternoon downpour - opening the scoring after 24 minutes when he turned in a sharp header to give his side the lead.
But six minutes later the visitors were struck a blow when Jay Davies brought down Avenger captain Jonatan Germano with a horrific sliding challenge in the middle of the pitch, giving referee Aleksandar Liber no choice but to produce a straight red card.
Nonetheless, Gully rallied and took a two-goal lead into the halftime break - a buffer that would hold throughout the second 45 - when Salmon got up like a… never mind… to meet a corner and head home for the second time.
There must have been something in the air on Saturday afternoon, as referee Jack Morgan was also forced to dive into his back pocket and produce the claret during Altona Magic and Heidelberg United’s 2-2 draw at Paisley Park.
Auguring a horrific five minutes to come for Alexander, Jonas Markovski reacted quickest to Nick Eres’, somehow, forcing Harry Noon’s 41st-minute free-kick back into play to tap home and open the scoring for the Magic, before Ross Archibold then rose to meet a Nic Sette corner and head home to make it 2-0 three minutes later.
Already on a yellow card, Heidelberg defender Mallan Roberts then received his marching orders 40 seconds into first-half extra time when he dragged down Markovski as the youngster looked to break away in transition.
Coach George Katsakis’ side, though, refused to lay down and pegged one back in the 85th minute of play when second-half substitute Dane Milovanovic powered a header beyond Chris Oldfield.
Doing nothing for the heart health of their fans, the Bergers then found an equaliser in the 93rd minute of the contest when Eoin Ashton seized upon a loose ball in the Magic penalty area to net his first-ever goal in black and yellow and secure his side a valuable point.
Taking advantage of an early error from Hume City goalkeeper Michael Weier, Brayden Mann put Dandenong City ahead in just the fifth minute of the two side’s contest at ABD Stadium in Saturday evening’s final contest; tapping home after the big goalkeeper let a cross slip through his fingers in sodden conditions.
Still seeking their first win of the 2021 season, Hume rallied as the first half moved closer to its conclusion and drew level in the 43rd minute when James Brown and Josh Bingham combined well to spring the former into enough space to pick out the bottom corner of Jasmin Keranovic’s goal.
Found in the area by Danny Dixon, Brown got his second and put Hume up 2-1 with a close-range header in the 82nd minute, before the hosts then sealed the contest in the 92nd minute when Marko Delic deftly chipped a shot over a throng of defenders and Keranovic to make it three for coach Nick Hegarty’s side.
On Sunday, Melbourne Knights’ red-hot start to the season came to a grinding halt in round three’s final contest; downed 2-1 by St Albans Saints in dramatic fashion at Churchill Reserve.
Caleb Mikulic turned in a cross from Gian Albano at the far post of the Dinamo goal in the 27th minute to give his side the lead and, for much of the contest, it appeared as though that would prove enough for Croatia to extend their perfect winning run in 2021.
But Darren Mccauley’s long-range blast with just 15 minutes to go brought the hosts back level in the contest and set the stage for a rousing conclusion to play out.
Doing well to hold onto a powerful shot from Joey Monek in the 93rd minute of the contest, Knights’ keeper Thomas Manos advanced to the edge of his penalty area before rolling the ball to a teammate to his left. The linesman, however, was quick to raise his flag and declare that the custodian had advanced out of his box with the ball in his hands: awarding Dinamo a free kick on the very edge of the area with only moments remaining.
Somehow, Manos was able to keep out Nathan Liberto thunderous free-kick towards the top corner, but could subsequently do nothing as Chris Dib leapt onto the rebound and nod home to steal the win for his side.
The loss drops Croatia to third place on the table following the conclusion of round three, while the three points earned sees St Albans leap into fourth.
