Last weekend’s action had significant implications for the top six and the relegation battle. In the race for the finals places only two points separates fourth from seventh, while teams fighting for survival closed the gap on the rest of the pack.
This week sees a top of the table clash, while it’s do or die for one side facing the drop. There are tantalising fixtures across the board as we head into a huge Round 22.
St Albans’ defeat at home to Hume on Sunday saw their opponents from the northwest claw to within four points of the Saints. With Dandenong City also picking up three points on the weekend, the Saints now find themselves as close to the relegation zone as they have ever been this season.
Tonight they take trip around the corner to neighbours Green Gully, who now find themselves in a dog fight for a top six finish. The Cavaliers currently sit sixth, with just goal difference keeping them above Heidelberg.
Last Friday their game against Melbourne Knights was washed out, giving Gully a game in hand which could prove vital down the stretch.
The last game they played however, ended in a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bentleigh Greens. At one point in the season, they were one of the most in form teams in the competition, but recently Gully seemed to have lost their way a touch.
Just one win in their last five and failing to score in their last three in the league, head coach Stephen Downes will be scratching his head trying to find a solution that will steady the ship.
A fixture which the Cavaliers might fancy their chances of doing just that is tonight at home to St Albans.
The Saints are on a serious slide of late, without a win in the last six and registering just one goal in that span. After being saved from potential relegation by the suspended season last year, the Saints faithful once again find themselves facing a nervous home stretch.
With Hume breathing down their necks and Dandy City gaining momentum the prospect of relegation is looming in the distance if things don’t change quickly.
One thing the Saints can take solace in, is a defensive stoutness they have showed at times recently. Despite their scoring deficiencies, they have only conceded twice in their past four.
Against a Gully side who have struggled to score recently, it must just be a recipe for an upset.
Bottom of the table Eastern Lions are staring down the barrel of relegation. Their defeat at Bentleigh coupled with Dandy City’s victory over Altona means that should they fail to win this weekend and other results go against them, it would be curtains for the Lions time in the top flight.
It’s all or nothing from here on out, starting this Saturday when they welcome Melbourne Knights to Gardiners Creek.
The Knights themselves are struggling of late, without a win since they upset league leaders South Melbourne back in Round 16.
Due to the washout of their fixture against Green Gully last Friday, their last match saw them defeated by Hume City. The Knights are now just four points above Hume and seven points above Dandenong City. They are one of three teams starting to sweat as they edge closer to the relegation zone, sitting alongside St Albans and Altona on 23 points.
However, the Knights hold a significantly better goal difference than the Saints and Magic and have the game in hand which they should ease the nerves of potentially sliding too far down the table.
One bright spark in the Knights lean period has been the impact of new signing George Ott. The former Wellington Phoenix youth player has hit the ground running netting three times in his first four outings in NPL Victoria.
He will be licking his lips at the prospect of playing against an Eastern Lions defence that has shipped 18 goals in their last five fixtures.
It’s been tough sledding in recent weeks for the Lions. Shipping in excess of three goals a game for over a month is far from desirable, but the context of that run must be taken into account.
The Lions have faced each of the top five teams in the league over the last five matches, an incredibly difficult gauntlet to run. Coupled with the fact that they have lost key players to other NPL Victoria clubs during the recent transfer window and you can’t help but sympathise with the situation they find themselves in.
Finally facing a side in their half of the table, Andrea Lombardo’s side will be raring to go when the Knights come to town. The last five games of the campaign must all be viewed as cup finals for the Lions if they are to keep their slim chances of survival alive.
Avondale had a week to forget last week. After being knocked out of the Dockerty Cup by Oakleigh in a narrow 3-2 loss last Tuesday, they were then defeated much more convincingly by the Cannons again on Saturday.
After scoring first on the weekend they were put to sword in the second half as Oakleigh ran out 4-1 victors in the end. The Avengers have now lost three on the bounce in all competitions and now find themselves in the midst of a hotly contested battle for a top six place.
This Saturday they travel south to Paisley Park to lock horns with Altona Magic.
Like the aforementioned Saints and Knights, the Magic sit equal on 23 points in the table and are starting to be uncomfortably close to the relegation places. Last weekend saw the Magic fall to Dandenong City, who currently occupy a relegation place but who are now just seven points behind the Magic.
Altona have failed to pick up a point in their last four outings, a worrying run to be on heading into the home stretch of the campaign. New singings Matthew Nezval and Lars Anton Kanninder have made a small impact since joining, with the latter coming on to score on his debut two weeks ago.
As they get acclimatised to the league, head coach Savvas Patikkis will hope their impact can translate into goals and points as the Magic look to stop the slide down the table. With fixtures against South Melbourne and Bentleigh to follow after Avondale, their task looks daunting should they fail to pick up points this weekend.
As for Avondale, they will see a side who hasn’t earnt a point in a month as the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways. The Avengers currently sit fifth in the table, one points behind Bentleigh in fourth and a point ahead of both Green Gully and Heidelberg.
With a long trip to Darwin next Thursday for their Australia Cup fixture, followed by a clash with Port Melbourne in the league two days later, this weekend is crucial to regain some momentum.
Port Melbourne are sitting comfortably in third on the NPL Victoria table, with five point gaps either side of them to Oakleigh in second and Bentleigh in fourth. With finals football all but locked up, this weekend the Sharks welcome Dandenong City to JL Murphy Reserve.
Dandy City took a huge step towards safety last weekend when the defeated Altona. They are still three points behind Hume, who defeated St Albans on Sunday, but the three points is a welcome momentum boost at the business end of the season.
Nick Kalmar came off the bench to convert the winner from 12 yards against the Magic, and is the Citizens top scorer this season. However the star forward has been in and out of the starting line-up of late.
New signing from Altona Tommy Semmy also starred in his new sides victory over his old side, and may prove to be a crucial signing should City stay up.
A return to winning ways is a step in the right direction but there is still a mountain to climb for Dandenong to avoid the drop. Their last five games are all against sides in the top half of the table, so Micky Colina’s side will need to be virtually perfect from here on out.
Port have recovered exceptionally well in the fortnight following their underwhelming defeat against Oakleigh in Round 19. The Sharks have scored eight goals across their last two matches, and last weekend they emphatically ended Heidelberg’s 12 game unbeaten run, routing the Bergers 4-0 at home.
A hattrick from Chris Duggan took him up to equal third in the league scoring title standings with 11 from just 15 games. Having netted the week prior as well, the striker seems to be hitting a purple patch at the perfect time.
Port have won five of their last six games and are easily the most dangerous side in the competition at the moment outside the top two. With South and Oakleigh locking horns this weekend, a win for the Sharks could see them gain ground on the leaders of the pack
The match that everyone will have their eyes on this weekend is at Lakeside Stadium. A fixture that has been pencilled in for months sees a top of the table clash when South Melbourne host the Oakleigh Cannons on Saturday night.
The two teams have sat at one and two on the NPL Victoria table since Oakleigh moved into second in Round 9 when they defeated South 2-1 at Jack Edwards Reserve. Since then South have lost just twice, to Heidelberg and Melbourne Knights, while the Cannons have been bested only once, also by the Bergers.
South hold a slender two point lead at the top, and victory for the Cannons could see South knocked off their perch for the first time since they took over top spot in Round 3.
Both sides have found the net with ease this season. Mirroring their teams league table positions, both sides top scorers sit first and second in the individual scoring table. South striker Harrison Sawyer’s spot kick against Dandenong Thunder at weekend took him three goals clear at the top of with 17.
Oakleigh’s Wade Dekker sits in outright second with 14, but the Cannons fire from multiple angles with Joe Knowles and Joe Guest also handy this season, with 11 and nine league goals respectively. Outside of this there are multiple players from both sides littered among the top 10 goal scorers this year.
South will be without midfielder Liam Elmazi after he picked up two bookings and was given his marching orders last Saturday. A regular name Esteban Quintas’ side, the South head coach will need to fill the whole left in front of his backline.
Oakleigh are still competing on three fronts at the moment, while South’s sole focus is the league. Last week the Cannons booked their place in the Dockerty Cup final with a win over Avondale and next week they fly to Sydney to take on Bonnyrigg White Eagles in the Australia Cup.
Head coach Chris Taylor would have hoped he would have been able to rest some players before the cup clash next Thursday, but won’t have the chance with the biggest game in the league calendar for Oakleigh falling at an inopportune time.
As for South, they can commit everything to Saturday and will look to capitalise on any inch given by a Cannons side not wanting to risk too much before their trip interstate.
Despite the reverse fixture occurring three months ago, the result is sure to be fresh in South Melbourne minds as they look to level the score this campaign.
Victory over the Oakleigh would send South five points clear at the top with four games remaining and the minor premiership in their sights.
Bentleigh Greens have hit a rich vein of form in recent weeks. A 4-0 demolition of Green Gully two weeks ago was followed up last Friday by a comfortable 3-0 victory over the hapless Eastern Lions.
Things got even better for the Greens on Tuesday when they held off a late fight back from Heidelberg United to book their place in the Dockerty Cup final.
On Saturday night they head further into the Southeast to face Dandenong Thunder at George Andrews Reserve.
The Thunder have played plenty of good football in recent weeks, but it hasn’t always shown on the score board. A loss to Port Melbourne a month ago was followed by a convincing win in the Dandenong Derby, before they upset Avondale two weeks ago. Last week they drew first blood against league leaders South but couldn’t hold on, eventually going down 2-1 at Lakeside.
David Chick’s side are the one team in NPL Victoria in a state of limbo as it stands. They are not in any danger of being drawn into the relegation scrap, but also find themselves five points adrift of the four sides currently battling it out for a finals place.
A win against Bentleigh could change that outlook substantially, however, and with Bentleigh having one eye on their trip to NSW next week for the Australia Cup, the Thunder may look to capitalise.
When Dandenong upset Avondale two weeks ago, it was days before Avondale had a cup fixture of their own, so the Greens would do well to be wary of the Thunder come Saturday Night.
A win for the Greens would see them lock up outright fourth in the table and keep the ball rolling as they prepare for their Cup fixture against NPL Northern NSW side Broadmeadow Magic.
After floating around midtable during the middle portion of the season, they look to be hitting their stride down the home stretch.
Heidelberg United had been on an impressive mid-season run, going unbeaten in 12 games across all competitions. That run came to an emphatic halt last Saturday, when the Bergers were put to the sword by Port Melbourne, with the Sharks running away 4-0 at JL Murphy Reserve.
That result bounced them out of the top six, and to make matters worse, they were then bounced out of the Dockerty Cup as well by Bentleigh on Tuesday. As they look to get things back on track this Sunday, they welcome a Hume City side with their tails up to Olympic Village.
Two wins in successive weeks for Hume have seen them push away from the relegation places. Currently holding a three point buffer over Dandenong City, who also boosted their survival hopes with a win last weekend, Hume need to keep the ball rolling to secure their safety.
They sit four points behind Altona, St Albans and Melbourne Knights, and reeling one of those sides in would almost surely secure top flight football next season. Having conceded just once in the last three rounds will have pleased head coach Nick Hegarty, and coupled with Josh Bingham’s form of late, it’s no surprise Hume are on the up.
Hume’s Talisman now has 10 in the league this season with three in his last two outings, including the winner last Sunday against the Saints.
For the Bergers, their main man Kane Sheppard has 19 in all competitions this season but in recent weeks, when he hasn’t scored, his side have struggled to churn out a result. The Heidelberg faithful will be happy then to remember that Sheppard netted a hattrick when the he last faced Hume back in Round 9.
With the race for the top six so hotly contested, a win for the yellow and black is imperative to keep them in the hunt for finals football.