Summer may have just departed, but 25 further rounds of NPL Victoria action - plus finals - await; the much-anticipated return of the top-tier of Victorian football this weekend setting the scene for an intriguing and hotly-contested run of games to come.
348 days since referee Christopher Hope blew his whistle to signal full-time on Port Melbourne’s 2-1 win over Dandenong Thunder and, unknowingly, the 2020 NPL Victoria season, it was fitting that the Sharks were on hand to welcome us into the 2021 campaign: welcoming Melbourne Knights to JL Murphy Reserve on Friday evening.
Led by new coach Steve Bebic, it was the visiting Knights that took the lead in the 17th minute of play of the season opener when Gian Albano was on hand to meet a cutback from Mohammad Sumaora -- writing himself into the annals of pub trivia as the first scorer of the 2021 NPL Victoria season.
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Croatia, though, would find themselves defending their lead with a one-man disadvantage ten minutes later when Nikola Jurkovic received his marching orders from referee Adam Bavcar after lunging into a contest with the Sharks’ Matthew Ntoumenopoulos on the halfway line.
Fortunately for the Knights, Jurkovic’s early bath ended up not costing his side, and the visitors subsequently headed back to Sunshine at the end of the evening with a 1-0 win and three points in their back pocket.
Dandenong Thunder played host to Dandenong City in Friday evening’s other contest; the two local rivals locking horns again in the hotly contested Dandenong Derby at George Andrews Reserve.
With second all-time Australian national league goalscorer Besart Berisha watching on from the stands, Thunder started the contest on the front foot but found themselves unable to capitalise and the contest, with City forcing their way back into proceedings, remained at stubborn level pegging heading into the halftime break.
It took until just past the hour mark for a goal to come, and it was City breaking the deadlock in Melbourne’s Southeast when Luke Eyles burst down the left flank and whipped in a cross that the home side was unable to clear before attacker Delarno Pharoe - making his City debut and return to the top-flight after a multi-year absence - bundled over the line.
Yet, drama was still to come on the evening and with just seconds remaining on the clock, referee Lachlan Keevers, in concert with his assistant on the sideline, determined that there had been a handball inside the City area in the 95th minute of play: allowing new Thunder signing Nahuel Bonada to slot home a spot-kick and ensuring the game ended at 1-1.
Commencing activities on Saturday afternoon, Eastern Lions looked like they’d made the perfect start to their second attempt at a debut season in the Victorian top-flight when Sanih Zijai fired off a long-range effort on the goal of the Bentleigh Greens just seconds into the contest.
The new-signings effort sailed wide, however, and moments later it was the visitors that were in front when Breadyn Crowley cut the ball back for Will Bower to fire home from close-range for coach Nick Tolios’ side. Flash forward to the 15-minute mark and it was 2-0, with Alex Caniglia feeding the ball into Damian Iaconis at the near post to set up the former Kingston City man with the game’s second goal.
Crowley burst through one-on-one with keeper Keagan Coulter and made it 3-0 to the 2019 Victorian Champions in the 32nd minute, with the Lions eventually forced to settle for a late - although very well taken - consolation from young substitute Aaron Fabris as the contest ended 3-1.
In a battle of two presumptive title challengers this season, it was Avondale FC that took the chocolates over Oakleigh Cannons in the two side’s Saturday afternoon meeting at Avenger Park - even though the visitors struck first through 2019 NPL Victoria Gold Medal winner Joe Guest in the 54th minute.
It took until the 86th minute for the hosts to trouble the scoresheet, when standout attacker Yusuf Ahmed collected the ball on the left flank and stormed into the penalty area to lay off a cross that, in a desperate attempt to clear, the Cannons defence could only turn into their net. Such was the effort that went into creating the goal, however, there will likely be few complaints that the official record books have awarded a goal to Ahmed.
Three minutes later the Avengers had their second - and the game-winner - when new signing Yazid Said drove towards goal to freeze Cannon keeper Nick Feely in place before laying the ball off to stalwart Avenger Stefan Valentini, who blasted true to ensure the contest ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts.
Playing out Saturday’s final contest under lights at ABD Stadium, neither 2020 runaway leaders Hume City or Altona Magic could be separated by 90 minutes; the contest played out as a 0-0 draw in front of a vocal home crowd.
New Magic signing Harry Noon put two golden, close-range chances for Nicholas Sette on a plate early on in the contest, only for the Altona-man to put both efforts wide of the goal. Andy Brennan and Chris Lucas would have chances for Hume and Altona respectively as the second-half wound on, but in the end, a winner was not forthcoming.
Making the short drive down to Churchill Reserve, Green Gully got their campaign off to a perfect start on Sunday afternoon after recording a 2-0 win over St Albans; taking the lead after just eleven minutes of play when Teeboy Kamara latched onto the end of a cross from Mamadi Kamara and fired in from close range.
That single goal was all that separated the two sides for the vast majority of the contest: it taking until the 83rd minute for Daniel Jones to rise highest to meet a corner delivered off the boot of Jay Davies to give Gully a comfortable two-goal buffer and ensure they would return home with all three points.
Round one of the 2021 NPL Victoria season then concluded that evening as two traditional rivals in Heidelberg United and South Melbourne met - thanks to ongoing construction works at Olympic Village - at the unfamiliar confines of Jack Edwards Reserve.
Signed from NPL NSW side Wollongong Wolves during the offseason, Takeru Okada quickly demonstrated his dangerous potential and flashed early warning sides for the Bergers when he forced a strong save from Pierce Clarke in the 14th minute of the contest and again went close to opening the scoring five minutes later.
It was a strong opening half for the side in Black and Yellow - ending the opening stanza with eight shots on target to one - with half chances to Daniel Clarke and Gerrie Sylaidos some of the few notable opportunities made by Hellas.
But football games aren’t won on the stat sheet and it was the visitors that struck first just five minutes into the second stanza.
Seeking to box the Bergers in after a corner, South’s Josh Wallen swerved a long, looping ball back into the nominal host’s penalty area and the top of the six-yard-box as a big pack, in scenes more reminiscent of Australian Rules, formed underneath it.
The Queenslander boasting several inches of height over friend and foe alike in the contest, South’s Harrison Sawyer was ultimately able to muscle his way to the front of the pack: bowling over (fairly, according to referee Jack Morgan) goalkeeper Chris Theodoridis and chesting the ball into the back of the net.
The three points earned sees South take up a place in the top six after round one, sitting in the fifth position on the table. The wonder that is alphabetical order ensures that Dandenong City sits above Dandenong Thunder in sixth place.
Avondale and Melbourne Knights occupy third and fourth positions on the table, respectively, while Green Gully’s two-goal win has them in second. Bentleigh Greens and their 3-1 win over Eastern Lions occupy the head of the NPL Victoria table.
Feature image courtesy of Football Victoria
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