The Elimination Finals of the NPL Men's Victoria is upon us! We have two big matches coming your way on Friday night, who will make it to the Preliminary Finals?
Oakleigh Cannons v Altona Magic Elimination Final Preview
SUMMARY
Oakleigh Cannons and Altona Magic will face off tonight in the first-second Elimination-Final at Jack Edwards Reserve.
Altona comes into this clash winning three of this final five matches, including a 2-1 victory over Oakleigh in Round 23, however, in the last round of the season, they suffered a 4-0 defeat against Port Melbourne.
Oakleigh has only won two out of its past five NPLM matches, although, in the last round of the season, they proved they are back to their best with a 5-0 victory against Moreland City.
This do-or-die clash will be such a big clash, with the defending Champions coming up against Altona who have nothing to lose and are equipped with the NPLM Golden Boot winner Jonas Markovski up forward.
The Cannons are undefeated in their last 10 matches at Jack Edwards Reserve and have kept a clean sheet across their last three games in that span – their longest run of successive clean sheets at the venue across the last three seasons. The Magic have only been able to manage five wins from 12 away matches this season.
WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR?
Round 10: Oakleigh Cannons 5-1 Altona Magic
Goals: Connor Hampson (OC) 36, 44, Jonas Markovski (AM) 42, Daniel Clark (OC) 56, 83, Chris Lucas (OC) 85
Round 23: Altona Magic 2-1 Oakleigh Cannons
Goals: Stefan Valentini (OC) 46, Charlie Leech (AM) 66, 72
Oakleigh Cannons
Oakleigh Cannons look to go back-to-back after defeating South Melbourne 5-0 for the NPLM Victoria Championship in 2022.
Chris Taylor's men finished third at the conclusion of the home and away season with 18 wins from 26 matches.
The Cannons head into this weekend on the back of a convincing 5-0 victory against Moreland City Chris Lucas scoring a brace.
Wade Dekker (penalty), Alex Fiechtner and Emlyn Wellsmore all found the back of the net in the massive victory, while Joe Guest and Cameron McGilp controlled the midfield.
The Cannons have the second-best attacking record in the league with Alex Salmon and Stefan Valentini leading the club with nine goals for the season.
Alex Fiechtner and Wade Dekker have found the back of the net eight times, while Chris Lucas has also scored on seven occasions - highlighting all of the goal-scoring options Chris Taylor has in his arsenal.
Oakleigh may have the second-best attack in the league, but their midfield is the envy of the competition with Joe Guets controlling central midfield and Oliver Kubilay providing defensive cover alongside Cam McGilp.
The Cannons' defence led by Brodie Boyce and Anton Mlinaric has also been rock solid this season, conceding the third least amount of goals in the competition.
Altona Magic
Altona secured its first finals berth in the NPLM in season 2023, finishing sixth with 13 wins from 26 matches.
The Magic have an ace up their sleeve heading into the finals series, with striker Jonas Markovski in a rare vein of form; scoring 19 goals for the season.
“Jonas has done really well, he’s scored a lot of goals for us, he’s done his job, he’s scored, he’s assisted,” Altona Magic Head Coach John Markovski told Star Weekly on his son.
“All the forwards have done really well, not only Jonas but the whole team has done well, starting from the keeper to even the ones that come off the bench.
“I’m happy with all the boys’ seasons.”
Markovski explained he was proud of his club for reaching the NPLM final six for the first time in club history.
“Yeah it’s good for the club, it’s good for the players, it’s good for all of us, to be involved in finals is what you work hard for from the start of the season,” he said.
John Markovski's men head into the finals series winning three of its final five matches; however, in Round 26 they fell to Port Melbourne 4-0 away from home.
Despite possessing the Golden Boot winner in their side, Altona has the eighth-best attack in the league with Markovski (19 goals) leading all-comers with Tommy Semmy (9 goals) and Cian Cuba (6 goals) the next most dangerous in front goal.
Cian Cuba will provide an attacking flare through the midfield for the Magic this Friday night, with Charlie Leech, Robert Harding, Daniel Duzel, and Ashton Ahluwalia looking to provide plenty of cover against the dangerous Cannons outfit.
Despite managing to finish in the top six, Altona has the 11th-best goals-against record in the league and coming up against the likes of Alex Salmon, Stefan Valentini, and Wade Dekker; Magic defenders Thomas Woerndl, Aaron Anderson, Miki Gamo and John Stojcevski will need to play the game of their season to ensure their side goes through to the next round.
NPLM Elimination Final
Oakleigh Cannons v Altona Magic
Date: Friday, 25 August
Venue: Jack Edwards Reserve
Kick-off Time: 8:00 pm (AEST)
Broadcast: NPL.TV
Melbourne Knights v Port Melbourne Elimination Final Preview
SUMMARY
Melbourne Knights and Port Melbourne will face off tonight in the second Elimination-Final at Knights Stadium.
The Knights come into this clash winning three of their past five matches, while Port Melbourne has claimed two victories during that time period: including a valuable three points against Oakleigh Cannons. The period looms to be a cracking contest with the two sides have been evenly matched this season, with one win each for the season head-to-head and only two points separating them on the table.
Melbourne Knights have lost only two of their last 15 matches at Knights Stadium (W9, D4); one of the two defeats in that span was a 1-0 loss against Port Melbourne Sharks SC earlier this season.
WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR?
Round 5: Port Melbourne 2-3 Melbourne Knights
Goals: Mitch Hore (MK) 24, C De Godoy (MK) 31 (OG), Luca Tevere (PM) 67, Chris Duggan (PM) 76 (P)
The Knights defeated Port Melbourne 3-2 early in a hard-fought battle at J.L. Murphy Reserve. Second-half-half substitute Mohamed Sumaoro was the hero for the Knights, scoring in the 87th minute after being released into a one-on-one chance with the keeper.
Corey Sewell was influential through the midfield for the second week running and was supported well by Mitch Hore, while Captain Ivan Franjic was immense in the back half, leading his side to a second straight victory.
Round 18: Melbourne Knights 0-1 Port Melbourne
Goals: Chris Duggan (PM) 87
An arm wrestle of a first half yielded few opportunities for either side with Knights coming closest through a Mitch Hore shot from the top of the box that whistled past the post, while Port produced their best chance of the opening stanza via a goalmouth scramble on the end of a Dan Edwards corner kick.
The second matchup between the two sides this season was a pure arm wrestle, with few opportunities for either side on goal.
Chris Oldfield’s 250th top-flight appearance in Victorian football was marred by injury with the shot-stopper forced off at halftime after picking up a knock in the opening half. Of the contest.
With the match appearing destined for a draw Port Melbourne’s Chris Duggan pulled off a miraculous volley to snatch victory at the death.
Melbourne Knights
Melbourne Knights return to the final six in the NPLM for the first time since 2015 after finishing fourth with 14 wins from 26 matches.
The Knights come into the finals series off the back of a 3-2 defeat against Heidelberg United, which wasn’t a great sign heading into this do-or-die clash, With the club balancing Australia Cup responsibilities and with a finals place locked in; a defeat won’t phase the club.
It has been a remarkable turnaround by the Knights in Head Coach Ben Cahn’s first season who vowed he would see the club return to the NPL’s final six in the club’s 70th anniversary.
“We’ve got a big week coming up as we go into finals and the Australia Cup Round of 16, these are the weeks that we set out to bring back so we’ll embrace the challenge, enjoy every moment and make sure we’re ready to give everything for our home support,” Cahn told the Melbourne Knights website.
The Knights have a very potent forward half with Ciaran Bramwell (8 goals) or mid-season signee Anton Kinnander likely to play up-front (1 goal), who arrived at Somer Street after leading NPL2 for scoring with Werribee City with 11 goals.
Leading scorer Gian Albano (10 goals) will play on one of the wings, while Ben Cahn could also turn to Gevaro Nepomuceno (5 goals) and Mohamed Sumaoro (7 goals) to find the back of the net.
Melbourne Knights’ midfield of Steve Whyte Mitch Hore and Anthony Duzel has been impressive this season, however, their defence is where they can take the ascendancy.
Knights captain Ivan Franjic has been superb all season, alongside his brother Joseph Franjic and Ben Collins in full-back has been a rock since coming into the side mi-season from Western United.
Port Melbourne
The Sharks have made the final six of the NPLM for the third season in a row, finishing fifth with 13 victories from 26 matches.
Port Melbourne heads into the finals on the back of defeating fellow finalist Altona Magic 4-0 in a confidence-boosting victory.
Adam Piddick's men have had an interesting run to the end of the season, winning two of their past five matches.
During that stretch of matches, the Sharks split the points with Hume City and the relegated Bentleigh Greens but were able to get back on track in Round 26.
Chris Duggan scored his 13th goal of the season in last weekend's victory over the Magic and will be crucial if the Sharks are going to progress to the next round alongside Jackson Courtney-Perkins (4 goals) upfront.
The midfield is where Port Melbourne will look to gain an advantage, with Valil Cesnik (7 goals) and Luca Tevere (6 goals) providing goal-scoring flare, while Michael Elgar and Dan Edwards will be the steady heads; controlling the possession for the traveling side.
Port Melbourne usually opts for a back three with Ross Archibald, Kristian Bombac, and Jalil Regague leading their side to the fourth-best defensive record this season.
NPLM Elimination Final
Melbourne Knights v Port Melbourne
Date: Friday, August 25
Venue: Knights Stadium
Kick-off Time: 8:00 pm (AEST)
Broadcast: NPL.TV