By Jullian Sardana (@JullianSardana)
Hume City FC (1) vs Heidelberg United FC (1):
After a 1-0 defeat at home to Dandenong Thunder, George Katsakis and his men travelled to Hume looking for their first win of the season.
The first goal of the game was scored by Heidelberg United due to a back heel finish by Joshua Pin giving them the lead right before the half-time break.
Although momentum was with the away side, Hume were able to level the scores in the 67th minute of the game through a curling effort which hit the top right corner of the net by Dylan McGlade.
Melbourne Knights FC (1) vs Oakleigh Cannons FC (1):
The Melbourne Knights came out with another 1-1 draw, this time against last seasons champions the Oakleigh Cannons at Knights Stadium on Friday night.
The first goal of the game was scored in the 52nd minute after the Knights failed to play out from the back where Oakleigh’s Alexander Fiechtner started and finished the attack after winning the ball and scoring from a difficult position.
However, a powerful free kick from Gevaro Nepomuceno levelled the scores in the 74th minute of the game which hit the top left-hand corner of the goal.
Green Gully SC (1) vs South Melbourne FC (3):
South Melbourne win their second game of the season as they defeated Green Gully away from home on Friday night.
South Melbourne kicked off the scoring through a Max Mikkola goal in the 18th minute of the game which was lobbed over the Green Gully keeper Liam Driscoll into the back of the net.
Things went bad to worse for the home side, as Gianluca Ianucci was awarded a straight red in the 31st minute leaving Green Gully with ten men for the rest of the game.
Despite the numerical disadavantage coming out of half-time, Green Gully were able to level the scores through a scrappy goal from substitute Alan Gerez after a Luc Jeggo free kick from the right wing richocheted around a packed box which landed in front of Gerez to level the scores.
However, this minor setback didn’t faze South Melbourne at all as new number nine Ajak Riak was able to score two goals in the 65th and 83rd minute to give South their second win of the season.
Moreland City FC (2) vs Bentleigh Greens SC (1):
Newly promoted Moreland City win their first game of the season against Bentleigh at CB Smith Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
The Greens were the first to get on the scoresheet after seven minutes of play due to a Jackson Morgan header from a set piece on the right-hand side gave Bentleigh the lead.
Five minutes later, Bentleigh’s Christian Pavlidis was awarded a staright red after clashing with Moreland forward Apai Ukuno in a one-on-one situation leaving the Greens with ten men.
After being with an extra man for almost 30 minutes, Moreland finally got their goal in the 40th minute of the game from Nicholas Bavcar after his header was able to lob over substitute keeper Ben McCauley to level the scores.
Seven minutes after the half-time break, Moreland City complete their comeback after Fletcher Fulton’s header from outside the box was lobbed over Ben McCauley once again to help Moreland win their first game of the season.
Avondale FC (3) vs Altona Magic SC (0):
Avondale were able to secure their first win of the season after defeating Altona by three goals while also keeping a clean sheet.
Yusuf Ahmed opened the scoring for Avondale after Liam Boland’s penalty was saved and he was able to follow it up to give Avondale the lead.
Two minutes later, Ahmed scored again after a solo effort where he past two Altona defenders and finished it off with a powerful strike that hit the top left corner of the net.
Kristian Trajceski’s also got on the scoresheet in the last few seconds game after Altona weren’t able to pass out from the back and Avondale took full advnatge of their mistake to increase their lead to three.
North Geelong Warriors FC (0) vs Port Melbourne Sharks SC (2):
Port Melbourne were able to secure a big win and clean sheet against the North Geelong Warriors at Elcho Park on Saturday evening.
The first goal of the game was scored by Chris Duggan after his penalty sent North Geelong keeper Hamish Flavell the wrong way and gave Port Melbourne the early lead.
Luca Tevere finished the scoring for Port Melbourne which saw his long range effort hit the top left corner of the net to double the Sharks’ lead.
Dandenong Thunder FC (4) vs St Albans Saints SC (4):
Round 2 of the 2023 NPL Men’s Vic season finished off with a candiate of best game of the season.
After a poor kick from Thunder goalkeeper Majak Mawith, St Albans were able to regain possesion quickly and score off Thunder’s mistake through a George Ott goal in the 11th minute of the game.
In the 17th minute of the game, Ott’s shot was saved by Mawith which fell into the path of Joseph Monek who helped double the Saints.
Despite being two goals down, Dandenong Thunder were still up for the fight and were able to cut the lead to only one goal due to Mamadi Kamara’s defensive pressure leading him to set up the chance and score in the 70th minute of the game.
Coming into the last stages of the 90 minutes, St Albans were able to regain their two goal advantage after another goal from George Ott in the 83rd minute.
Three minutes later, Dandenong were awarded a penalty and it was Scott Lochhead to take it and he did confidently putting the scores at 3-2.
Early on into added time, Dandenong Thunder scored their third of the game through Josh Karantz as his effort was able to squeeze through a packed penalty box and level the scores.
Not too long after levelling with the Saints, it looked like Thunder were going to come out of this game victorious as Goffry Lino scored in the third minute of added time.
However, this wasn’t to be the case as St Albans were awarded a penalty in the last minute of the game and it was George Ott to step up to take the kick in which he scored securing the draw and completing his hat-trick.