Round 20 of the NPL in Victoria occurred over the weekend with another exciting round of football in the books.
Which sides stood up and which underperformed?
Find out below!
Melbourne Knights 1 – 1 Oakleigh Cannons
Melbourne Knights shared points with the Oakleigh Cannons in their Friday night clash at Knights Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, the Cannons were first to fire in the second half from the penalty spot in the 54th minute.
Knights defender Trevor Ssemakula legged Joe Guest inside the penalty box. Guest would then convert from the spot.
The Knights would equalise 10 minutes later. James Mcgarry’s cross found Mohammed Sumaoro who tapped home.
The Knights now sit outside of the top six on goal difference.
South Melbourne 1 – 1 Green Gully
South Melbourne and Green Gully fought out a draw on in their midtable clash on Friday night at Lakeside Stadium.
The Greens would waste little time to score. Caio De Godoy headed home from a corner in the fourth minute to put the side ahead.
Behind by a goal at halftime, South would equalise through Marco Jankovic in the 64th minute via a penalty.
Dandenong City 1 – 1 Altona Magic
Dandenong City and Altona Magic shared the points at the Frank Holohan Soccer Complex on Friday night in a battle of 12th and 13th on the ladder.
The Magic struck first on the verge of halftime. John Stojcevski’s cross finished by Jonas Markovski who’s header found the net.
The home side would leave it late for an equaliser. Nick Kalmar fired from long range, the shot taking a wicked deflection off Magic keeper Stefan King to salvage a point for City.
Dandenong Thunder 1 – 0 St Albans Saints
Dandenong Thunder would secure a one goal victory on the road over bottom placed St Albans Saints at Churchill Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
The Thunder scored the opener in the 16th minute through Hamish Watson in what would be the only goal of the game.
Ali Sulemani’s cross was cleared before Watson followed up with the header to score.
Avondale 4 – 0 Eastern Lions
Avondale went seven points clear at the top of the table after a emphatic four goal away victory over Eastern Lions at Gardiners Creek Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
Avondale broke the deadlock in the ninth minute. Kristian Trajceski cleverly dribbling defenders past John Doyle and Sevdim Ismaili to score.
Ahead by a goal at halftime, the game broke open in the second half.
Avondale grabbed their second goal through Stefan Valentini in the 51st minute, as the away side firmed control of the game.
It then went from bad to worse for the Lions, Shaun Kenny’s reckless two-footed tackle on Blake Carpenter would see him red carded, and the side a man down.
Down to 10 men, the Lions conceded two more goals in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Valentini scored his second of the game in the 84th minute for his 10th goal of the season, with Joey Katebian scoring Avondale’s fourth goal in the first minute of injury time.
Bentleigh Greens 3 – 0 Heidelberg United
Bentleigh Greens put in an impressive performance on Sunday afternoon, taking a three goal win over Heidelberg United away at Olympic Village.
Mitchell Hore scored the opening goal for the Greens in the 35th minute to take a 1-0 lead into the main break.
The Greens would then double their advantaged in the 57th minute, Pierce Waring scoring after being set up perfectly by George Lambadaridis.
In the 81st minute Braedyn Crowley would go down in the box and be awarded a penalty. Waring would score from the spot to seal the game for the Greens.
Hume City 1 – 0 Port Melbourne Sharks
Hume City would take out an important victory, defeating the Port Melbourne Sharks on Sunday afternoon at SS Anderson Reserve.
Hume would go a goal ahead in the 33rd minute. Josh Bingham’s shot would be saved, but Andy Brennan wound pounce on the parry and score.
Hume have now gone the past three games unbeaten, winning five of their past six NPL clashes.
Image Supplied: Bentleigh Greens/Goalside Photography
