We look ahead to another big weekend of action in the Football Federation Victoria NPL.
Oakleigh Cannons v Green Gully
2nd v 9th
8.30pm, Friday April 11, 2014
Jack Edwards Reserve
Radio: Live on NPL VIC Live (can also be streamed via the TuneIn app on smartphones – search ‘Live Cast-)
Highlights on FFV TV
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria #OCvGG #NPLVIC
Last round:
Port Melbourne 2-2 Oakleigh Cannons
Green Gully 3-5 South Melbourne
Form:
Oakleigh: WWD
Green Gully: WWL
Oakleigh Cannons squad from: John Honos, Aron Wilford, Dominic D-Angelo, Thomas Lakic, Goran Zoric, Evan Christodoulou (C), Bonel Obradovic, Veton Korcari, Dean Piemonte, Dusan Bosnjak, Nate Foster, Alexander Connell, Harry Raworth, Laurent Coralie, Stelios Konstantinidis, Ariel Ritz, Gideon Sweet, Andreas Govas, Ian Kamau, Jordan Lowdon, Omar Ammache, George Krommidas, Thomas Lakic, Michael Karuiki, Loui Paraskevas, Evan Kraloglou
Green Gully squad from: Jem Berkant, Mitchell Bissinger, Ratip Cileli, Cameron Davies, Akim Abdul, Brent Fisher, Jeffrey Fleming, Sean Harding, Jason Hayne, Dilen Ibrahim, Daniel Jones, Osagie Ederaro, Matthew Sanders, Shaun Timmins, Andy Vargas (C), Rodrigo Vargas, Brian Vanega, Ardian Vuniqi
What to expect: A spirited response from Green Gully. The nine-time Victorian champion has lost two in a row and will be without first-choice goalkeeper Kieran Gonzalez and defender Stephen Downes, after they were dismissed in the 5-3 loss to South Melbourne. The Cavaliers will need to rectify their slow starts – they conceded four goals in the opening 30 minutes last week – if they are to steal a win against the unbeaten Oakleigh.
Player to watch: Despite being one of the shorter goalkeepers in the NPL, John Honos has provided brilliant cover for his back three and is proving to be a valuable signing for Oakleigh.
Pascoe Vale v Northcote City
12th v 13th
8.30pm, Friday April 11, 2014
Hosken Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #PVvNC #NPLVIC
Last round:
Bentleigh Greens 1-1 Pascoe Vale
Northcote City 1-3 Ballarat Red Devils
Form:
Pascoe Vale: LLD
Northcote City: LLL
Pascoe Vale squad from: Stefaan Sardelic, Eli Luttmer, Nathen Megic, Tomislav Milardovic, Alvaro Carrillo, Adrian Talarico, Michael Ferrante, Carl Recchia, Joseph Youssef, Luca Santilli, Jonathon Voulgaris, Roberto Di Vito, Davey Van-t Schip, Marco Santilli, Mark Pistininzi, Matthew Lazarides, Yaren Sozer
Northcote City squad from: Chris Theodoridis, Luke Gavalas, Adrian Chiappetta (C), Ersin Kaya, Steve Sifinos, Metekan Yilmaz, Benjudah Fitzpatrick, Philip Petreski, Josh Hiles, Jonathan Munoz, Marino Gasparis, Greg Lombardo, Trent Rixon, Aaron Ward, Jonathan Bounas, Liam Wooding, Michael Catalano, James Kalifatidis, Wade Dekker
What to expect: Two winless sides desperate for three points. Northcote City, last year-s Victorian champion, has had a disastrous NPL campaign so far and will be without star winger Evan Kounavelis, who succumbed to a suspected hairline fracture of his right ankle last week. Northcote coach Goran Lozanovski was clearly a frustrated man after the loss to Ballarat, but can he rally his troops against Pascoe Vale, a young side which is improving each week and is always hard to break down at home?
Player to watch: Amid the gloom, young forward Wade Dekker has been a shining light for Northcote City, starting in all three matches and recording two goals and two assists. Without the injured Kounavelis, Dekker-s attacking prowess becomes even more important for Northcote City this week.
Goulburn Valley Suns v Port Melbourne
14th v 11th
6.30pm, Saturday April 12, 2014
McEwen Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, hashtags #GVSvPM #NPLVIC
Last round:
Goulburn Valley Suns 2-6 Heidelberg United
Port Melbourne 2-2 Oakleigh Cannons
Form:
Goulburn Valley Suns: LLL
Port Melbourne: DLD
Goulburn Valley Suns squad from: Nick Kalafatis (C), Craig Carley, Naum Sekulovski, Kristian Sarkies, Stipo Andrijasevic, Hernan Espindola, Fahed Alghazaly, Daniel Chaabani, Rudy Saglam, Ben Clarke, Zac Paraskevas, Josh Glover, Phillip Petrovski , Riley Hamilton, Cody Sellwood, Tom Langman, Anthony Calandro, Frankie Lagana
Port Melbourne squad from: Luke Prelevic, Stefan Nigro, Lisandro Paz, Andrew Milicevic, Nick Krousouratis, James Riccobene, Connor Redden, Kamal Ibrahim, Amadu Koroma, Andrew Viola, Kosta Stoumpos, Nick Tzoulis, John Lazaridis, Alessandro Venezia, Phillip Riccobene (C), Chris Grossman, Adam Hrehoresin, Kevin Braniff, Lambros Honos, Alexander Connell
What to expect: A high-scoring, see-sawing contest. Both sides have been let down by lapses in concentration which have seen them leak goals. This will be the Suns- fourth consecutive home match and they are yet to record a single point, so they-ll need to get on the board before a tough stretch of away games.
Player to watch: Two excellent strikers – Port Melbourne-s Kevin Braniff and Goulburn Valley-s Craig Carley – showcasing their talent at either end of the pitch. Both have three goals to their name, albeit three penalties to Carley.
Hume City v South Melbourne
8th v 1st
3.00pm, Sunday April 13, 2014
Broadmeadows Valley Park
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #HCvSM #NPLVIC
Last round:
Dandenong Thunder 1-0 Hume City
Green Gully 3-5 South Melbourne
Form:
Hume City: WLL
South Melbourne: WWW
Hume City squad from: Chris Oldfield, Evan Alexandrow-Ridley, Izzy Erdogan, Shane Rexhepi, Baki Efe, Matthew Hennessey, Petar Franjic, Johnny Stojcevski, Jose Guerrero, Nick Hegarty (C), Kliment Taseski, Devon Bonne, Kaan Korkmaz, Aaron Turner , Joseph Franjic, Ali Turgut, Johnny Buceto, Nick Marinos, Samed Altundag, Richie Cardozo
South Melbourne squad from: Jason Saldaris, Tim Mala, Andrew Mullett, Michael Eagar (C), Mathew Theodore, Dimitri Tsiaras, Nick Epifano, Milos Lujic, Tyson Holmes, Brad Norton, Iqbal Jawadi, James Musa, Kobbie Boahene, James Reed, Slaven Vranesevic, Christopher Maynard, Andy Kecojevic, Leigh Minopoulos
What to expect: Hume City will officially unveil its new state-of-the art facility at Broadmeadows Valley Park, and what a perfect time to do it against the NPL-s league leader South Melbourne. The home side will be keen to show it can match it with the big boys in what promises to be a thrilling contest.
Player to watch: Leigh Minopoulos has become the NPL-s super sub, scoring three goals in the past two matches after coming on as a substitute for South Melbourne. If the game is in the balance, his introduction could prove the difference if coach Chris Taylor again uses him as an impact player.
Werribee City v Bentleigh Greens
6th v 7th
3.00pm, Sunday April 13, 2014
Galvin Park
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #WCvBG #NPLVIC
Last round:
Melbourne Knights 1-2 Werribee City
Bentleigh Greens 1-1 Pascoe Vale
Form:
Werribee City: LWW
Bentleigh Greens: WD (Round 1 match postponed)
Werribee City squad from: Steven Cudrig, Matthew Cundari, Milan Savic (C), Oliver Rowland, Tommy Dunn, Zois Galanopoulos, Nemanja Govedarica, Joshua Groenewald, Ryan Filipovic, Domenico Marafioti, Ray Markley, Damir Marusic, Daniel Petrov, Ivica Praiz, Anthony Ragusa, Daniel Sweeney, Simon Symeoy, Bobby Vidanovski, Simon Zappia
Bentleigh Greens squad from: Wayne Wallace (C), Kyle Nix, Ross Archibald, Stuart Webster, Luke O-Dea, Luke Pilkington, Alastair Bray, Luc Jeggo, Tom Matthews, Liam McCormick, Steve Hatzikostas, Jamie De Abreu, David Stirton, Nick Modaffari, Perry Lambropoulos, Brent McGrath, James Cumming, Anthony Proia, Christian Cavallo, Jack Webster, Lewis Foster
What to expect: The team with the never-say-die attitude (Werribee City) against the team which plays arguably the most attractive brand of football under coach John Anastasiadis. Both are in form and will be full of confidence, but while Bentleigh is a proven quality side, it-s Werribee City which is quickly gaining a reputation as the NPL-s giant killer. In the past three weeks it has knocked Oakleigh out of the Dockerty Cup and defeated Hume City and Melbourne Knights, with two of those being comeback wins. An enthralling contest awaits.
Player to watch: Captain Wayne Wallace made a welcome return to Bentleigh-s line-up last week, turning in a man-of-the-match performance in which he won headers and tackles at will. He is the heartbeat of the Bentleigh midfield and will be crucial to his side stealing the points in a difficult away fixture.
Melbourne Knights v Dandenong Thunder
5th v 3rd
3.00pm, Sunday April 13, 2014
Knights Stadium
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #MKvDT #NPLVIC
Last round:
Melbourne Knights 1-2 Werribee City
Dandenong Thunder 1-0 Hume City
Form:
Melbourne Knights: WWL
Dandenong Thunder: DWW
Melbourne Knights squad from: Shayan Alinejad, Milan Batur, Adrian Barresi, Anthony Colosimo, Rodrigo Covarrubias, Marijan Cvitkovic, Ivan Grgic, Anthony Duzel, Antun Kovacic, Ante Kozul, Chris May, James McGarry, Michael O-Farrell, Damien Rastocic, Michael Simms, Ben Surey (C), Christopher Talajic, Sam Torrens, Tomislav Uskok, Daniel Visevic
Dandenong Thunder squad from: Frazer Siddall, Jarryd Barnes, Ilir Pali, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, Faisal Sakhi Zada, Alan Mulcahy (C), Kieran Dover, Matthew Millar, Ivan Skorich, Feston Azizi, Kristopher Kioussis, Brendan Elmazovski, Anthony Giannopoulos, David King, Ryan Burns, Alan Kearney, Marcus Schroen, Brendan Craig, Zaim Zeneli, Jake Nakic, Jack Caminiti, Jarod Blackbourn
What to expect: The Knights will come out firing and look to bounce back on their home turf after feeling they didn-t deserve to cop a late penalty in their 2-1 loss to Werribee City. Thunder has kept two consecutive clean sheets and will be helped by the absence of in-form Knights attacker Jacob Colosimo, who is set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after succumbing to a knee injury last week. The extent of Colosimo-s injury is still unknown.
Player to watch: At the tender age of 17, Thunder-s Matthew Millar has turned heads with brilliant performances in the past fortnight. Can he keep up his sensational form on Sunday?
Heidelberg United v Ballarat Red Devils
10th v 4th
6.00pm, Sunday April 13, 2014
Olympic Village
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #HUvBRD #NPLVIC
Last round:
Goulburn Valley Suns 2-6 Heidelberg United
Northcote City 1-3 Ballarat Red Devils
Form:
Heidelberg United: LLW
Ballarat Red Devils: WW (Round 1 match postponed)
Heidelberg United squad from: Stefan Baricevic, Luke Byles (C), Les Doumbalis, Andrew Cartanos, Gianluca Fantacci, Daniel Heffernan, Dean Jancevski, Kaine Sheppard, Kostas Kanakaris, Petr Kratky, Mark McGough, Griffin McMaster, Paul Miller, Steven Pace, Jack Petrie, Phillip Petrovksi, Ryan Norval, Zane Sole, Haris Stamboulidis, Daniel Vasilevski, Jordan Wilkes, Yusuf Yusuf
Ballarat Red Devils squad from: Aaron Romein, Tristan Romein, Daniel Tinker, Dane Milovanovic, Adrian Curtain, Liam Harding, Nelson Salvatore, Michael Trigger, Dom Swinton, Charlie King (C), Shaun Romein, Danny O-Donnell, Daniel Firth, Bolish Salvatore, Pat Karras, Jai Cartledge, Steven Thomson, Simon Murphy, Jordan Franken
What to expect: A tantalising contest to close Round 4. Ballarat has played two away matches this season and won both of them, perhaps surprising the rest of the competition with its start. Heidelberg is coming off the tough road trip to Shepparton but found its rhythm in the 6-2 win with a clinical and lethal performance. Coaches George Katsakis (Heidelberg) and James Robinson (Ballarat) will be full of confidence and have healthy squads to choose from.
Player to watch: Dom Swinton was playing in State League 2 last year but has handled the rise to the top flight with aplomb, netting three goals in two matches. Ballarat-s electrifying winger generates plenty of chances and can create goals out of nothing.
NPL 1
Whittlesea Ranges v Avondale Heights
8th v 4th
8.30pm, Friday April 11, 2014
Epping Stadium
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #WRvAH #NPLVIC
Richmond v Kingston City
9th v 11th
8.30pm, Friday April 11, 2014
Kevin Bartlett Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #RSCvKC #NPLVIC
Moreland Zebras v Sunshine George Cross
7th v 3rd
3.00pm, Saturday April 12, 2014
De Chene Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #MZvSGC #NPLVIC
Brunswick City v Box Hill United
14th v 1st
3.00pm, Saturday April 12, 2014
Dunstan Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #BCvBHU #NPLVIC
North Geelong Warriors v FC Bulleen Lions
6th v 2nd
3.00pm, Saturday April 12, 2014
Elcho Park
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #NGWvBL #NPLVIC
Dandenong City v Springvale White Eagles
10th v 13th
3.00pm, Saturday April 12, 2014
Frank Holohan Soccer Complex
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #DCvSWE #NPLVIC
St Albans Saints v FC Bendigo
5th v 12th
3.00pm, Sunday April 13, 2014
Churchill Reserve
Twitter: Live updates @nplvictoria, #SASvFCB #NPLVIC
