VPL: The fat lady is warming her vocal chords

Dandenong now only need one win from the last three games to secure the Victorian Premier League Minor Premiership after they left it late to dispose of South Melbourne. Heidelberg and Moreland are officially on their way down to State League One after results went against them. Southern Stars will be back in action in the VPL next season after their win secured their place in the State’s top competition.

Bentleigh Greens 1 (O’Dea 82′)
Moreland Zebras 0
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

Bentleigh put some space between themselves and the chasing pack with a win over the now relegated Moreland Zebras. Luke O’Dea’s late strike was enough to give the Greens all three points and leave them only four points adrift of second spot. It will be interesting to see if Grant Brebner’s short stint as a VPL manager will continue when the club drops next season.

Oakleigh Cannons 1 (Drakos 84′)
Melbourne Knights 3 (Alinejad 2′ Vincent 40′ Drakos (OG)43′)
Jack Edwards Reserve

A Huge result for the Knights as they knocked off title hopeful Oakleigh at Jack Edwards Reserve. The wins lifts the Knights into genuine finals contenders and virtually hands the Minor Premiership to Dandenong. This weeks fixture sees the top two go at it with Dandenong needing only a point to claim the title.

Richmond 1 (Cannell 91′)
Southern Stars 2 (Stirton ‘)
Kevin Bartlett Reserve

Southern Stars celebrated their survival in the VPL with a win over Richmond, giving them a bolters chance of making the finals. Richmond on the other hand blew their chance to climb into a finals spot. Both of these clubs will be happy with their season and will look to strengthen and improve for next year.

Green Gully Cavaliers 0
Hume City 1 (Guerrero 90′)
Green Gully Reserve

Hume City left it until the last minute to get the points and put any hope of Green Gully claiming the Minor Premiership down the plug hole. The win was massive for Hume as they now find themselves only three points outside of a finals berth with three games to play.

Green Gully can now aim only for second spot but could fall as low as 8th as is the closeness of the competition. A genuine early elimination final is what Hume have this weekend when they face fellow finals hopeful Richmond. Green Gully have the local derby against the Knights on their plate.

Heidelberg United 1 (Sarkies 26′)
Northcote City 1 (Konstantinidis 71′)
Olympic Village

Heidelberg went a little way to climbing off the bottom with a point against nearby Northcote. Valuable points dropped for City though as results went their way which would have seen them jump into third place. A huge clash this weekend against rivals South Melbourne will be a must attend game for all fans of football.

South Melbourne 1 (Kelly 5′)
Dandenong Thunder 2 (Theodore 55′, Sherbon 89′)
Lakeside Stadium

Dandenong left it late to tie up all three points against South Melbourne; another goal to Luke Sherbon with minutes remaining was enough for the Thunder. South Melbourne might be left to rue the dropped points come season end as they face Northcote City this coming week. Dandenong have the top of the table clash against Oakleigh where a point will see them lift the Minor Premiership.

Goals
17 – Luke Sherbon, Dandenong Thunder
9 – Nate Foster, Dandenong Thunder
9 – Nicholas Hegarty, Hume City
8 – Mathew Sanders, Green Gully Cavaliers
7 – James Kalifatidis, Northcote City
7 – Mark Leech, Hume City
7 – Ricky Diaco, Oakleigh Cannons
7 – Osagie Ederaro, Green Gully Cavaliers
7 – Scott Bulloch, Bentleigh Greens

Yellow Cards
6 – Steven Topalovic, Richmond
6 – Jonathan Voulgaris, Northcote City
6 – Kristian Konstantinidis, Northcote City
6 – Nicholas Marinos, Heidelberg United
5 – Daniel Jones, Green Gully Cavaliers
5 – Brian Bran, Dandenong Thunder
5 – Adam Zilic, Melbourne Knights
5 – Craig Sweeney, Melbourne Knights
5 – Saso Alexovski, Heidelberg United
5 – Alan Mulcahy, Southern Stars
5 – Isiyan Erdogan, Hume City
5 – Alan Kearney, Southern Stars
5 – Keiren Fitzgerald, Southern Stars

Red Cards
4 – Melbourne Knights (Ben Surey, Tomislav Uskok, Shaun Romein, Marijan Cvitkovic)
3 – Richmond (Liam Cannell, Michael Ferrante, Mate Eterovic)
3 – Southern Stars (Lean Williams, Ridvan Saglam, Halil Gur)
3 – South Melbourne (Thomas Matthews, Trent Rixon, Shaun Kelly)
2 – Green Gully Cavaliers (Patricio Vargas, Mile Medjedovic)
1 – Heidelberg United (George Papadopoulos)
1 – Bentleigh Greens (Jack Webster)

Round Twenty Fixtures
Bentleigh v Heidelberg, 8:15pm Friday 24 August, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Hume City v Richmond, 8:30pm Friday 24 August, Epping Soccer Stadium
Dandenong Thunder v Oakleigh Cannons, 7pm Saturday 25 August, George Andrews Reserve
Moreland Zebras v Southern Stars, 3pm Sunday 26 August, Epping Soccer Stadium
Northcote City v South Melbourne, 3pm Sunday 26 August, John Cain Memorial Park
Melbourne Knights v Green Gully Cavaliers, 3pm Sunday 26 August, Knights Stadium