A massive week in the Victorian Premier League was followed up with some great football. For all money it seemed the wheels had fallen off at the all-conquering Dandenong with coach Chris Taylor leaving for South Melbourne.
A handful of the champions squad then followed Taylow out the door, until the bat signal was sent to supercoach Stuart Munro who accepted the position until seasons end. He managed to lead his refound team to a draw at high-flying Bentleigh. Northcote dropped points for the second week running and Green Gully lost for the first time in many weeks. The Melbourne Knights were the big winner of the week climbing into 4th spot.
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| Credit: Cindy Nitsos |
Bentleigh Greens 0
Dandenong Thunder 0
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Supercoach Stuart Munro returned to the helm of Dandenong for the first time in over four years as the Thunder held Bentleigh to a scoreless draw at Kingston Heath. The talk of the town in the build up to this match was the departure of treble-winning coach Chris Taylor to South Melbourne along with the massive loss of players in recent weeks. Dandenong responded in fine fashion though and are a different side to the one that took all before them last year; the draw at Bentleigh possibly the start of something new. Munro should pencil in his first win next week as they travel to Scottish counterpart Grant Brebner’s Richmond. Bentleigh would want a win at South Melbourne to sure up second place.
Port Melbourne Sharks 0
Oakleigh Cannons 2 (Korcari 25′ Zoric 78′)
SS Anderson Reserve
Oakleigh pulled themselves into finals contention with a solid win over Port Melbourne away. The Cannons are slowly looking like the side that has been a force over the past few seasons. The Sharks on the other hand missed their chance to cement a top three spot and now sit only three points above seventh spot. A tough game away to Pascoe Vale is next for Port Melbourne while Oakleigh host Green Gully.
Green Gully Cavaliers 1 (Hayne 17′ pen)
Hume City 2 (Pace 28′ Kaya 80′)
Green Gully Reserve
An Ersin Kaya bullet headed goal with ten minutes remaining saw Hume City defeat Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve. The Cavaliers, who had not lost since round six, played some great football but were unable to put an undermanned Hume away. They were made to pay as Hume came from behind to steal the victory. Hume will get a chance to break away from the chasing pack with a slightly easier game at home against Southern Stars next week. Meanwhile Green Gully have a must win game away to Oakliegh.
Northcote City 1 (Lujic 70′)
Pascoe Vale 1 (Santilli 64′)
John Cain Memorial Park
Northcote City dropped points in consecutive weeks for the first time this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Pascoe Vale. The result still sees Northcote seven points clear on top of the table as the nearest challenger also only managed the draw. Credit to Pascoe Vale though who are now only the third team to take some points of City this season. Northcote will look to get the W column ticking over when they head to Melbourne Knights, Pascoe Vale are always good for a point at home and will look for that and more when Port Melbourne visit next game.
Melbourne Knights 1 (Cvitkovic 76′)
Richmond 0
Knights Stadium
Melbourne Knights put themselves into a strong position to play finals as they accounted for lowly Richmond at Sommers St. A goal with a quarter of an hour left was enough to see the Knights climb to fourth. The real test for the Knights comes next as they are at home to the might of Northcote City. Richmond have Dandenong.
South Melbourne 2 (Kearney 31′ Vlahos 72′)
Southern Stars 2 (Bontemps 41’ Cristea 43′)
Lakeside Stadium
With championship winning coach Chris Taylor taking over the helm mid-week it looked like the disappointing season of South Melbourne was about to pick up. This wasn’t to be the case this weekend as they had to come from behind to manage a point against bottom side Southern Stars. A three minute lapse was all it took for South Melbourne to go from in-front to behind and it was left to the experience of Andy Vlahos to again save South Melbourne from embarrassment. Taylor’s task of getting South back on track doesn’t get any easier when they greet Bentleigh to Lakeside. The Stars travel to Hume.
Ladder after Round 13
| 1 | Northcote City | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 7 | 30 | 33 |
| 2 | Bentleigh Greens | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 24 |
| 3 | Hume City | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 27 | -8 | 24 |
| 4 | Melbourne Knights | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 22 |
| 5 | Port Melbourne Sharks | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 21 |
| 6 | Green Gully Cavaliers | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 18 |
| 7 | South Melbourne | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 18 |
| 8 | Dandenong Thunder | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 17 |
| 9 | Oakleigh Cannons | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 15 |
| 10 | Pascoe Vale | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 13 |
| 11 | Richmond | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 33 | -15 | 5 |
| 12 | Southern Stars | 13 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 33 | -23 | 3 |
Round 14 Fixtures
Pascoe Vale vs Port Melbourne Sharks Fri 19 Jul 8:30 Hosken Reserve
Oakleigh Cannons vs Green Gully Cavaliers Fri 19 Jul 8:30 Jack Edwards Reserve
Richmond vs Dandenong Thunder Fri 19 Jul 8:30 Kevin Bartlett Reserve
Hume City vs Southern Stars Sun 21 Jul 3:00 Broadmeadows Valley Park
Melbourne Knights vs Northcote City Sun 21 Jul 3:00 Knights Stadium
South Melbourne vs Bentleigh Greens Sun 21 Jul 3:00 Lakeside Stadium
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