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Victorian Premier League round-up: Bergers set for drop
17/07/2012 2:03:00 PM
Ante Jukic takes you through all the action from Round 14 of the Victorian Premier League, including another poor result for Heidelberg
ANALYSISBy Ante Jukic
Results
Hume City 3-0 Northcote City, Richmond 3-2 Heidelberg, Southern Stars 0-3 Bentleigh Greens, Moreland Zebras 0-1 Oakleigh Cannons, Melbourne Knights 1-0 Dandenong Thunder, South Melbourne 0-2 Green Gully
| THE WEEKEND STORY |
Richmond started life without Michael Ferrante - freshly departed to State League 1 side Pascoe Vale - on a positive note, all-but condemning Heidelberg to the State Leagues with their 3-2 win, while Oakleigh made things tougher for the Zebras with a 1-0 triumph. The race for the finals tightened up after Hume’s 3-0 victory over Northcote, while Bentleigh defeated a severely depleted Southern Stars by the same margin. The Melbourne Knights pulled off a clinical 1-0 win over league-leaders Dandenong, and in the last match of the round, a Brian Vanega brace gave Green Gully a crucial 2-0 win against South Melbourne.
| THE STANDINGS |
|
|
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
|
1 |
Dandenong Thunder |
14 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
26 |
7 |
+19 |
30 |
|
2 |
Oakleigh Cannons |
14 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
22 |
17 |
+5 |
26 |
|
3 |
Green Gully |
14 |
8 |
1 |
5 |
21 |
16 |
+5 |
25 |
|
4 |
Bentleigh Greens |
14 |
7 |
1 |
6 |
22 |
18 |
+4 |
22 |
|
5 |
Northcote City |
14 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
17 |
19 |
-2 |
22 |
|
6 |
Melbourne Knights |
14 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
16 |
16 |
0 |
21 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
Hume City |
14 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
16 |
15 |
1 |
20 |
|
8 |
Southern Stars |
14 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
15 |
21 |
-6 |
19 |
|
9 |
South Melbourne |
14 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
18 |
18 |
0 |
18 |
|
10 |
Richmond |
14 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
15 |
15 |
0 |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
Moreland Zebras |
14 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
17 |
25 |
-8 |
11 |
|
12 |
Heidelberg United |
14 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
14 |
32 |
-18 |
5 |
| GOALS |
8 – Luke SHERBON (Dandenong), Nate FOSTER (Dandenong)
7 – James KALIFATIDIS (Northcote)
6 – Ricky DIACO (Oakleigh)
5 – Jason HAYNE (Green Gully)
| PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND |
Melbourne Knights
The Melbourne Knights confirmed their status as the form side of the VPL, with their 1-0 win over league leaders Dandenong Thunder, making it the fifth in their past six league matches under Andrew Marth. Snatching the lead before the half, against the run of play with a well-taken Jake Nakic goal, the Knights could have even extended their lead late on. The one goal was enoughm however, as they put the rest of the VPL on notice, playing themselves into finals contention before the home stretch.
| AFTERTHOUGHTS |
Despite the thoughts of some within Victorian football, the finals and relegation places are by no means settled at this stage. With the Melbourne Knights’ upset over Dandenong, the middle pack grows ever more congested. This weekend sees three important fixtures in terms of finals calculations, with Bentleigh facing Hume City, Northcote hosting the Knights, and South Melbourne travelling to face Richmond.
As Heidelberg face a seemingly insurmountable task to stay up, who will join them now looks all the more intriguing. Moreland at the moment are in the least favourable position, but there is still a possibility for the Stars to struggle this second half of the season, especially with Mark Leech’s departure.
| THE NUMBERS |
4 – The number of clean sheets in the Knights' past five wins, and the point difference between fourth and tenth on the VPL ladder
14 – Heidelberg's goals conceded in the past five matches
1 – The number of wins from Dandenong's last four matches
| TWEET OF THE WEEK |
@steventalevski: Green Gully looked good today. They still have Fleming, Hockless & other GF players to come back. They could make it 3 straight titles. #VPL
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