Bentleigh Greens & Altona Magic open round 3 with LIVE broadcast match
Last updated: Friday March 12, 2010 12:43PM
Image courtesy: Peter Kakalias
Round three of the Victorian Premier League kicks off tonight with the live broadcast game between the Bentleigh Greens and Altona Magic at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.
Both Bentleigh and Altona are yet to lose and win a game in 2010.
Last weekend, Bentleigh drew with South Melbourne after coming back from being 1-0 down late in the second half. Coach, Goran Lozanovski said he is happy with how is side is performing so far after stepping up to the VPL.
“I’m happy with how we’re going so far but I’d love to have a win on the board, in saying that, we’ve played two title contenders so far this year in South Melbourne and Oakleigh,” Lozanovski said.
“So far we’ve had two away games, this week, being at home, we have to try to go for a win, in saying that, I think we’ve been unlucky so far this year and we could have won either of those games, we just have to be a bit more ruthless in front of goals and punish teams when we get the chance.”
In terrible conditions at Knights Stadium last Sunday, Altona Magic played out a nil-all draw against the Sunshine Georgies.
Captain Pece Siveski said the team is creating enough chances to secure a victory.
“We’re quite happy with where we are at; we could have won at least one of those games. We just need to score a goal, we’re creating chances, we just need to make the most of them,” Siveski said.
Siveski said the team is responding well to new coach, Dragan Blazevski.
“So far so good, we’re well organised, playing as a unit and there’s a good atmosphere at the club.
“It will be a big game against Bentleigh, a marquee game on Friday night, we’re pretty confident we can win away from home.”
On Saturday, Northcote City play their first game at home against South Melbourne at John Cain Memorial Park.
Northcote are yet to secure a win since being promoted to the VPL; however their captain, Trent Rixon said they have been unlucky not to win a game.
“Our season has been not too bad. We’ve been unlucky in the first couple of games. We’re creating enough chances and the goals that have been conceded have come from sloppy defending, but we’ve had plenty of chances,” Rixon said.
Rixon is hopeful of a win against South Melbourne, highlighting the difficulties for visiting clubs to John Cain Memorial Park.
“This week we just have to go out there and be positive, really take it to them. It’s our first home game; it’s hard for other clubs to come here.”
South Melbourne were the hot favourites before the start of the season, particularly because of their heavy recruiting in the off season, however they too have struggled to score goals this year.
Despite the results so far, new coach and club legend, Vaughan Coveny said he is thrilled to be leading South Melbourne this year.
“I’m really enjoying coaching, the training during the week, and especially match days, it’s a really good challenge,” Coveny said.
“I’m very lucky that I have good people around me like David Lugli and Ange Dallas, Director of Football, who I can bounce ideas off.”
Coveny is looking for consistency from his team.
“We’ve been playing ok, but we can get better. We need to start playing better for longer patches; we’re looking for a consistent all-round team effort.
“We know it will be a really tough game against Northcote, it’s not going to be easy, and it’s their first home game of the season.”
South Melbourne has a couple of players carrying injuries, with James Stefanou in doubt for the match this weekend and Fernando De Moraes still struggling with injuries. However Carl Recchia has been playing in the Under 21’s, and is up for selection.
Also on Saturday, Green Gully Cavaliers come up against the Oakleigh Cannons at Green Gully Reserve.
Green Gully bounced back from their round one loss to Hume City with an impressive 3-1 win against Richmond.
Captain Jeff Fleming is pleased with how the season is going for Gully.
“We had a good result last weekend, we played well. We’re pretty happy with where we are at, considering we’ve had a few new faces come in to the side, but there’s always room for improvement,” Fleming said.
“This week is another home game, we’d love to win at home and keep building on last week’s success.”
Oakleigh have had a solid start to the season with a draw against Bentleigh in round one and a win against Northcote City last weekend. This will be Oakleigh’s first away game for the season and they will be looking to continue their solid form.
Richmond have the daunting task of travelling down to George Andrews Reserve on Saturday night for their game against Dandenong Thunder.
Both Dandenong and Richmond were stung by hefty defeats last weekend and will be looking to bounce back in round three.
Richmond were outplayed by Green Gully, with coach Michael Chatzitrifonos conceding that, “Saturday can’t come quick enough for us”.
“Last week was very disappointing, conceding three goals at home. There were too many individual mistakes, we never really gave ourselves a chance after conceding two goals so early,” Chatzitrifonos said.
Chatzitrifonos said it will be a tough challenge against Dandenong at George Andrews Reserve.
“You need to be a bit cautious when you play at Dandenong. We have the personnel to win the game, but we need to respect our opponents and also concentrate on our game, we have enough talent to win the game.”
Following the arrival of his international clearance, Jesse Krncevic is set to make his first appearance for Richmond since the Second Elimination Final of 2008. Davey van 't Schip is also available to make his debut for the club following the arrival of his international clearance.
Dandenong coach, Stuart Munro made no excuses for his team’s loss against Hume City in horrendous conditions last Saturday.
“Obviously it was a strange day for both teams, but the pitch was perfectly playable, there’s no excuse for the performance,” Munro said.
“We just didn’t defend the three crosses that came across, three crosses, three goals.
“We need to defend the penalty box a lot better, it was an all-round bad day, just one of those things, and I’d rather it happened at the start of the season while we’re still sorting these things out.”
Dandenong were also struck with injuries during that match, with Levent Osman and Marcus Stergiopoulos coming off during the game, forcing them to play with 10 men for the remainder.
Munro said those players will have until today to prove their fitness for the weekend.
On Sunday, the Melbourne Knights will take on the Sunshine Georgies at Knights Stadium, kicking off at 6.00pm.
The Knights were caught by surprise on Monday night as a fast-finishing Heidelberg United line-up drew level, to make it 3-3 in extra time.
Coach Ivan Duzel said the club was very disappointed with the result.
“A couple of minutes, a couple of goals, we were all very disappointed after playing so well for the entire match,” Duzel said.
“We played well though, and it’s a good thing to see for all the fans who came out in the rain.”
Duzel was especially pleased with the performance of Danny Tiatto.
“I think he played a brilliant game – he really showed the difference between a professional and amateur player.
“I took him off (late in the second half) because he was having cramps, it was his call. He will play this weekend and the club will talk to him about playing other matches.”
The Knights’ captain, Ivica Praiz, is still under an injury cloud with his hamstring and a strained ligament in the knee; however Duzel said he might be available for this weekend.
The Sunshine Georgies have a lot to be happy about, sitting on top of the table with a win and a draw so far this season.
Coach, Andy O’Dell believed the conditions for last weekend’s game against Altona Magic definitely contributed to the 0-0 result.
“It (the weather) was a leveller for both clubs,” O’Dell said.
“We’re very happy with the four points we’ve got so far, considering it’s a brand new team.
Sunshine is without injuries, with everybody fit and ready for the match against Melbourne Knights this weekend.
The final match of round three will see Heidelberg United play their first home game of the season at Olympic Village against Hume City.
Heidelberg staged an incredible comeback against the Melbourne Knights on Monday night, with captain Mark Tsiorlas instrumental in their second half fight back. They are still looking for their first win of the season, however if they continue that form a win is surely not too far away.
Hume City hasn’t lost a game this season, which included their emphatic win against Dandenong Thunder last weekend.
Hume City’s Captain, Lou Acevski said his team has been “sensational” so far this year.
“Apart from the first 20 minutes of the game against Green Gully I think the boys have been sensational,” Acevski said.
“We’ve been able to keep the majority of our squad together from last season, so the boys know each other really well, and once we got that first goal against Dandenong Thunder we took total control of the game.”
Full fixture details, please see the Competitions section of the FFV website.
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