Whilst a lot of eyes will be on the FFA Cup clash with Melbourne Knights on Friday night, the weekend will also play host to a rescheduled match for the Under 20s against Avondale FC. The league new-comers sit third on the table and South need points to remain in touch going into the second half of the season.
Last week the Under 20s battled out a 0-0 draw with North Geelong Warriors. Missing out on the three points coach Sasa Kolman told smfc.com.au “you are always disappointed when you don’t win, especially at home. So I have the feeling we lost two points. We had a lot of chances, we just can’t put the ball in. But considering we have a very young team who have just been promoted to the twenties, we have just started to work together. At the end of the day it was a big success for us. I’m proud of the boys but there is a lot of work in front of them to get to the point where I want them to be”.
We asked Kolman how the new players were fitting in with the team having recently been promoted and how long until the team would again reach a stable base. “How long its going to take, I don’t know, it depends on every individual. But I am pretty sure that’s my job and I’ll take care of that. They are going to gel in soon enough and I’m going to make sure they work hard because I want them to be ready this week. This week, that’s it, they don’t have much time” he said.
Looking at the North Geelong Warriors match, attacking forwards Charly Leyton and Gab Riven both had runs coming off the bench with established striker Spiros Stamoulis recovering from injury. Nashir Hussainy continued to provide exceptional speed down the wing and was fed very well by Jordan Moncreiff who displayed maturity and composure in the centre of the pitch as he stepped up playing a key role in the midfield.
The squad lost two experienced and key defenders with Peter Constantiou transferring to Brunswick City seniors and Yianni Avramidis joining Moreland City. This combined with Sammy Kagioglou out injured meant the new back four had to come together quickly. Rory Brian in goal was well supported by Adrian Kovacevic, Joshua Hodes, Matthew Zilavec and Massimo Pesce who together held out a concerted effort from the Warriors to record the teams third clean sheet of the season.
A clear stand-out however was the agreession and techinque of Guiseppe Marafioti. Acknowledged as best on field by Captain Jordan Moncrieff, Marafioti spoke to smfc.com.au about the game saying “it was pretty even. We didn’t take our chances to be honest. Well fought by both teams. At the end of the day we didn’t take our chances and that’s what it came down to”. Marafioti was also full of praise for the new players joining the squad. “South has a good youth program. So even though great player left, great players came in from our youth. Our Under 18s have stepped up well. As older players we try to encourage them. We do our job and they definitely stepped today” he said.
The coming weekend was to be a week off with the exciting FFA Cup round however the Under 20s have a recently postponed match rescheduled to take on Avondale FC. Whilst Avondale are the new-comers to the NPL top tier, you certainly wouldn’t pick it looking at their Under 20s on or off the pitch. Coach Shaun Barbaro joined Avondale this year from FC Bulleen Lions and his squad represents a whole-scale change. Just four players remain from their NPL1 campaign in 2014 but Barbaro has quickly bought them together into a strong outfit. They are one point off top spot in the league with a game in hand.
Sasa Kolman’s squad will be mindful of the tight playing and high pressing tactics of Avondale when they meet this weekend. Avondale will be looking to bounce back from a surprise loss to Hume City at home last week whilst South will be looking to secure the points at remain in touch with the top of the ladder.