Check out all the weekend’s NPL and VPL action with wonder goals galore

TALKING POINTS: There were wonder goals galore across the NPL and VPL as George Ott channelled his inner Thierry Henry and St Albans stuns the reigning premier.

George Ott in action for Avondale. Picture: Brendan Beckett

It was a weekend for wonder goals.

Across the NPL and VPL, players were banging in bangers left, right and centre.

There were late winner, last-gasp equalisers and plenty more drama.

Check out all the highlights from Round 4 below.

OTT CHANNELS HENRY

It was shades of Thierry Henry against Manchester United, George Ott’s flick and volley ignited Avondale’s thumping 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory. The academy youngsters were reduced to 10 men after only five minutes when Parker Williams was shown a highly questionable straight red card, adjudged last man when he fouled Jackson Courtney-Perkins. However, four minutes later Victory opened the scoring later at Avengers Park as Jing Reec pounced on a defensive error to beat Maker Maker from close range. Ott produced his moment of magic to level the scores on 19 minutes. Controlling a bouncing ball, the New Zealand youth international flick it up to himself, turning his defender, and volleyed home off the cross bar. Ott then turned provider, his cross finding Kristian Trajceski to put Avondale in front after 27 minutes. Kur Kur then put his mark on the game, stepping in from the right he curled the ball beautifully into the left-hand bottom corner in the 70th minute and made it a brace when his deflected shot found its way past Christian Sicilliano in the 84th minute.

SENSATIONAL SAINTS

It is one of the greatest wins in St Albans history. A 3-0 drubbing of South Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium will go down in club folklore. The Saints burst out of the blocks and took an early lead through Lucas Byrns as he tucked home Emmanuel Peters’ cross in the 11th minute. In Round 26 last season, St Albans led only to be over-run but not this time. Saints skipper Michael Grgic doubled the lead when he outjumped the Hellas defence to head home from Joey Monek’s corner in the 38th minute. South pressed in the second half but couldn’t break the visitors. And Josh Gulevski put the icing on the cake as the clock ticked into injury time, curling a third goal past Javi Lopez after a strong run from Jarome Charan. St Albans outshot South 9-4 and while each team had three shots on target all three went in for the Saints. It’s a perfect way for St Albans to open its account for the season, while South Melbourne must regroup for a blockbuster clash with Preston Lions on a short turnaround on Friday night.

WONDER STRIKE PUTS SHARKS ON THE BOARD

A horror opening three weeks of the season saw Port Melbourne play South Melbourne, Avondale and Oakleigh. Having come through that tough period the Sharks claimed their first win of the season, knocking off Green Gully 1-0 in front of their home fans at Murphy Reserve. And they got off the mark in style with a wonderful strike from Tom Alisandratos. Taking the ball on the left, the young gun faced up to two defender, but undaunted, launched an audacious long-range shot that found the right-hand post and back of the net. The 75th minute strike was enough to secure all three points. The win lifts Port up to 10th, while Green Gully are left languishing in 12th, still without a win.

SALMON OFF THE MARK, GUEST MILESTONE

After an interrupted start to the NPL Victoria season, Alex Salmon is back on the scoresheet. The reigning Golden Boot made his season debut last week as a 71st minute substitute against Port Melbourne. He again started on the bench on Friday night, coming on in the 60th minute, and finding the back of the net in the 93rd minute to put a bow on a 3-0 for Oakleigh over Melbourne Knights. Earlier, skipper Joe Guest produced a dazzling first half, opening the scoring in the 20th minute with a wonderfully taken free kick that beat Chris Oldfield to his right-hand post. The goal was Guest’s 50th at NPL level. He doubled the lead in the 37th minute when Kingsley Sinclair pounced on an errant Knights pass and set up the simplest of finishes.

THUNDER PIPS MAGIC

One of the NPL Victoria’s most prolific scorers is off the mark for 2025, Wade Dekker scoring the winner for Dandenong Thunder against Altona Magic at Paisley Park on Saturday. The Sri Lanka international broke the deadlock at Paisley Park with a fine finish from dead in front, set up by a perfect cross from skipper Ali Sulemani. It’s Dekker’s first goal for the season, his second at Thunder after scoring seven goals in 2024. The 57th minute strike secured Dandenong a second win of the season and seventh place on the NPL ladder.

ROAD TRIP SUCCESS

Making one of the longest road trips in NPL/VPL, Hume City made the long journey down to Dandenong and returned to Broadmeadows with an invaluable three points. George Lambadaridis gave City the lead in the 39th minute with a wonder goal, blasting a free kick over the defensive wall and past Michael Weier from well outside the penalty box. However, Hume City responded in kind with a wonder goal of their own thanks to Birkan Kirdar. The former Melbourne Victory man took the ball in midfield, weaved past three defender before unleashing from the edge of the box to level the scores in the 68th minute. And just two minutes later the visitors were in front as Kirdar’s corner was headed past his own keeper by Kenny Athiu. Michael Domfeh then sealed the three points in the 89th minute, winning a 50-50 duel with Pierce Clark after a short backpass and tapping the ball into an empty net.

KEEPERS STEAL THE SHOW

A bumper crowd packed into the Home of the Matildas on Friday night for Heidelberg United’s “home” clash with Preston Lions. For the neutral, the clash didn’t disappoint but both teams had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw. After a goalless first half, Jamal Ali made a surging run into the box and tapped home Mo Aidara’s cross to open the scoring in the 57th minute. Preston would equalise in spectacular fashion as Luc Jeggo lashed in a long-range strike, blasting a shot from the left edge of the area into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. While the match was full of highlights, arguably the stars of the show were goalkeepers Yaren Sozer and Bon Scott. Both made a string of impressive saves to keep their team in the game, while Sozer stopped a Jason Romero penalty in the first half that would have put Preston in front on the half-four mark. While the Lions had five shots on target, at the other end, Scott faced 24 shots, 10 on target, to certainly earn his match fee and the Lions a share of the points.

CITY HUMILIATES MORELAND

It is one of the biggest wins in recent NPL/VPL history. Melbourne City put Moreland City to the sword at Casey Fields on Sunday. The A-League academy team romped to an 8-1 victory, with – perhaps most impressively – eight different scorers finding the back of the net. Xavier Stella kick-started the day in just the second minute of the match, while Ale Lopane provided the highlight of the day, smashing home a long-range effort from 30m. Beckham Baker (34), Arion Sulemani (37), Roland Ballah (38) and Mikey Ghossaini (39) all scored in an eye-catching first half that saw the hosts lead 6-0. Jacob Byrnes got one back for Moreland in the 81st minute but it only stung City back into action as Ben Dunbar responded immediately and Akeem Gerald put the icing on the cherry in the 85th minute. After finishing last in NPL last year, Moreland again finds itself on the bottom of the ladder, losing all four of its matches this season.

IT’S NOT MUCH BETTER FOR MANNINGHAM

It wasn’t as ugly as fellow relegation suffer Moreland City, but Manningham United were no match for VPL1 ladder-leader Western United at Ironbarks Field on Saturday. Western flexed its muscle against what many believed was a premiership contender. Jake Najdovski scored a match-winning hat-trick to fuel United’s charge. The star striker has now scored in every match this season and has seven goals in four outings, the most in the competition. Victor Muhindo and Luke Vickery also found the back of the net in the thumping win. Western United sits on top of the VPL1 ladder with three wins from four stars as it looks to improve on last season’s third-placed finish.

GEORGIES BOUNCE BACK

After back-to-back losses, Caroline Springs George Cross is back in the winners’ circle. The Georgies claimed a strong 3-1 win over Kingston City at City Vista on Saturday, jumping back up the VPL1 ladder. The visitors opened the scoring in just the third minute of the match, Damian Iaconis scoring his second goal for his new club. But it was all one-way traffic from there. After a difficult week last week, Luke Lofts responded by finding the back of the net, while Michael Tzoutzidis and Josh Whiteley also got their names on the scoresheet to wrap up three points.

GREEENS SURVIVE

Bentleigh Greens sit second on the VPL1 ladder after a tough 2-1 win over FC Melbourne at Kingston Heath. Luke Orest scored for the second game in a row to give Bentleigh and early lead before Marko Basic levelled the scores for Srbija – also scoring for the second match in a row. However, the Greens would go home with all three points thanks to Ayden Von Essen. The match ended in dramatic circumstances with both teams having a player sent off in a tense finish.

BRUNSWICK KEEPS GOOD TIMES ROLLING

Brunswick City’s impressive early season form continued on Saturday, securing a 2-1 win over Langwarrin at Lawton Park. Looking for their first win of the season, the hosts had opened the scoring just minutes after half-time thanks to Callum Goulding. However, City were level on the hour mark through Dylan McGlade and Carl Jonsson claimed all three points with 14 minutes remaining. Yet to lose a game this season, Brunswick sits fourth on the VPL1 ladder just two points behind leader Western United.

SPRINGVALE, BOROONDARA ON THE BOARD

It had been a tough start for State League 1 South-East promotion-winner Springvale White Eagles but the club is officially on the board in VPL2 after an impressive 2-0 win over Geelong at the Serbian Sports Centre. Goran Zoric gave the home team the perfect start before Miki Gamo doubled the lead and secured the White Eagles’ first three points of the campaign in the second half. The result sees Springvale jump up to 10th and leaves Nunawading as the only club without a win to its name this season. Meanwhile, Boroondara-Carey Eagles also secured their first win, stunning premiership hopeful Altona City 2-1 at Kim Reserve. Alex Meaney gave the Eagles the lead after 25 minutes before Ben Bowler equalised not long after. Just seconds after the half-time whistle, Levi Tarbotton gave Boroondara-Carey the lead again and this time it wouldn’t be relinquished. Holding off the hosts to secure a vital three points.

BRIMMER SPARKS WARRIORS COMEBACK

North Geelong fought back from two goals down to carve out a miraculous 3-2 victory over Goulburn Valley Suns at Elcho Park on Saturday. The Warriors found themselves down in the ninth minute after the Suns took the early lead through Mangara Munguakonkha, backing up his worldie from last week, before Tommy Blennerhassett doubled the visitors’ lead on 27 minutes. North Geelong coach Stuart Begg brought on his talisman, Sonny Brimmer, at half-time. The match turned in the 66th minute as Angus Chapman pounced on a poor pass to score and just two minutes later Brimmer scored his fourth goal in as many matches to level the scores. The Suns won a penalty almost immediately but Alex Mazzaferro made two telling saves, initially saving Sean Grant’s spot kick before denying Laywi Niyonkuru’s rebound. Brimmer scored his second and the match-winner in the 73rd minute, heading home Shun Nakamura’s cross.

POWER OUTAGE

Not just one of AC/DC’s great albums. A power outage saw the match between Brunswick Juventus and Werribee City at CB Smith Reserve called off on Friday night. The match was nil-all at half-time when the lights went out. The match is set to be replayed in full as it didn’t reach the 80 per cent threshold. A new fixture is expected to be finalised by the end of the week.

REDBACKS AT THE DEATH

In a rematch of last year’s State League 1 grand final, South-East premier Eltham claiming a last-gasp 3-2 win over North-West premier Whittlesea United at Eltham North Reserve. Whittlesea won last year’s championship 2-0 and were minutes away from another win on Friday night before a stunning Redbacks fightback. Lewis Shannon gave Whittlesea the lead before a stunning free kick from Lewis Bamford levelled the scores before half-time. United again took the lead, in controversial circumstances, as Atilla Ofli converted a penalty. The initial foul looked to be outside the area but the linesman changed the referees mind. As time ticked away, Billy Romas found an equaliser, the opposite linesman calling the ball over the line as a defender desperately tried to clear it. John Prescott thought he’d won it for Eltham only to see the flag raised for offside and, then, with the last kick of the game, Bamford’s free-kick somehow found its way over the pack and into the far corner, sparking wild celebrations on the Redbacks bench.

NUNAWADING, BOX HILL SNATCH POINT

They left it late but Nunawading and Box Hill both snatched critical points on Friday night. The pair are currently sitting last and second last on the ladder, with a 1-1 draw with Essendon Royals at Mahoneys Reserve securing Nunawading its first point of the campaign. Box Hill finished 2-2 against Pascoe Vale at Hosken Reserve. Essendon looked to have scored a winner when Graham Kelly – after four goals last week – struck in the 77th minute. However, Fuki Ishibashi rescued a point for the hosts in the 89th minute. Across town, Tom Barforosh’s double looked to have gained the Rams three points. Until Nick Stefanidakts pounced in the 85th minute for Box Hill. Maxi Naveiro also found the back of the net for Pythagoras.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Two games will wrap up Round 4 of NPL and VPL action. South Melbourne will play its third straight Monday night game when it hosts St Albans at Lakeside Stadium. After dropping points for the first time this season, Hellas will be looking to remain undefeated against the winless Saints. Meanwhile, across town, Monday night regulars Bulleen Lions host promotion-winner North Sunshine Eagles at the Veneto Club. Both clubs are coming off impressive wins last week and will be looking to further cement themselves among the VPL1 front-runners.