NPL Victoria wrap: Celtic youth makes impact, Goal of the Week, Socceroo saves day

The NPL Victoria season kicked off with a bang as a Celtic youth graduate make an instant impact, a Socceroo saved the day and a must-see Goal of the Week.

The National Premier League Victoria season kicked off with an outstanding weekend of matches.

From beautiful goals to untimely red cards, there was plenty of action across the competition.

The NPL2 season also began with some terrific highlights.

Check out the major talking points from the match across the weekend below.

THUNDER YOUNG GUN MAKES SPLASH

Dandenong Thunder pounced on Celtic youth graduate Leo Mazis when he became available earlier this year and he lived up to the expectations with a match-winning goal on debut on Friday night. Mazis showed off his class with a delightful finish in the 13th minute, jumping on a rebound to find the back of the net from the edge of the area. It secured a shock upset win at over Heidelberg United at Olympic Park to get Dandenong’s campaign off to the perfect start.

65:55: GOAL! Bentleigh Greens SC scores to make it BGSC 1 : NGW 2

Watch live and free on https://t.co/bOA3JNp71S#NPLVIC#BGSCNGWpic.twitter.com/3JlMLMk5nZ

— NPL Victoria (@nplvictoria) February 17, 2023

GOAL OF THE WEEK

Bentleigh Greens have work to do after a poor start to the season, losing 3-1 to newly promoted North Geelong Warriors. Two of the three goals conceded came from defensive errors but the bright spot was this spectacular goal from new recruit Mario Barcia. The former Oakleigh Cannons thundered the ball home in the 66th minute, finding the top left corner from outside the area.

FREE KICK MAGIC

Jonas Markovski made his father – and coach – John proud with an excellent goal in Altona Magic’s season opener. Markovski junior powered home from a free kick on the edge of the area to give Altona the lead in the 79th minute over Hume City at Paisley Park. Unfortunately for the Magic, Hume levelled the match just a minute later and it finished 1-all.

CITY SHOW POTENTIAL

In its first taste of NPL in 75 years, Moreland City showed it will be more than competitive in the top flight. The club took an early lead over reigning premier South Melbourne in the season-opener at Lakeside Stadium thanks to a superb free kick from new recruit James Hooper. While South battled back in the second half to take a 2-1 victory, there was plenty to like about the NPL2 champion’s performance.

SOUTH WIN BUT DEFENCE NEEDS WORK

It ended up being a strong win but the first half saw Moreland City dominate the majority of the play. With many predicting the two teams to finish at either end of the table, fans would have been disappointed by South Melbourne’s general play against the visitors in the opening 45 minutes. But after half time South stepped up and scored two goals in 17 minutes to gain a 2-1 lead. Alun Webb showed his pace to score the equaliser in the 50th minute and Patrick Langlois headed with precision and power, scoring the winner in the 66th minute.

WARRIORS ARRIVE IN STYLE

It was the arrival to the top tier competition that North Geelong wanted after defeating last year’s finalists Bentleigh Greens 3-1 away from home. The Warriors have already equalled their win tally from when they were last in the NPL1 in 2017.

SAINTS UP FOR CHALLENGE

After parting ways with long time former coach Kruni Razov, the Saints decision makers would have been nervous for their Round 1 clash at home. But new coach Ryan McGuffie showed his side were up for the fight, particularly when George Ott put through a goal in the 33rd minute against his former club to put the Saints up 1-0 on Sunday. The Saints nearly had the perfect start to the season until Knights new skipper Ivan Franjic levelled the scoreline with a precise finish in the 87th minute, just before the full time whistle blew.

FRANJIC SAVES KNIGHTS IN RETURN

On his return to the Melbourne Knights, Ivan Franjic scored the equaliser to give his side a point from their opening game of their 70th year anniversary season. Franjic previously made 50 appearances for Knights between 2007 and 2008 before going on to have an A-League career. Before the Knights, Franjic played 39 games for St Albans who he scored against on Sunday in the 1-1 game at Churchill Reserve, holding off a celebration in respect.

AVONDALE, PORT SHARE SPOILS

Avondale will be rueing a missed opportunity after letting two points slip in a draw with Port Melbourne Sharks. The Avengers took a late lead through Manyluak Aguek in the 72nd minute but conceded just six minutes later as the Round 1 clash finished 2-all. Sharks recruit Jalil Regague found the equaliser in the 78th minute after the Avondale defence went to sleep. A Blake Carpenter own-goal had given Port the lead in the third minute of the match before Kalilou Kamara squared the game in the shadows of half-time.

SHARKS SURVIVE WITH 10 MEN

Port Melbourne will be counting its blessings after taking a point against Avondale, despite playing almost three quarters of the match with 10 men. Ross Archibald was shown a straight red in the 31st minute to leave his side a man down. It looked like Avondale had sealed the three points with 20 minutes remaining before Jalil Regague rescued a point for the home team in the 78th minute.

FREE KICK MAGIC

Jonas Markovski made his father – and coach – John proud with an excellent goal in Altona Magic’s season opener. Markovski junior powered home from a free kick on the edge of the area to give Altona the lead in the 79th minute over Hume City at Paisley Park. Unfortunately for the Magic, Hume levelled the match just a minute later and it finished 1-all.

SON OF GUN MAKES HIS MARK

Emin Durakovic, son of former Socceroo Mehmet, made a strong start to Melbourne City’s NPL2 campaign with the club’s first goal in a 2-1 win over Northcote City. The 17-year-old equalised for City in the 24th minute after Nick Sette had scored the opener in just the third minute. Fellow 17-year-old Max Caputo then scored the winner in the 60th minute to secure three points.

BIG CROWD TURNS OUT FOR LOCAL RIVALS

It was an exciting contest between newly promoted Preston Lions and Pascoe Vale for the opening game of the NPL2 season where a crowd of more than 5000 turned up to B.T Connor Reserve on Friday night. Pascoe Vale triumphed 2-1 but Preston president David Cvetkovski said the focus on having a family friendly event helped attract a large crowd. “It’s about the children coming with their parents first and foremost, long gone are the days of ‘let’s go out and have a blokey night,” Cvetkovski said. He also said that winning helped as well as engaging and connecting strongly with the community.

THEODORAKOPOULOS’ COSTLY CELEBRATION

Manningham Blues’ Phillip Theodorakopoulos certainly had an eventful start to the season. The Blues striker scored a brace in the 3-1 win over Bulleen Lions at Pettys Reserve but his 92nd minute goal also saw him pick up a second yellow card and was subsequently sent off. He’d only received his first yellow card six minutes earlier, so we’re not too sure if the coach will be too happy with that.

FRY SHINES AGAINST OLD CLUB

Langwarrin secured a thrilling 3-2 win over Kingston City in its first match of the NPL2 season with its new man playing a leading role. Charlie Fry crossed from City in the off-season and was awarded Langwarrin’s man of the match after a strong performance in defence. Kingston had taken a 2-1 lead into half-time but goals from James Kelly and Tom Youngs in a four minute double salvo sent the home fans home happy.

DANDENONG CITY BEGIN RESURGENCE

Demoted to NPL 2 but Dandenong City began their campaign strongly with a 2-0 win over Brunswick City. They were made to work for it against the team that finished ninth last year in NPL 2 with goals not coming until the 80th minute through Damian Iaconis and 90th minute through Brad Plant, who were both substituted on.