South Melbourne’s convincing win in NPL Victoria top-of-the-table clash

Reigning NPL Victoria premier South Melbourne doused a red-hot Avondale attack to earn a commanding top-of-the-table victory.

South Melbourne goalscorer Ajak Riak. Picture: SMFC Facebook

South Melbourne didn’t need the rain to extinguish Avondale’s red-hot attack on Sunday night.

The reigning NPL Victoria premier put on a defensive masterclass to earn a commanding 3-0 win at Lakeside Stadium.

It is the first time this season the Avengers have tasted defeat and been kept scoreless this season having scored at least two goals in every match.

However, they had no answer for the compact South back five, led by imposing centre halves Jake Marshall and Lirim Elmazi.

While Avondale had the majority of possession it was South Melbourne who created the more dangerous chances as they quickly turned defence into counter-attack.

50:08: GOAL! South Melbourne FC scores to make it SMFC 2 : AVFC 0

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South coach Esteban Quintas said it had been a focus to attack Avondale’s weakness.

“We try to kill their strong points and try to attack the weak points, this is South Melbourne football,” he said.

“We understood their strong points, they play with defenders and try to create space, and we tried to be compact and scored our goals from their weak points.

“(The counter-attack) is one possible way.

“Every match we change many things because what we play against Avondale we cannot play like we play against North Geelong, it’s a different match.”

Arguably player of the match, striker Ajak Riak had a hand in all three goals.

The South target man won the penalty that saw Max Mikkola open the scoring in the 31st minute and a strong run into the box saw his shot cannon off Avondale defender Ayden Brice and into the net to double the lead early in the second half.

He then got on the scoresheet himself to seal the three points, finishing off a swift counter with a well-placed finish across the keeper and into the bottom left corner.

At the other end, Avondale’s forwards Stef Zinni, Zander Guy, Many Aguek and second-half substitute Liam Boland all failed to seriously test South custodian Javier Lopez.

The Avengers almost broke through in the final minute but the effort was cleared off the line, highlighting South’s desperation to keep the clean sheet.

“We have the same mentality for every match, my players know me, my personality is completely different,” Quintas said.

“They understand if they don’t run and fight and have all that I’ll make a substitution in a minute ten and they do the job fantastic.

“I’m very happy with all of them, I love all of them, they are my family here.”

The result brings South Melbourne level with Avondale at the top of the NPL ladder with 31 points but the Avengers retain top spot with a superior goal difference.

South will next host relegation threatened North Geelong at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday.

“We’ll enjoy the three points but tonight I’ll start thinking about the next match, how we can beat Geelong.

“South Melbourne never has one easy match, never, everyone wants to kill us and we need to win every day.

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“When we lost against Heidelberg is was like a cemetery here, we’ve won 10, a draw and the day we lost was like a funeral.”

Avondale will look to bounce back when it travels to Kingston Heath to face cellar-dweller Bentleigh Greens.

Elsewhere, Oakleigh Cannons hammered North Geelong 5-0 and Heidelberg United snatched a 1-0 victory over Green Gully on Friday night.

Altona Magic claimed a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Bentleigh Greens, Port Melbourne romped to a 3-0 victory over Hume City, Melbourne Knights earnt a 1-0 win away at Dandenong Thunder and St Albans ended its losing streak with a 3-0 result against Moreland City.