South Melbourne beat Oakleigh Cannons 3-2 in NPL Victoria decider

MIDFIELDER Marcus Schroen underlined why he is rated as one of the best players outside of the A-League by inspiring South Melbourne to a 10th top tier state league title.

MIDFIELDER Marcus Schroen underlined why he is rated as one of the best players outside of the A-League by inspiring South Melbourne to a 10th top tier state league title on Sunday night.

Deadlocked at the break, Schroen’s classy second half double killed off plucky Oakleigh Cannons 3-2 to justify South’s high-profile pursuit and capture from Hume City a year ago.

It was South’s second title in three years but all the sweeter after coming from third and beating second-place Heidelberg last week, sending most of the 4211 Lakeside Stadium crowd into raptures.

South coach Chris Taylor’s extraordinary state league success continued but he praised his players for persisting in a testing season.

“This is the most satisfying one, it’s been a tough year for us. We had a tough month in July but the three point docking by FFV motivated the playing group,’’ Taylor said.

“It was a difficult period and we had to do it the tough way but our character shone through.

“The issue we have now is there’s so much emphasis on the FFA Cup, that your season gauged on that.

“We played 38 games last year and Bentleigh, who I thought were the best team all season, is showing that now, it’s a hard slog towards the end.’’

Oakleigh coach Peter Tsolakis hoped to use the loss as a springboard for 2017.

“We were in that and we could’ve been celebrating. It’s been an amazing season, but we’re proud,’’ Tsolakis said.

“I’ll try and keep as many of them as possible together because we can really build on that. We had a chat after the game and said we’ve got to learn from this.’’

Leigh Minopoulos opened the scoring for South before the Cannons equalised via Dean Piemonte, before the Schroen show started in the National Premier Leagues Victoria grand final.

The left-footer struck the crossbar from a 20 metre free-kick before strikeing the post seconds later just before the half-time whistle.

South Melbourne midfielder Marcus Schroen celebrates scoring against Oakleigh Cannons in the NPL Victoria grand final on Sunday night.

Undeterred, his hard forward running continued and was rewarded in the second half as he rose highest to head home Nick Epifano’s flighted cross on 56 minutes.

Oakleigh persisted and the dangerous Goran Zoric struck the bar but 12 minutes after his first, Schroen struck a sweet volley from just inside the area after a Minopoulos pass.

Dusan Bosnjak’s stoppage time tap in made for an interesting final minute, but South held on for a deserved win as the Cannons were outclassed in the second half, missing the power of influential defender Steven Topalovic.

South scored the first against the run of play, as Minopoulos drove down the left before beating keeper John Honos.

It sparked a reaction from the Cannons who produced a stellar three-minute blitz, as striker Dimitri Hatzimouratis found space in South’s defensive third.

He blasted his first chance, a volley, over the bar before striking a good chance straight at South keeper Nikola Roganovic, who was outstanding.

South Melbourne players celebrate a goal against Oakleigh Cannons in the NPL Victoria grand final on Sunday night.

The third attack bore fruit, as Bosnjak struck a clever layoff from Zoric into the upright, but Piemonte was on hand to finish the rebound.

Thereafter South had the most of the chances and appeared most likely to win, though Oakleigh fought to the death despite defender Adriano Chiappetta’s late sending off.

KINGSTON City produced a stunning come-from-behind win against St Albans to win the NPL2 grand final in the curtain-raiser.

Sub Slaven Vranesevic’s free-kick brace inspired a 3-2 win after Rodrigo Covarubbias’ double put the Saints ahead.

North Geelong beat Dandenong Thunder 4-1 in Saturday night’s NPL2 playoff to secure a sudden death shot at promotion.

North plays Richmond, who finished third last in the top tier, at Oakleigh’s Jack Edwards Reserve on Saturday for the final spot in the NPL.

National Premier Leagues Victoria – grand final

SOUTH MELBOURNE 3 (Minopoulos 18, Schroen 56, 68)

OAKLEIGH 2 (Piemonte 26, Bosnjak 90+3)

South (4-3-3): Roganovic; Mala, Konstantinidis, Adams, Norton (Hatzikostas 90+1); Foschini, Millar, Schroen; Minopoulos (Irwin 76), Epifano, Lujic.

Oakleigh (4-2-3-1): Honos; Lambropoulos, Chiappetta, Pantelidis, Rizik; Stratomitros (D’Angelo 82), Okud (Lovemore 71); Zoric, Bosnjak, Piemonte; Hatzimouratis (Georgopoulos 71).

Red cards: Chiappetta 90.

Crowd: 4211 at Lakeside Stadium

DAVUTOVIC’S MAN OF THE MATCH:

Marcus Schroen (South Melbourne)

The midfielder worked tirelessly and yet again stood up in the big moments, scoring a decisive second half brace.