VPL Round 22, 2010

South Melbourne's six point deduction from the pitch invasion against Heidelberg meant that come the final round of the home away season, it was playing catch up to try and make the finals. Still, a four match unbeaten run meant that South was near enough if results - both on and off the football field - fell the right way.

The first part of the equation was winning this round 22 match against George Cross, who themselves were trying to get out of the relegation zone at their last opportunity. South took an early lead via a Fernando De Moraes turn and shot from outside the box. This forced the desperate Georgies to come out and attack, which in wet and windy conditions suited South, who added three goals in the second half to relegate their old rival.

Having taken care of their part of the finals bargain, South were temporarily in the top five, waiting on the result their court action against the FFV, as well as the result of the rescheduled game midweek between Dandenong Thunder and Northcote City, where a draw between those two sides would've seen South secure fifth place.

The day after its win against George Cross, South had a win (of sorts) in the Supreme Court, where the judge said that while FFV had a right to add additional charges, it had not provided South with the opportunity to defend those charges. On to Tuesday then, where the FFV tribunal went through its tribunal procedure in a way that was at least legally compliant, ending up at the same end result - a six point deduction to South.

The final piece of the puzzle then was hoping for a draw at the Veneto Club on the Wednesday; unfortunately, Northcote crushed Thunder 4-1, and South's league season was over.

A week and half a later, Vaughan Coveny's contract as coach was not renewed, making this fixture the last he was in charge of at South. Eddie Krncevic was hired to lead the team into 2011, and into the Singapore Cup quarter final South still had to play in 2010.

## Lineups

**Sunshine George Cross:** Martin John, Shaun Romein, Fidell Richards, Leo Shin, Craig Sweeney, Andrew Bourakis, Ben Cogger, Tex Apostolikas (Andrew Nabbout 66), Evan Christodoulou, Barry Devlin, James Blackburn (Peter Koutsoupias 72). **Coach:** Theo Constantinou.

**South Melbourne**: Peter Zois, Rama Tavsancioglu, Eddie Cetkin, Steven O'Dor, Rhodri Payne, Joe Keenan, Carl Recchia (Joey Youssef 74), Marinos Gasparis, Daniel Vasilevski (Sebastian Petrovic 87), Fernando De Moraes (Kyle Joryeff 66), Gianni De Nittis. **Coach**: Vaughan Coveny. **Goals:** De Moraes 13, 61, Recchia 69, Tavsancioglu 83.

## Milestones

*Final game*: Peter Zois, Eddie Cetkin, Joseph Youssef.

Vaughan Coveny's last game as coach - contract not renewed.

## Match Reports

smfc.com.au: South surge into top five contention

South of the Border: Free at last! Free at last! Praise Science, we are free at last!

## References

1. ↑ https://www.smfc.com.au/south-melbourne-fc-vs-sunshine-george-cross-match-preview/
2. ↑ https://southmelbournefc.blogspot.com/2010/08/south-win-supreme-court-battle-but-will.html
3. ↑ https://southmelbournefc.blogspot.com/2010/08/south-loses-appeal-in-second-go.html
4. ↑ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/States/VIC/2010PLR.html
5. ↑ https://southmelbournefc.blogspot.com/2010/08/well-that-was-worth-it-dandenong-1.html
6. ↑ https://www.smfc.com.au/eddie-krncevic-appointed-south-melbourne-fc-senior-coach-for-2011/
7. ↑ http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/States/VIC/2010PLR.html