Kiss of Death, round 9, 2011

Scotch Watch
The Greens had a surprise win against Hume last week, but South maintain their lead with a week to go before the Easter break.

• South Melbourne, 2nd place, 20 points, goal difference +8
• Bentleigh Greens, 6th place, 13 points, goal difference +0 

Richmond vs Oakleigh Cannons
7th vs 3rd. A less than impressive Oakleigh got all three points against St Albans last week. Richmond played well against South and got zero points. Weird game this one. I really can’t separate these teams. Will be a 2-2 draw.

Green Gully Cavaliers vs Heidelberg United
11th vs 8th. Green Gully suffered a shock loss to Northcote last week, and the Bergers beat the Knights 2-1. Gully is traditionally struggling. It’s only a matter of time before Dobbo steps back in and takes the reigns from Lapsansky. Bergers made the Herald Sun this week for all the wrong reasons. I’m not going to comment on those events. Bergers are struggling on the park and will struggle again at Gully this week. Green Gully 2 – Heidelberg 0.

Northcote City vs Springvale White Eagles
5th vs 12th. Springvale got absolutely pumped at home to Dandenong last week. What went wrong? Pretty simple really. Zoric had a bad day and therefore Springvale lost. Northcote City had a big win at Gully last week, and this will continue against Springy. Northcote City 4 – Springvale White Eagles 0.

Dandenong Thunder vs Bentleigh Greens
2nd vs 6th. Dandenong bounced back from their 0-3 home loss to Gully, with a 0-3 win at Springy and seem to be over it already. Johnny A took over last week from Andy O’Dell down at Bentleigh with a comfortable 4-1 win against Hume. It must be said that Hume finished the game with nine men. A promising sign for Bentleigh was the 25 minute spell of youngster Jonno Bounas. A solidly built 17 year old centre mid that seems to have finally found a club that will give him a chance at senior level. Good luck Jonno. Dandenong Thunder 3 – Bentleigh Greens 1.

Hume City vs South Melbourne
4th v 1st. The match of the round. The Anzac Day Cup played early. A great cup of cuppage in Victorian football. Hume is struggling. A shock 4-1 loss to Bentleigh and Issy Erdogan along with Kenny Gerohristodoulou being sent off. This means that they are without a goalkeeper as Lupce Acevski is on the sidelines with an injury. I have no idea what the U-21’s keeper's name is or what he is like, but he will be under a lot of pressure to withstand South's firepower. South goes into this game on a four game winning streak, looking to extend it to five as the Easter break approaches. South played well against Richmond last week and were unlucky not to score two or three more. Two clean sheets in a row is also promising for all you, “it’s important not to cop goals” people. Honestly, I can’t see South losing this game. South seem to be the only team you look at in this league and say, “yep, they’re going to win”.  Hume City 0 – South Melbourne 4.

St Albans Saints vs Melbourne Knights
13th v 10th. The Croatian Derby. St Albans is struggling, and struggling bad. I don’t know what mess they have gotten themselves into, but it isn’t good at all. They will be playing State 1 next year if they don’t start getting it right. Saw them against Oakleigh and they were the better team, but Oakleigh's counter attacking style on the night killed them. The Melbourne Knights are also in some strife and most likely will be facing the FFV tribunal in the coming weeks due to the incident at the Olympic Village last week. I don’t know what it is about fans getting their clubs in the shit, but you’re not doing anybody any favours. I hope the Knights don’t get relegated along with St Albans, but they way both teams are playing, it could become a reality by round 16. St Albans 2 – Melbourne Knights 2.