Depressing - South Melbourne 1 Springvale White Eagles 0

Springvale White Eagles may feel hard done by today's result, but really, they have no one else to blame but themselves. They botched several good chances with particularly wayward shooting, and conceded the only goal of the match courtesy of a chaotic defensive error.

A cross from the right by new signing Daniel Dragicevic should been dealt with easily, but the two men marking Jesse Krncevic failed to make contact with the ball, allowing Krncevic to cleverly nod the ball over the top and into the empty net - White Eagle's keeper having got himself stranded in no man's land.

While South had the lion's share of possession they rarely looked threatening. For whatever reason, they were content to play a series of seemingly endless backwards and sideways passes, the lowest point of which were the occasions where we reached the 18 yard box, only on several occasions to press the retreat button and end up back at Zaim Zeneli in goals.

It was timid stuff to say the least, and the competent but unlucky team of last week looked frightened of taking on the third bottom team. Much improvement (but from where?) will be needed to deal with Bentleigh Greens, who've been unbeaten since Johnny A took over.

Jesse Krncevic on the ground, after collecting his 2nd of two heavy collisions. Photo Cindy Nitsos