VPL Round 14 preview

A rundown of this weekend's VPL fixtures

Hume City v Northcote City
Fri 8:30pm, Epping Soccer Stadium
9th v 4th

Last Round:
Dandenong Thunder 1-0 Hume City
Northcote City 0-0 Southern Stars

VPL History:
Hume City win: 3
Northcote City win: 0
Draw: 2

Reverse Fixture:
Northcote City 1-1 Hume City

Form:
Hume City: WDLLL
Northcote City: WWDDD

Things have been far from rosy for Hume City over the past month with a single point from four outings. After a slow start to the season, Hume looked to have turned the corner with three wins in a row before their recent slump.

Hume’s woes might just continue as they come up against a stalwart Northcote City who are unbeaten in their past eight outings.

2011 Golden Boot Richie Cardozo returned for Hume City last week. After coming off the bench, they will be eager to get him back to his best as soon as possible. 

Richmond v Heidelberg United
Fri 8:30pm, Kevin Bartlett Reserve
10th v 12th 

Last Round:
Bentleigh Greens 0-1 Richmond
Heidelberg United 1-2 Green Gully Cavaliers

VPL History:
Richmond win: 4
Heidelberg United win: 7
Draw: 3

Reverse Fixture:
Heidelberg United 0-1 Richmond

Form:
Richmond: LLDDW
Heidelberg United: DLLLL

Richmond’s win over Bentleigh was just what they needed, putting some breathing space between themselves and Moreland while keeping touch with teams in mid-table. If Richmond can string a few more wins together they could find themselves right back in the finals mix. 

Heidelberg are no closer to avoiding relegation with another loss last week, leaving them ten points away from safety. To their credit, their last three defeats have only been by a single goal. 

That being the case, the Heidelberg faithful expects much more than honourable defeats and will be hoping that a midweek State Knockout Cup win against Melbourne Knights will give the team some confidence going into the weekend.

Southern Stars v Bentleigh Greens
Sat 7pm, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
6th v 5th

Last Round:
Northcote City 0-0 Southern Stars
Bentleigh Greens 0-1 Richmond

VPL History:
Southern Stars win: 0
Bentleigh Greens win: 1
Draw: 0

Reverse Fixture:
Bentleigh Greens 2-0 Southern Stars

Form:
Southern Stars: WDWWD
Bentleigh Greens: DWLLL

The Kingston Heath derby is sure to be fiercely fought with Southern Stars hoping to exact some revenge on their neighbours.

There is more than local pride on the line, as both teams sit level on 19 points, the winner will be that much closer to securing a spot in the finals while the loser will remain in the mid-table battle.

Based on form Stars will go into the match as favourites, a moniker they will need to embrace to continue their VPL success.

Moreland Zebras v Oakleigh Cannons
Sun 3pm, Epping Soccer Stadium
11th v 2nd

Last Round:
Melbourne Knights 2-1 Moreland Zebras
South Melbourne 2-1 Oakleigh Cannons

VPL History:
Moreland Zebras win: 11
Oakleigh Cannons win: 4
Draw: 5

Reverse Fixture:
Oakleigh Cannons 2-1 Moreland Zebras

Form:
Moreland Zebras: LWWDL 
Oakleigh Cannons: DLWWL

A loss to South Melbourne has seen the Cannons lose ground on league leaders Dandenong Thunder and they also find Northcote City and Green Gully poised to knock them down from second spot should they falter against Moreland.

Despite playing well, Moreland failed to close out their match against Knights and were severely punished. Having rested players for their midweek State Knockout Cup defeat to Cobram Victory, Zebras will have a strong side on the park who are aware that any more late-game lapses will likely be punished by a clinical Oakleigh side.

Melbourne Knights v Dandenong Thunder
Sun 3pm, Knights Stadium
8th v 1st

Last Round:
Melbourne Knights 2-1 Moreland Zebras
Dandenong Thunder 1-0 Hume City

VPL History:
Melbourne Knights win: 0
Dandenong Thunder win: 5
Draw: 2

Reverse Fixture:
Dandenong Thunder 2-0 Melbourne Knights

Form:
Melbourne Knights: WWLWW
Dandenong Thunder: DWDLW

Confidence is the highest it has been all season at Knights Stadium and now is probably the best chance they will get to topple league leaders Thunder.

Dandenong returned to the winner’s list with a win over struggling Hume City, though they wasted chances to put the game to bed.

While Thunder are definitely favourites, they will want to establish a decent lead to avoid a late Knights charge. 

South Melbourne v Green Gully Cavaliers
Sun 5pm, Lakeside Stadium
7th v 3rd

Last Round:
South Melbourne 2-1 Oakleigh Cannons
Heidelberg United 1-2 Green Gully Cavaliers

VPL History:
South Melbourne win: 3
Green Gully Cavaliers win: 9
Draw: 5

Reverse Fixture:
Green Gully Cavaliers 3-1 South Melbourne

Form:
South Melbourne: LLWDW
Green Gully Cavaliers: LLDWW

South put in a convincing performance against second placed Oakleigh last week with new signing Steve Burton the stand-out performer in a good team.

Whilst consistent performances have seen Green Gully move up to third place, they have hardly set the league on fire. Their solid late season form is legendary and Gully will hope to keep that tradition alive with a win over South Melbourne.

If you can’t get to the game, you can stream the entire match live via our Youtube channel.

2012 VPL Statistics

Goals
10 – Luke Sherbon, Dandenong Thunder
8 – Nate Foster, Dandenong Thunder
7 – James Kalifatidis, Northcote City
6 – Ricky Diaco, Oakleigh Cannons 
5 – Jason Hayne, Green Gully Cavaliers
5 – Mathew Sanders, Green Gully Cavaliers
5 – Nicholas Hegarty, Hume City

Yellow Cards
5 – Steven Topalovic, Richmond
5 – Daniel Jones, Green Gully Cavaliers
5 – Brian Bran, Dandenong Thunder
5 – Jonathan Voulgaris, Northcote City
4 – Andrew Viola & Daniel Visevic & Nicholas Marinos, Richmond
4 – Saso Alexovski & Mitchell Bissinger, Heidelberg United
4 – Frankie Lagana, Oakleigh Cannons
4 – Adam Zilic & Anthony Colosimo, Melbourne Knights
4 – Isiyan Erdogan, Hume City

Red Cards
3 – Richmond (Liam Cannell, Michael Ferrante, Mate Medjedovic)
3 – Southern Stars (Lean Williams, Ridvan Saglam, Halil Gur)
2 – Green Gully Cavaliers (Patricio Vargas, Mile Medjedovic)
1 – Heidelberg United (George Papadopoulos)
1 – Melbourne Knights (Ben Surey)