Summary: South Melbourne have had their finals dreams extinguished after losing to the Oakleigh Cannons 4-1. A promising start saw South gain the lead through an early penalty, but the second half belonged completely to the home side.
We once again find ourselves watching the South Melbourne A’s vs the B’s. Since beating us 11 games ago, Oakleigh have continued their undefeated streak in the league, first saving their season and then finding themselves with reaching the finals. The allure of South’s mid-season form has truly dissipated, and we find ourselves with the same instability that led to so much strife earlier in the year. There is never any way to tell which South will be playing on any particular day, as it’s dependent on our sporadic lineup and the opposing side’s form, but I wasn’t particularly confident going into this round’s match.
Josh Dorron found himself back in goals after an absence from the starting lineup. Not only that, but Nikola Roganovic was completely absent from this week’s match, perhaps a sign of his departure in the not so distant future. Ben Djiba and Bradley Norton retained their roles as right and left back, and Zac Bates was also given a starting role over Nick Krousoratis. Our aggressive plays, arguably, were developed through our ex-coach Chris Taylor. So it was expected that Oakleigh would harness a similar play style, and in the early stages of the match were able to exceed our intensity. However, they were much more clinical within the box, which was made clear in the first few minutes when Dorron was required to make a reflex save on a fierce Oakleigh strike.
However, having a similar play style comes with similar weaknesses. Due to Oakleigh’s intense pushes forward, it made countering for South easier. Not only that, but in those nervy moments, the Oakleigh defence often fouled as a response to our runs, particularly when players like Gerrie Sylaidos and Zac Bates possessed a pace that made them incredibly difficult to stop legally. During one his runs up the line (which arguably wasn’t going anywhere), Bates is brought down by ex-South captain Rama Tavsancioglu, and a penalty is awarded. It’s converted by Marcus Schroen, and South found themselves in the lead within the seventh minute of play. However, our goal was through capitalising against the grain of play, and Oakleigh continued to push threateningly. It was only a few minutes later that a great ball by Mathew Foschini (another ex-South man) sees a Paczkowski header hit the crossbar, which is then tapped in by Harry White. Dorron made a few great saves throughout the first half, but his early efforts ultimately didn’t result in much.
Whether it was the adrenaline of conceding, or our emphasis on first-half aggression, we actually began matching Oakleigh in terms of chance creation. We weren’t great within play, with players unable to gauge whether they were in appropriate scoring positions, or whether they should pass the ball onto someone else. But South were given many opportunities to capitalise through the aforementioned fouling (and subsequent free kicks), but unfortunately our set pieces were also underwhelming. Our best opportunities came when Billy Konstantinidis was able to shrug off his defender in the box and slot the ball past John Honos, but a foul is awarded against him. Kostas Stratomitros, who has become a regular on the score sheet, was able to get himself unmarked and on the ball, but his header is also saved by Honos.
By the half’s end we had been able to match Oakleigh’s aggression, though our midfield plays weren’t as refined. Retaining our first half aggression isn’t South’s specialty, but it was necessary if any finals fire were to be kindled. They, however, were quickly extinguished, and a game truly indicative that “football is a game of two halves” ensued.
An early Oakleigh corner saw the home side find themselves in the lead, after a wide White shot is tapped in by Wade Dekker. The only thing that fell in-between their second and third goal was an admirable but ultimately fruitless Gerrie Sylaidos long range shot. After finding themselves in a comfortable lead through a powerful strike from skipper Tom Matthews, Oakleigh allowed South with more time on the ball, in which they could truly display their attacking ineptitude. Our sporadic performance was marked by the same classic fruitless runs up the line, with either no one in the box to be crossed to, or a winger cutting in and being dispossessed/blocked before anything meaningful can be created. But it was a poor South clearance in defence that allowed Oakleigh to score their fourth. Miscommunication between Stratomitros and Dorron allowed a very saveable ball to bounce into the path of Dekker, who can tap it in and score his second for the night.
Gradually, as we were given more possession, we fell into a few more opportunities. A Konstantinidis header was saved, and substitute Nick Krousoratis was able to create space to let off a wide volley. Our best chance came when a cross found its way to the chest of Konstantinidis in the box, but his first touch is too heavy, and travels to the feet of Honos. Oakleigh’s fifth goal was called offside by the linesman, and their last shot beat Dorron, but bounced off the post. By the final whistle, there truly were no questions to ask; we were completely outplayed, out of the finals run, and rightly so. Sneaking into the top 6 was always an appealing belief, and in previous months it may have also been believable that we could cause some damage. But even if Oakleigh possess the best form in our league, to lose so devastatingly indicates our club has a long way to go.
South Melbourne FC: 1
Oakleigh Cannons FC: 4