Summary: South Melbourne have defeated Altona magic 2-0 in a comfortable clash at Lakeside stadium. With neither team possessing finals prospects, both squads went in with nothing to lose, but it was South’s aggression that would ultimately control the match.
I was highly intrigued walking into Lakeside on Sunday afternoon, wondering what Esteban Quintas, and the squad had in store for us today. As we find ourselves locked outside finals, with our opponents in a similar position, what would our focus of the next few matches be. Are we trialing our younger talent, further experimenting with our lineup, or just try to snatch some easy points to save face? In terms of our squad variability, Sunday’s squad seemed like a more settled mish-mash of players.
With no stakes, playing aggressively seemed like the strategy of both teams, and a tussle for possession ensued within the first ten minutes of play. South, however, found themselves letting off more compelling attempts than their adversaries. In the 12th minute, A Zac Bates run set up Giuseppe Marafioti after the youngster had muscled his way into the box. Marafioti, in an ideal striking position, lets off a weak shot which is easily clutched by the keeper. a few minutes later, Gerrie Syaidos’ long shot is dropped by the keeper, though Marafioti’s attempts to tap it in are deemed foulable offences. Despite Altona sneaking past our defence a few minutes later, and almost setting up a standard tap in, South reached their peak aggression around the 20th minute mark.
Perry Lambropoulos, in my opinion, had his best game of the season. Pushing up much higher than normal, he worked well as an attacking-centric left-back who partnered up nicely with Bates. And his pushing was rewarded, as one of his runs saw him chopped down in the box, winning his side a penalty. An incredibly embarrassing squabble between Marcus Schroen and Marafioti then ensued, specifically over who would take the penalty, and I couldn’t help but think even when things were going our way, we still somehow managed to sour it. Arguably the dispute was one-sided, but it didn’t stop Schroen from burying the goal, and putting South in the lead. South morale and squad politics sometimes leaked onto the pitch, but round 25 signalled a drizzle.
In circumstances like Sunday, when no meaning is really ascribable to a match’s outcome, after the first goal, everything somewhat cooled down, both for players and supporters. Our peak aggression plateaued, Altona struggled to break our defence, and everyone was just hanging out for another inter-squad breakdown. Krousoratis had a notable shot in the 35th minute, and Altona almost teed up another standard tap in a minute later, but intensity in the squad’s clashes had long since diminished.
An expected Marafioti substitution saw Billy Konstantinidis make his way onto the pitch, in what was a standard second half for a leading team. Less emphasis was exerted pushing the ball up, relying on our aggressive defending to reward us with counters. These little bursts fizzled out before a shot on goal could be made, with no players particularly concerned with converting. Even with the sun in the Altona keeper’s face in the earlier parts of the half, no speculative efforts were made to test him out. Konstantinidis drifting into the midfield on multiple occasions emphasised our defensive play-style, with our primary attacking option absent from the box. Aside from a contentious Altona penalty claim in the 54th minute, their pushes weren’t particularly convincing either, and despite possessing an attacking strategy that would make any South fan nervous (that is, a discernible strategy when pushing the ball up), nothing was to come of them.
Towards the end of the match, a desperate push from Altona tested the South defence, but it had remained consistent in its composure, and seemed somewhat unfazed. This was only strengthened after doubling our lead with 3 minutes of normal playing time to go. A Gerrie Sylaidos run culminates into a low ball into the box, and Konstantinidis, who had found himself up forward again, was able to tap it past the keeper. The next few minutes were somewhat despondent, with the two teams just waiting for the referee’s final whistle.
To finish this season with an extra handful of points from last season is ideal, and at least, for those looking back in years to come, a potential 7th place finish doesn’t look too bad. But a squad’s quality is multi-faceted, and I was not satisfied with what I saw on the pitch, even if it wasn’t within play. In terms of next match’s importance, beating Heidelberg will give Avondale the opportunity to finish on top of the ladder, so if we are still in a position where we can beat them at their best, I suspect the intensity we bring will correlate with how much we don’t want them to win the minor premiership.
Notable players: Perry Lambropoulos, Gerrie Sylaidos, Melvin Beckett, Marcus Schroen
South Melbourne FC: 2
Altona Magic SC: 0