South Melbourne emerged with the three points on offer in an entertaining and skilful display of football at Bob Jane when it met Northern Spirit on Sunday.
Home coach Ange Postecoglou was happy with the win, but angrily denounced the Melbourne mainstream media for its lack of focus on the match: "I've got to get something off my chest. I'm not at all happy with the coverage we've been getting, and particularly this week. You had a game between two of the top teams in this country, packed with internationals, a good open game, and all I've been reading about all week - the most important thing in Victorian soccer - has been a bloody beer-garden."
"When are we going to get the recognition we deserve? This team has been on top for two years. We've only lost one game (at home) in the last two years. I'm flying to Brazil next week (for the World Club Championship draw) because we're one of eight teams in the world. It's about time this group of players got the recognition they deserve."
Whether the media give that recognition, the football enthusiast would certainly embrace a league where such fare is standard rather than exceptional. These two sides seem destined to meet for higher stakes than just three league points, and were this year's Grand Final to be graced with such an open and positive game, the seats would be worth booking now.
Both teams were committed to playing attacking football, a point Spirit coach Graham Arnold made after the match: "I'm disappointed because I thought we played very well. I'm never going to coach a team to come down here and sit ten at the back and close the game out. Football today was the winner, because I thought it was a very high-standard game, and by far the best standard game this season. Not many teams create (as many) chances (as we did) against South Melbourne. We should have capitalised more on the chances we had."
South Melbourne braved some significant early pressure from the visitors, mostly delivered through hard-running left-winger Matthew Langdon who was ill-rewarded for his industry.
Chris Jones - South's deputy goal-keeper during the reign of Michael Petkovic - once again had his chance in the team through the unavailability of new signing Milan Udvaracz, and was set the harder test of the two goalkeepers. Ian Crook, David Seal, and Clayton Zane all had early chances, but it was South's Olyroo Michael Curcija who opened the scoring just after the quarter-hour.
South Melbourne has played a possession-based short-passing game for a number of years - high risk if lesser quality players turn the ball over without making progress - but high reward when it comes off as it did here.
Starting with a long ball from Jones' goal-kick, Northern Spirit managed only one clear touch in a flowing South movement that involved seven South players, exchanging thirteen passes and holding off four serious Spirit challenges which could have broken the movement. Towards the end of the sequence, Con Blatsis, David Clarkson, and then Goran Lozanovski crisply moved the ball forward to Paul Trimboli, now in an inside right position and 40 metres out. Trimboli saw Curcija making a run to his left and lofted a pass which just cleared Spirit's tall central defenders Mark Rudan and Luke Casserly. Curcija still needed to control the ball before shooting past the hapless Paul Henderson.
One goal was never going to settle the game, such was the endeavour of both sets of players. Spirit in fact continued to look the more dangerous, and Langdon was exploiting the space behind Lozanovski caused by Lozanovski's requirement to link with the attacks. What Langdon was managing down the left, Robbie Slater was down the right, more closely marshalled by Fausto De Amicis as De Amicis was less critical to South's attacking moves.
It was therefore yet another cruel chapter in the book of football when South grabbed a second, just two minutes into the second half.
Once again, it was to come from South's neat quick passing. Trimboli played though to Curcija who had his back to goal and set up Steve Panopoulos. Panopoulos played a neat one-two with Trimboli on the edge of the area, bursting through a square Spirit back-line from a well on-side position despite the claims of the static defence. By now Panopoulos was clean through on Henderson, and had support behind and to his right from Curcija and Vaughan Coveny. Curcija was given the ball and side-footed home with Coveny involved in a territorial battle with Henderson attempting, but failing, to get the final touch as the ball crossed the line.
Once again, it was Spirit that had the chances to follow. Slater showed his trickery on the ball with a run down the right before feeding Ian Crook who laid off for Zane's blast over.
Langdon, not to be outshone by his opposite winger, launched another mazy run down the left and then moved inside to shoot, required the very best of Jones' skills to block.
"(Jones) did very well for us," said Postecoglou after the match. "He's a good goalkeeper, and he's waited for his chance. He pulled off one very good save from Langdon when he was through, and if he didn't do that, there would have been a closer end (to the game)."
"I thought we created some good chances and that we played very well," said Postecoglou.