A first-half goal from Bill Damianos was enough to give South Melbourne the win against a determined Marconi Stallions at Bob Jane Stadium on Sunday evening.
Damianos had been set free by Paul Trimboli who controlled a clearance from South keeper Eugene Galekovic before sending Damianos on his way.
There was little else to split the sides, as possession and shots on goal were shared.
"It's been like this from the very beginning (of the season)," said a disappointed Stallions' coach Raul Blanco after the game.
In a game where both sides were missing their preferred strikers through suspension and injury, a low scoring affair could have been predicted. South had Peter Buljan and Michael Baird out through suspension, and Marconi were without Joe Spiteri suffering a broken arm.
"We felt (the absence of) Joe here today," said Blanco. "If Joe was (here) he would have made the difference."
South coach Danny Wright was pleased at gaining the win. "We're absolutely delighted," he said. "The way the game panned out - it could have gone either way."
Trimboli was called up to be a forward and worked alongside Vaughan Coveny - himself under an injury cloud following last week's concussion against Melbourne Knights. Stallions elected to play Tony Perinich with Alex Brosque up front.
Ten minutes before the interval, Trimboli showed he still has class and guile to go with his veteran status. The South talisman received a long ball mid-pitch on his chest, and dropped it dead at his feet with his back to goal. Damianos had seen the space behind Trimboli and made a run, inviting Trimboli to find him.
With surgical precision, Trimboli delicately laid off into Damianos' path. Now rushing direct on goal, Damianos had time to decide where and when to shoot, and sent his effort crashing high into the net for the opening goal.
"It was a great goal by the way - (Damianos) took it very well, but I was very disappointed (in conceding it)," said Blanco. "The goal was really a Christmas present," he said, critical of the fact that Trimboli was allowed time to claim the clearance, and control the ball.
Stung into action, Brosque wriggled clear of challenges from Patrick Kisnorbo and Mehmet Durakovic to face Galekovic - making only his second start for South. With the odds firmly in Brosque's favour because of the amount of real-estate he had to aim at, Galekovic held his ground and was able to block.
The game had now sprung to life, and just before the end of the half, Vince Lia thumped a left-foot shot into the near-post with Turnbull well-beaten.
Marconi had the better of the early moments of the second-half. Grant Last sent a shot just over from the edge of the penalty-area when he likely had more time to effect a more productive outcome.
But Darren McDonald will still be ruing a miss from an even better chance which arose just minutes later.
After some clever footwork down the left from Brosque, McDonald latched onto a cut-back directly in front of goal but blasted well over the bar.
Blanco made a series of changes around the hour in his attempts to get some purchase on the match, but there was no addition to the scoring, although there was a flurry of yellow cards as the game drew to its conclusion.
"Probably the most pleasing thing for me was keeping a clean sheet," said Wright after the South defence had leaked ten goals over its last three outings. "It has been a worry for me, and the best players (for South) were my back three and my goalkeeper."