South Melbourne defeated Northern Spirit by the only goal of the game to consolidate third place in the NSL Ladder on Sunday evening at Bob Jane Stadium. Billy Damianos - celebrating his one-hundredth game for South - scored in the fifth minute, but despite significant pressure from the home side, South could not increase the lead due mainly to some goalkeeping heroics from the Sydney-siders' Paul Henderson.
"(Henderson) had a tremendous game," said South coach Danny Wright after the game. "He kept them in it. But that's the way the game panned out - it was only one-nil, but it's all about results."
Spirit coach Lawrie McKinna also praised his goalkeeper who pulled off a string of crucial saves at times when South seemed certain to pull away on the scoreboard.
"I felt South Melbourne had (the better of the game) for the first twenty minutes until we sorted out our midfield, but I felt we were a wee bit off the pace. We could have snuck (an equaliser), but overall I don't think we can argue with the result," McKinna said.
South Melbourne's goal came before the game had had a chance to settle. Vaughan Coveny spotted a diagonal run being made by Michael Baird and fed him the ball down the inside-left channel, splitting the Spirit central defensive pairing of Julian Watts and Alex Tobin. Baird carried the ball to the bye-line before sending a low cross to the penalty-spot and Damianos swept the ball home past the diving Henderson. The game was barely five minutes old and it was South's first attack of any note.
Spirit's best moments in the earlier part of the game came through Jonathon Richter's running down the right where he shaded his Young Socceroo team-mate Massimo Murdocca and forced in several handy crosses. Just after the quarter-hour he found himself in the clear after outpacing Murdocca and decided to attempt a chip of South goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic which cleared the 'keeper's leap, but also carried the cross-bar.
"I thought (Richter and Murdocca) nullified each other, (but) that Richter gave him too much respect," said McKinna. "I thought (Richter) didn't take him on (enough), you have to back yourself."
Richter's impressive game was to end mid-way through the second half when he felt the bite of a last-ditch tackle on the edge of the penalty-area from a committed Mehmet Durakovic, which neither McKinna, nor any Spirit player objected to. "There's nothing wrong with a good tackle," said McKinna. "It was great timing."
The hot conditions had been tempered slightly by the delaying of the kick-off by one hour to 7:00pm, but the conditions were still sufficiently oppressive for referee Perry Mur to take the precaution of approving a mid-period drinks break after Coveny had been fouled at the half-way line.
The re-watering seemed to be of greater benefit to South as the home side crafted two good chances in as many minutes following the recommencement.
Steve Panopoulos let loose a cannon-ball shot from the edge of the area after a corner taken by Damianos was only party-cleared. Henderson was forced into making a full-length diving save to turn the ball around the post for another corner, this time more convincingly dealt with.
Just before the half-hour, Coveny had a ball played to his feet with his back to goal at the edge of the area. He turned and shot with his left foot, but although it was well-directed low to Henderson's right, it lacked sufficient power to pass him.
Within three minutes of the second-half, Baird had completely outfoxed Tobin by lifting the ball over him and running onto the now loose ball inside the area. His low shot had the speed taken off it by Henderson and Spirit scrambled the ball clear for a corner to relieve a dangerous situation. Tobin had been outrun by the speedy South front duo of Baird and Coveny, but Tobin's positional experienced was fully employed to ensure the pace disadvantage was minimised.
South's margin of superiority on the park was not being reflected on the scoreboard, and Spirit remained in the game as a consequence, much to the discomfort of the nervous home support.
South's most culpable squandering of an opportunity arose just on the hour. Coveny had been found by a diagonal ball and hesitated, seemingly as if awaiting an offside flag. The flag stayed down and Coveny sped to the bye-line and cut the ball back to Zeljko Susa at the penalty-spot where it sat up nicely for Susa's preferred left foot. Henderson blocked and the ball ran free for Coveny, but the big Kiwi striker blasted wide from an acute angle.
"We probably should have wrapped it up," said Wright. "That's the most disappointing thing about the game."
South's nerves were on edge until the last, when Durakovic conceded a corner deep into added time. When the ball was swung in high to the far post, Galekovic made an ineffective attempt to gather and the ball bounced dangerously free inside the penalty area before the whistle sounded for a pressure-clearing free-kick awarded to South for an infringement on Galekovic.