Written by Roy Hay.
Southern Division Saturday 7 February 1998 Carlton 1 VIS 0 (Pece Siveski) Round 18 South Melbourne Rockets 0 Carlton 3 (Forfeit) Team P W D L F A Pts Melbourne Knights 15 13 0 2 66 15 39 Carlton 14 13 0 1 31 6 39 Gippsland Falcons 14 9 2 3 27 14 29 V I S 14 7 3 4 33 17 24 Bulleen Inter 14 7 2 5 24 19 23 Bentleigh Greens 15 5 2 8 17 30 17 Heidelberg United 14 4 2 8 16 34 14 Albury Wodonga 14 4 1 9 18 21 13 Altona Magic 14 3 2 9 18 50 11 South Melbourne 13 2 3 8 22 22 9 South Melbourne Rockets 13 1 1 11 11 55 4 National Youth League Southern Division, 7 February 1998 by Roy Hay Carlton beat the VIS by a goal to nil at Olympic Park on Saturday in the curtain raiser to the Australia versus Chile match. This match in Round 19 was brought forward from 23 February. It was a high standard game played in difficult conditions, with torrential rain for much of the time. In a frenetic opening fifteen minutes both sides had several chances to score, but then the teams settled and Carlton took control. At half-time Branko Bacak came on as substitute for Carlton and almost made an immediate impact as he surged through a couple of tackles, but he was pulled back for a free kick when advantage was not played. Fabian Lettieri replied with a shot after beating two defenders, but Adrian Cagalj turned the ball away for a corner-kick. =20 The breakthrough came after 72 minutes when Pece Siveski cut in from the right and shot so powerfully that Martin John could not keep the ball from entering the net. Marc Bresciano almost added to Carlton's lead with a long run and shot, but in the last ten minutes the VIS lifted the siege and almost snatched a draw. Adrian Cuzzupe and Lettieri tested the defence, with Lettieri's shot getting past Cagalj only to be blocked on the line and Cuzzupe putting the ball over the bar from right in front of goal in the last minute. The match between South Melbourne Rockets and Carlton has been forfeited by the Rockets after the pitch was not marked properly in time for the Round 18 game to take place. Roy Hay