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Victorian Premier League round-up: Finals set for start, as regular season ends
20/09/2012 12:30:00 PM
Ante Jukic takes you through all the action from Round 22 of the Victorian Premier League, with attention now turning finals
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ANALYSIS By ANTE JUKIC |
Results
Dandenong Thunder 1-1 Richmond, Hume City 1-2 Moreland Zebras, Northcote City 0-3 Green Gully Cavaliers, Bentleigh Greens 1-3 Oakleigh Cannons, Melbourne Knights 1-0 Southern Stars, Heidelberg United 2-5 South Melbourne
| THE WEEKEND STORY |
With the finals combatants already confirmed, most teams in the Victorian Premier League this weekend had for which to play. Dandenong Thunder and Richmond shared the spoils in their 1-1 draw, but Green Gully earned themselves a double chance with their 3-0 win over Northcote, with Andy Vargas bagging a brace. Ten-man Bentleigh, meanwhile, succumbed late to Oakleigh. Melbourne Knights finished the regular season eighth after their 1-0 win Southern Stars, having languishing in the drop zone upon coach Andrew Marth's arrival. Moreland defeated Hume 2-1, while South Melbourne poured salt into gaping wounds, putting five past already relegated rivals Heidelberg at Olympic Village.
| THE STANDINGS |
|
|
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
|
1 |
Dandenong Thunder |
22 |
14 |
6 |
2 |
47 |
14 |
+33 |
48 |
|
2 |
Oakleigh Cannons |
22 |
11 |
4 |
6 |
36 |
26 |
+10 |
40 |
|
3 |
Green Gully |
22 |
11 |
4 |
7 |
31 |
25 |
+6 |
37 |
|
4 |
Bentleigh Greens |
22 |
10 |
5 |
7 |
37 |
27 |
+10 |
35 |
|
5 |
Northcote City |
22 |
9 |
6 |
6 |
28 |
31 |
-3 |
33 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
South Melbourne |
22 |
9 |
5 |
8 |
34 |
31 |
+3 |
32 |
|
7 |
Richmond |
22 |
7 |
9 |
6 |
32 |
29 |
+3 |
30 |
|
8 |
Melbourne Knights |
22 |
9 |
2 |
11 |
25 |
30 |
-5 |
29 |
|
9 |
Hume City |
22 |
8 |
4 |
10 |
27 |
27 |
0 |
28 |
|
10 |
Southern Stars |
22 |
7 |
6 |
9 |
26 |
38 |
-12 |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
Moreland Zebras |
22 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
30 |
42 |
-12 |
18 |
|
12 |
Heidelberg United |
22 |
2 |
4 |
16 |
23 |
56 |
-33 |
10 |
| GOALS |
17 – Luke Sherbon (Dandenon Thunder)
11 – Nate Foster (Dandenong Thunder), Nick Hegarty (Hume City)
10 – Tom Cahill (Richmond), Ricky Diaco (Oakleigh)
9 – James Kalifatidis (Northcote City)
| AFTERTHOUGHTS |
Not even Paul the Octopus would be able to predict how this finals series is going to go, but here goes. Dandenong remains the one constant in terms of title challengers, and barring an absolute meltdown, Chris Taylor’s side will be the team to beat. Who meets them in the finals, and who can beat them on the day, meet two different outcomes. Oakleigh and Green Gully, despite their glaring inconsistencies, both have legitimate claims at making the final, but if Bentleigh make the VPL’s climax, they have the greatest chance at denying the Thunder yet again.
| THE NUMBERS |
64 percent – Dandenong Thunder's end of season win percentage, with 14 out of 22 games.
2 .54 – The average number of goals per game conceded by Heidelberg.
| TWEET OF THE WEEK (#VPL) |
@Gixibyte: " @themaestro1018 Oh, really. In all the #VPLgames I've been to, I've never seen a flare! Maybe it was a Bergers farewell-to-VPL pyro, lol"
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