Qualifying Final: Hume City (2nd) vs. Green Gully (3rd)

Saturday, August 21 at Epping Soccer Stadium - 3pm

 

Meetings in 2010: Round One, Green Gully 1 (Graham Hockless) Hume City 2 (Richard Cardozo, Tansel Baser)

Round 12, Hume City 1 (Zoran Petrevski), Green Gully 1 (Ryan Ollerton)

 

With the game being played at a neutral venue in Epping, the winner will see itself one step away from a spot in the final game of the season.

 

Both sides have found form at the business end of the season, promising this will be a tight contest.

 

City has shown it is capable of scoring numerous goals, with a majority coming from veteran front man Richard Cardozo (11 goals).

 

Fellow veteran Andy Vlahos was in brilliant form in the side's victory over Northcote last week after an inconsistent season.

 

Decisions need to be made in the centre of midfield for Hume, where each of Dusko Delic, Alfonso Opazo, Tansel Baser and Ross Thompson has taken up roles.

 

It is likely to be either one of Opazo or Baser to partner Thompson in the centre of the park.

 

They face a Cavaliers side that hammered five past local rivals the Melbourne Knights last week.

 

Striker Mathew Sanders hit a brace while left back Steven Burton continued his goal scoring form.

 

City will look to expose a relatively settled back four, where central pairing Mile Medjedovic and Daniel Jones have done a solid job thus far.

 

Keeper Nikola Roganovic has been in fantastic form.

 

The coaching staff has shown a tendency of changing forces up front where they have a selection of Sanders, Kiwi duo Brent Fisher and Jason Hayne, as well as Nick Robinson and youngster Michael Anderson.

 

Elimination Final: Heidelberg United (4th) vs. Northcote City (5th)

Saturday, August 21 at Olympic Village - 6pm

 

Meetings in 2010: Round Nine: Heidelberg United 1 (Saso Alexovski), Northcote City 5 (Trent Rixon 3, Eddie Soares, Mark McGough)

Round 20: Northcote City 5 (Trent Rixon 3, Stuart Nicholson, George Papadopoulos), Heidelberg 1 (Josip Kosic, Luke Byles & Saso Alexovski s/o)

 

Northcote and captain Trent Rixon hold a monumental psychological advantage over Heidelberg heading into this elimination final.

 

In two games in 2010, Rixon has scored six times and Northcote 10.

 

United lost its cool and two men in the round 20 clash at John Cain Memorial Park.

 

Fortunately, Heidelberg hosts Northcote this time around, although after a 5-1 win at Olympic Village earlier in the season, City holds no fears of travelling there.

 

But Northcote travels on the back of playing five games in 20 days, two of which were catch-up fixtures against Bentleigh and Dandenong.

 

Rixon, who has scored 19 goals this season, has played a vital part for strike partner James Kalifatidis.

 

Given the captain draws so much attention due to his goal scoring exploits, Kalifatidis has slipped under the radar to find the net nine times, including a brace against the Thunder.

 

Northcote has scored 47 goals this season, 15 of which have come in the final quarter of an hour, underlining a never-give-up attitude instilled in the side.

 

Heidelberg has won two important games on the trot, against Green Gully and the Thunder.

 

Reliance on Saso Alexovski and Osagie Ederaro for goals has been too heavy, so winning two big games without a goal-scoring contribution from these two was vital.

 

Questions remain over United's defensive line up and its ability to deal with the dangerous Rixon.

 

The striker is capable of scoring from any situation, so it becomes important for the delivery to be pressured and closed down in midfield.

 

It makes the jobs of the likes of Josip Kosic, Ederaro and possibly Yannis Galanos critical.

 

United needs to control the tempo and work hard without the ball if they are to keep out an attacking Northcote side.

 

Minor premiers Richmond have the week off.

 

HOW IT WORKS

(Qualifying Final) M1: Hume City v Green Gully

(Elimination Final) M2: Heidelberg United v Northcote City

 

(Major Semi-Final) M3: Richmond v Winner of M1

(Minor Semi-Final) M4: Loser of M1 v Winner of M2

 

(Preliminary Final) M5: Loser of M3 v Winner of M4

 

(Grand Final) M6: Winner of M3 v Winner of M5