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Friday 29 September 2000
Grand Final ~ Melbourne Knights vs South Melbourne
Final Score ~ South Melbourne 3:1
(Half time ~ South 2:1)
Scorers
Melbourne Knights: Sulemani (27′)
South Melbourne: Anastasiadis (9′), Susa (16′), Kismorbo (52′)
Man of the Match
Andy Vlahos
Knights team: John (gk), Vukadin, Rajher, Kozic, Nastevski, Porter, Rody and Andy Vargas, Sulemani, Banini, Da Costa Bench: Magdic, Bosevski, Acevski (gk), Pelikan, Zold
Conditions: Slippery, dewy ground.
Crowd: 1500 (approx)
First Half
The first 5 minutes saw a topsy turvy opening and we had to wait until the 8th minute to see Joel Porter try to open the scoring which went straight into the arms of Petkovic. South countered immediately with Anastasiadis finishing a Coveny cross. South 1:0.
Sulemani received a yellow card in the 12th minute, but South extended their lead in the 17th when Vlahos stole the ball fomr Vukadin and found an unmarked Susa to his left who shot past John, who seemingly had the ball covered, from 10 metres. South 2:0.
In the 22nd minute, Nastevski shot way over Petkovic’s crossbar. Two minutes later, Anastasiadis was given a yellow card for a tackle on new Knights recruit Da Costa.
A Clarkson mistake in the South goal saw Knights guest player, Sulemani, pounce to open the Knights’ account. Petkovic deflected the ball but it had enough on it to just get over the line. South 2:1.
34th minute, Joel Porter, in the play of the first half, spectaculalry weaved his way through the entire South defence but was denied a shot on goal by Petkovic.
39th minute, Toto Da Costa blasts a shot only inches wide. Almost immediately, Kozic starts another raid passing to Da Costa who crossed to Sulemani who was caught unaware and missed an promising opportunity on goal.
South had the better of the Knights in the opening 20 minutes but the Knights have worked their way back into the game with Da Costa causing the South defence numerous problems.
Second Half
South opened the second half much like the first and 7 minutes in, Kismorbo headed in South’s third goal from a cross. South 3:1.
On either side of South’s third goal, Toto Da Costa is repeatedly tackled and finally, a yellow card is shown to Iosifidis who brings Da Costa down heavily from behind.
56th minute, Knights bring Zold on for Kozic. 62nd minute, Rody Vargas gets a yellow for a heavy tackle. 75th minute, Martin John makes two spectacular saves for almost certain goals.
82nd minute, Knights substitute Rajher and bring on Magdic and a minute later a Trimboli cross found Coveny who forced John into another save from his header.
Unfortunately, the third goal more or less killed the game and while the Knights continued to push forward, this played into South’s hands as they sat back and countered with great efficiency. South’s ability to start each half quickly and convert their chances was the difference especially in the first half. Da Costa has made an immediate impression with South resorting to heavy tackling to diminish his influence in the Knights’ forward moves.
