‘Clever’ tactic pays off & proves what ‘Victorian fans already knew’ to set up Aus Championship epic

It was a bit of a reversion to the old days for South Melbourne today, dominating the game through field position and relying on their proficiency at set pieces to get the better of NWS Spirit in the first half, with Max Mikkola’s long throw finding Oli Lavale. 

And really you had to watch the opening half hour to recognise how clever they’d been.

Everything had been targeted towards the front post and that sets up what looks an easy finish for Lavale, but so much pressure had been in or around the front of Chris Marques’ six yard box that the last thing they were expecting was him just to put a little bit extra on the throw and find his big striker at the back post. It really was beautifully crafted. 

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A certain fashion of football, perhaps a modern version of the game and Spirit, despite the fact they looked prepared for it in patches, just couldn’t deal with the onslaught. They weren’t able to get out of their own half during the first half.

Photo: Football Australia / Mark Avellino

There was some persistent fouling from both teams and perhaps that played a role in the fact that South Melbourne were in such the ascendancy. But then they showed in the second half that they can play both ways. 

As the game began to open up and Spirit made changes, they did play on the counter more in the second half. And that’s where the second goal comes from with Mikkola springing free on the right, getting the better of Simon Nicholas, which is much easier said than done and producing a beautiful finish to show that he’s not just a long throw-in merchant. 

Fans of Victorian football know that, but perhaps Australian football fans can get a recognition of that now as well. 

A supremely professional performance from Sinisa Cohadzic’s side, a thoroughly deserved victory that puts them into a crunch clash against Heidelberg in the semi-finals. 

I think Spirit tried to adjust. They were probably caught on the hop a little bit by the brutality of South Melbourne’s play. I say brutality, not in reference to the physical nature of the game. Both teams were completely compliant in that, but in just the manner in which they were so unrelenting in the way that they were testing with their deliveries into the box for the entirety of the first half. 

Photo: Football Australia / Mark Avellino

And then when Luca Falcone does try to change the game, he brings on Aedon Kyra to give them a little bit more presence up front and moves Ollie Wiggin out to his wide position after he started him up front. A bit of a surprising change. Perhaps he thought that the pace in behind would prove fruitful. 

He did get one opportunity in the first half, Wiggin, off the shoulder of the South Melbourne defence but for the large part Jake Marshall coming in after the time out with injury for the last month was superb alongside Marko Jankovic who turned in another superb display and they rested on that. 

Javi Lopez was not really troubled; he recorded his fourth clean sheet in the Championship and there really wasn’t a clear-cut opportunity for Spirit to get back in the game and South can take all the credit for that. They were superb. 

I don’t think Spirit will feel it was their best showing, but a lot of that was down to the preparation that their opponents had put in. 

Sinisa Cohadzic talked about the slightly different setup they brought in with Thomas Giannakopoulos really playing as a very deep screener. And then Seb Pasquale shouldering a lot of the creative responsibilities up front.

Photo: Football Australia / Mark Avellino

He pegged Spirit into difficult areas to defend, balls deep into the corners during the first half before things opened up and it was an attacking switch, Manny Aguek coming on during the second half, that  just meant that spirit couldn’t commit the numbers forward that they wanted to late in the game.

I really just think they were outfoxed both on the touchline and probably in the quality of player that they had out on the pitch as well.

I cannot wait for next weekend. It’s going to be fantastic to watch those two old foes go at it again. Familiarity breeds contempt. We’re going to see a pretty fiery sem-ifinal affair next Saturday afternoon.