Macarthur FC forward Valère Germain. Photo: Macarthur FC

Match Day One of the Round of 16 saw Macarthur FC eliminate the Newcastle Jets in an all A-League Men affair with a second half comeback, while Melbourne’s weather only added to the drama in Victoria as South Melbourne advanced to the quarter finals over Olympic FC.

Germain and Jakolis combine for braces in seven goal thriller

A frenetic second half that saw five goals was the key story out of an all A-League Round of 16 clash in Maitland.

Newcastle looked the better of the two sides across the opening stanza, however defensive frailties in the second half came back to bite them as they let a 2-0 half time lead get away.

It was a flying start for a new look Newcastle, which was led by former Macarthur forward Lachie Rose.

Rose looked to pick apart his former clubs defence on numerous occasions in the opening exchanges, forming a promising combination with young winger Clayton Taylor as the Jets created a handful of early chances that couldn’t breach the Macarthur defence.

Heated exchanges and spot fire physical clashes flared during the first half and kept referee Ben Abraham with his hands full, the first of these incidents leading to a penalty, which Newcastle captain Kosta Grozos duly converted.

A strong first half by Newcastle though was overcome by a Macarthur side “that had a belief in their strength and experience and remaining calm” being the keys to steering them to victory according to Bulls forward Marin Jakolis.

Jakolis, alongside fellow forward Valère Germain, was the hero in a four goal to one second half for the visitors which secured progress for the Bulls to the quarter finals, with Jakolis putting the stamp on the victory with a stunning long range effort as part of a brace that sealed a 4-3 result.

Newcastle’s Callum Timmins described the effort of letting a two goal half time lead slip away as “not good enough”, before saying that it is “hard to to take away positives after a loss like this.”

Timmins also said that the Jets will now turn their focus to the next seven to eight weeks as they set themselves for a winning A-League season.

For Macarthur, Jakolis identified the challenge of not being complacent against NPL opposition in the upcoming rounds of the Cup starting with the quarter final as key, saying that the team entered the competition with a “mentality of five games to win and we can win everything”.

He also addressed the hostility of close quarters crowds at NPL venues, referring back to his days in Croatia.

“Coming from Croatia, that’s a beautiful part of football,” Jakolis said enthusiastically.

“Cup games are 90 minutes where we give everything and it’s great for our passion if the crowd is spicy.”

Chris Macpherson

South Melbourne advance to the quarter finals amid wild weather

A game that was a true representation of Melbourne’s unpredictable weather almost resulted in a devastating loss for for the home side, but South Melbourne overcame Olympic FC, winning 3-2 after extra time in blustery conditions at Lakeside Stadium.

One of South Melbourne’s familiar long throw-ins found Marco Jankovic’s feet to open the scoring, as he got the ball past Matt Lugo at the near post in the 24th minute.

The visitors would fight back, as Linden Farr would find a 36th minute equaliser, before the match was temporarily suspended due to lightning in the area.

After a one hour break and a 15 minute warm up, Olympic FC picked up where they left off, with Lathan Dunn putting the visitors ahead in the 42nd minute to make the game 2-1 as the two sides headed into a reduced eight minute half-time break.

The second half saw South Melbourne push hard for an equaliser with countless attacking efforts from the home side, but Olympic’s defense held firm as they kept their one goal lead. 

A chance for South Melbourne to equalise came through a penalty in the 85th minute, but Harry Sawyer sent his shot straight into the arms of Matt Lugo.

Former Olympic FC player Ross Archibald would make up for Sawyer’s miss, scoring with seconds left to play in regular time, and sending the game to extra time.

As play recommenced in extra time, another piece of individual brilliance from Marko Jankovic gave South Melbourne the lead less than 60 seconds in, which they would hold until the final whistle.

As the final whistle blew in front of the 2572 supporters packed into Lakeside Stadium, it was the NPL Victoria Premiers showing their class to seal a 3-2 victory and a spot in the Australia Cup Round of 16.

South Melbourne manager Esteban Quintas was elated speaking about Marco Jankovic after his brace, praising the centre-back.

“I love him, hes a brilliant player, I believe he deserves to play in one level better than NPL, but football in Australia is like this and I cannot fix this.”

“But it’s better if he just keeps with us, because he’s excellent in defence, in attack, leader, good person, it’s impossible to sign one centre-back better than him.”

Quintas was also full of praise for Olympic FC, describing them as a very good team.

“Before this game, I watched their last 10 games but I know they are a very good team with very good players.”

South Melbourne now turn their immediate attention to the NPL Victoria finals series, as they face Hume City on Friday night in a semi-final clash.

Ross Papadakis

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