Stars shine over Sunshine

By Stuart Teather
THE Southern Stars continued their remarkable run of form on Saturday, knocking over top side Sunshine 1-0 for their fifth win in a row in State League Division One.
Coming off a confidence boosting 4-0 win last week, the Stars faced a different level of competition against the ladder leaders, and quickly found chances would be hard to come by.
Neither side troubled the scorers in a tight first half, and worryingly for the Stars, lone striker Sercan Doganay went into the break with difficulty breathing, after apparently twisting a muscle around his rib cage.
Straight after the break, Doganay came out and almost scored for his side, but the injury took its toll and he headed to the bench, and was replaced by Rasim Sezgi.
Sezgi quickly exerted his influence on the match, and Stars coach Dean Hennessy praised the substitute’s performance.
“He came on, he was strong, he was quick,” he said.
His speed showed, when, after receivinga long Colin Quirk pass, Sezgi beat a defender and slotted the ball past the keeper to score the match winner.
Hennessy praised his team’s performance in a match that announced the team as a promotion contender.
“It was an enormous win for us,” he said. “To be fair the lads are working hard, it’s like anything in life — if you don’t work hard you’re never going to get it.
“It was an even contest — there was not a lot in it… They had more possession than us but we had the better chances.”
The Georgies did have their own chances, the best of which was a header which hit the crossbar midway through the second half.
Hennessy said he was particularly pleased his side had managed to draw closer to the Georgies on the ladder, who are now just four points ahead.
“In the space of a week, we’ve reduced the gap from 10 points to four.”
The Stars face a tough final five rounds, starting with third-placed Bentleigh next week.
“If we’re going to go up (a division), we’ve got to beat them all,” he said.
“It’s down to the players — their attitude is spot on in the last five weeks.”
The Stars are now just one game behind Dandenong Thunder, who maintained its hold on second position with a 2-1 win against Keilor Park on Saturday.
Ryan Davidson scored for the Thunder and Denys Menjivar for Keilor in the first half, but the Thunder rallied through Veton Korcarevski to take an important win.
The Springvale White Eagles had to be content with a single point from their match against St Albans, with a 2-2 result keeping the side in eighth position.
In State League Division Two South East, South Springvale had a 2-1 victory over Stonnington City at home.
The side had the 2-1 lead at half-time, thanks to goals from Anastasios Georgoulis and Ilias Diniotis, and held out in the second half to claim the win.
In Division Three South East matches, Springvale City caused the upset of the round, knocking off the seemingly untouchable Morwell Pegasus 2-1.
A Mirza Pedic double sealed Morwell’s fate, after the top-of-the-table side held a 1-0 advantage at half-time.
The unexpected result sees City move within a point of second-placed Heatherton United, and therefore within a point of promotion.
Heatherton will be disappointed with a 3-0 loss to lowly Sandringham City, with a flurry of second-half goals sinking the side.
Heatherton and Springvale will face off on August 23, in a game that could well decide who gets the second promotion spot.
Elsewhere, Doveton was held to a nil-all draw against Brandon Park at Freeway Reserve.