By Stuart Teather
THE Southern Stars kept their promotion hopes alive with a big 4-0 victory against St Albans on Sunday in round 16 of Men’s State League Division One soccer.
Colin Quirk continued his outstanding form since his return from injury, slotting through two goals and having a hand in the other two.
The Stars went up in the first half when Quirk won possession in the midfield, and fed it out to Berkan Sakaci, who took on a defender and beat him, then struck a lovely shot past the goalkeeper.
The score remained at 1-0 until half-time, and after the break the Saints came out firing with a number of strong attacks.
But the Stars’ defence weathered the storm, and not long after Quirk received the ball from a throw-in, spun out his defender, put the ball through the legs of another and slotted through a stylish goal.
The goal feast continued through Sakaci, who pounced on a rebound from the ’keeper after a Quirk cross was blocked.
The final goal came from Quirk, who beat his defender and side-stepped the keeper, running into an open goal to seal the win.
Stars’ coach Dean Hennessy said it was a fantastic all-round performance from his team.
“It was a superb win – it was most probably the best we’ve played all year,” he said.
“I said to the boys before the match if we’ve got any serious thoughts of going up (a division), we had to concentrate on the win.”
Hennessy said he had changed the side’s structure, and it appeared to be paying dividends with four wins in a row.
“I’ve changed our system over the past four weeks with one up front, but it allows the midfield to get into the box,” he said.
Hennessy spoke highly of Quirk’s recent form, saying his team obviously performed better with him in the side.“Since he’s come back, we’ve won four games. He’s effectively won eight and drawn one since he’s been in the side,” he said.
The Stars have a tough run over the next month, facing each of the top three teams, but Hennessy said his side was prepared for the challenge.
“We’ve got to win against the big boys now, and if we play like we did yesterday we’ll beat anyone,” he said.
“If we beat Sunshine we’ll pull what was a 10-point deficit down to four points, and that would be a massive turnaround.”
Dandenong Thunder held onto second position on the ladder with a 1-1 draw against Bulleen on Saturday night.
Both sides scored before half-time, with Ryan Davidson slotting one through for the Thunder and Martin Mason converting for the Royals.
The Springvale White Eagles had a tough encounter against Kingston City, going down 2-1 at The Grange Reserve.
Kingston City went up 1-0 in the first half through Anthony Stavridis, with a second goal after the break to Jasmin Limic sealing the game. William Armour scored for the White Eagles.
In State League Division Two South East, South Springvale was held scoreless against Peninsula Strikers, going down 2-0.
The unexpected loss sees South Springvale draw level with Casey Comets and Diamond Valley on the ladder, while Peninsula claimed just its second win of the year.
State League Division Three South East saw Heatherton United hang on to second spot with a 1-0 win against Croydon City Arrows at home.
In a tight game, United got an early goal through Jusuf Pekmezovic and held on for the win.
Neither Springvale City nor Endeavour United could manage a goal in their clash at Ross Reserve, with the draw leaving Springvale City four points out of the top three and just a game clear of Southern Suburbs in fourth.
