By Bill Roumeliotis
South Melbourne FC continued their strong form in the NPL Victoria, claiming a comfortable 3-0 away victory over Preston Lions FC at BT Connor Reserve.
Despite a hostile atmosphere created by around 4,000 home supporters, the visitors were not affected and instead delivered a commanding performance to remain at the top of the table.
Even with several key absences, South Melbourne controlled the match from the start, creating the better chances and eventually breaking the deadlock in the second half.
C. Dovison opened the scoring in the 56th minute (1-0), followed by M. Mikkola in the 73rd minute (2-0), before J. Ali turned the ball into his own net in the 82nd minute to seal the 3-0 final score.
Club co-Presidents Bill Papastergiadis and Andrew Mesourouni, along with general manager Peter Kokotis, expressed their satisfaction with the result.
Papastergiadis stated that the club’s long-term vision is focused on building a professional foundation, developing young players, and restoring the club to its historic levels of success, noting that more than five U23 players featured in the match.
