Citizen Kane helps South get the gold

SCORES Shepparton South 3 (Aitken 7’, Radevski 13’, Kareem 88’) d Shepparton 0 Dead ball finesse has propelled Shepparton South to a 3-0 success against cross-town counterparts Shepparton in a round 13 clash of the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League. South was in set piece heaven at Vibert Reserve with the bulk of their goals resulting from free kicks, a point of difference coach Gino Saracino highlighted as somewhat of a strategy for his side. ’It was a really pleasing result after having been inconsistent the past couple of weeks, not in terms of the results, but more so the performances,‘ Saracino said. ’They could have scored a couple early on and individually they had four or five really good players, so we knew we had to watch out for them. ’I think we have scored 24 goals this year and 10 of those have come from set pieces, which is good to see.‘ After a couple of early scares, South made its mark on the match in the seventh minute with talisman striker Joel Aitken scoring with usual aplomb to have his tally reach 10 in as many games. Continuous pressure paid dividends shortly after for the visitors as Shaun Kane’s pinpoint free kick was met by the head of Nathan Radevski to double the Southerners’ advantage. Down but certainly not out, Shepparton refused to roll over, but South’s robust backline stopped every Reds attacking venture. The second half brought much of the same for Shepparton who, despite industrious movement in the attacking third, was thwarted by the Southerners defensive presence. With the game drawing to a close, another piece of magic off the boot of Kane from a set play was headed home by Kabir Larry Casey Kareem to put the game to bed. The win places South in fifth, five points behind Tatura, and facing Eaglehawk this Sunday Saracino is wary of the challenge the opposition presents. ’We play the best team this weekend in my opinion, they are very robotic in the way they play, so we will do our best with a 15-man squad instead of 11 or 12 hopefully,‘ he said. ’I will give opportunities to the blokes who want to play.‘