South Melbourne FC have recorded consecutive OFC Pro League victories, defeating PNG Hekari FC 5-0 to wrap up the opening round of the competition at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
Three of the five goals came in the first half, as the Oceania Club of the Century cruised to a big win, including a double from Jordan Swibel.
Victory means South Melbourne FC have recorded the maximum six points from their two games so far – one of only two clubs alongside Auckland FC who remain with a 100% record.
Missing star striker Ati Kepo through suspension – following his red card in their opening match – PNG Hekari FC coach Marcos Gusmão made two changes to the starting eleven, bringing in Rex Naime and Kasum Gabriel.
Sinisa Cohadzic also made two changes to his South Melbourne FC side, placing former A-League striker Jordan Swibel up top for his first start.
Having been frustrated by Tahiti United for long periods of their first game, South Melbourne asserted themselves from the off on this occasion.
It took just seven minutes for them to propel to a two-goal lead, effectively putting themselves out of sight. First Tommy Giannakopoulos headed past Dave Tomare from a Jack Painter-Andrews cross, before Swibel opened his account for the OFC Pro League – guiding the ball into the net with his chest from a Yuki Uchida delivery.
To their credit, PNG Hekari FC showed some fight in an attempt to get back into it. Naime nodded a header just wide of the right post from a free kick delivery, before John Orobulu pulled a long-range effort wide of the target.
Max Mikkola added South Melbourne’s third just before half-time though, meeting a cross off the left flank in the box to score. Initially the goal was ruled out for offside, but VAR awarded it at second glance.
They started the second half in the same dominant fashion too, PNG Hekari FC guilty of leaving far too many gaps across their backline.
This time Swibel chased down a long ball from Uchida, before powering the ball past Tomare and into the bottom-left corner for South Melbourne’s fourth.
One blight on an otherwise good night for the Australian club, was the loss of Bulgarian goalkeeper Ilia Shalamanov-Trenkova to a head knock just after the hour mark. He was replaced by Jake Charlston between the sticks.
On a hat-trick, Swibel was rested to prepare for the second round in Papua New Guinea with twenty minutes to play. James Lackay came on in his place and forced Tomare into a stop from close range.
With ten minutes to go the PNG Hekari FC goalkeeper was in the spotlight again, conceding a penalty kick after cleaning out Jack Pope whilst attempting to punch the ball clear from a delivery into the box.
Nahuel Bonada stepped up to take, but saw his attempt crash off the underside of the crossbar. It didn’t matter, as seconds later he scored South Melbourne’s fifth, stealing the ball inside the penalty box to slot past Tomare in the 87th minute.
South Melbourne FC head to Papua New Guinea for the next round, second on the OFC Pro League table. Whilst home comforts couldn’t come quicker for PNG Hekari FC, approach the second round as the only team yet to register a point in the competition.
PNG Hekari FC: 0
South Melbourne FC: 5 (Tommy GIANNAKOPOULOS 3’, Jordan SWIBEL 7’, 57’, Max MIKKOLA 45’, Nahuel BONADA 87’)
HT: 0-3
Photo credit: OFC Media via Phototek