Despite having played about 16 games already this season, the match against Dandenong City felt like the first home game of the year. Yes, I did attended the Avondale game, but returning to Lakeside and watching a full strength squad gave me the sense that the season had finally, truly arrived.

There’s something to be said about the Lakeside (and Albert Park) lockout. I’m concerned that the already terribly disruptive F1 will only become more invasive, and I’m not sure how the club (and the wider community) will be able to manage this going forward – but I digress, it was great coming back to Lakeside for 2026.

I came in straight from work, and I was immediately impressed by how large the crowd was for a Tuesday night. On entry I also noted the new merchandise on offer (big points for the embroidered logo range) but unfortunately was left waiting about 10 minutes to pick up my membership.

The club however had another surprise for me waiting on the concourse – an authentic souvla filling the ground with smoke. I treated myself to a souv and wow – about time the club got this right. It’s been about 10 years since we’ve done souvlakia in the stadium areas like this and long may it continue! I suspect however that they will need better coverage on rainy days this season.

The first half

Now to the match. Like I said, we started with a full strength squad and a win would take us to top spot. Dandenong City on the other hand were in a weaker position with just two points for the season (post points deduction). Despite being Grand Finalists last year they have so far failed to show much this season, except for a win against Heidelberg funnily enough.

The gulf in class though was immediately apparent. At the conclusion of the first half we led in every meaningful stat except for on the scoreboard which perplexingly remained at 0-0. City’s keeper had put in a huge shift as we piled on shots throughout the half. Despite our failure to score though, there was a sense of inevitability in the result. South were going to score, it was just a matter of when.

The feeling at half time

Headed into the sheds the team was just confident and it had a reason to be. We were playing a full strength squad, we were simultaneously managing an international competition and were playing good football with a diverse range of attacking outlets. This is almost the exact opposite position of where we found ourselves a year ago.

About one year ago we played St Albans at Lakeside. We fielded a second string team in preparation for the upcoming Preston game, and somehow we managed to lose both, badly. The team had no answers off the park, and Estaban Quintas was struggling to manage a barrage of questions off it. It was not a good time for the club… it’s amazing how things change.

The second half

In the second half the inevitable goals arrived in a flurry. Bonada ‘stained the sheets’ (to quote the American Soccer Guy) with a goal mouth scramble. The team confidence was so high that even a surprising Dandenong City equaliser couldn’t shake the team. Swibel and Eliopoulos would go onto give us an unassailable lead but it was Charlie (bit my finger) Leech who would provide the most memorable moment of the night.

The substitute fired off a powerful shot from the edge of the box to register South’s fourth, and he celebrated the goal by pretending to skol the inflatable Jarritos bottle, in a move that was sure to delight our newest sponsor. Dandenong City would score a late consolation goal, however the final result was an emphatic win that gave South three points and the top spot on the NPL Victoria table.

More moments:

• The good: Four goals and four goal scorers, mostly in the second half. Amazing what the team can accomplished when not fatigued by 4 games in 8 days!
• The bad: Dandenong City struggled to hold off South’s attacking pressure and were unable to release pressure even via direct counterattacks. It might be a tough season for them.
• The ugly: The amount of bugs which swarmed the lights near Clarendon Corner. The club should actively consider the stocking of branded aeroguard next week.

Social matters

So there appears to be a concerted effort to improve the social club and match day experience. After attending the game on Tuesday, it’s clear that there’s a few green shoots compared to last year’s NPL match day experience.

One of the most noticeable things on Tuesday was the higher than expected crowd. Its early days but I’m hopeful that the club is experiencing tailwinds in attendances this year off the back of a few things. The style of football is certainly more deserving of attendance compared to the past few years, and I think the huge exposure the club experienced in the Australian Championship has also helped bring people to the NPL. Again, it’s early days but I’m hoping we see a good growth in crowds this year, which is fundamental aspect of improving the matchday experience.

As well as potential crowd tailwinds, a few lessons from the Australian Championship were on display against Dandenong City. The concourse areas were much better utilised with a DJ on the ground (although this did seem to clash with the stadium sound systems) and of course the proper souvla set up. Both of these will be impacted on rainy match days however I hope we see both of these activations continue throughout the season. The food added heaps to the match day experience and was a big upgrade on last year’s NPL home game offering, while the DJ brought life to the area particularly pre-game where fans could socialise under the lights before the game kicked off.

I think the next big opportunity though is a review of the social club set up. There are a few structural issues that can’t be easily changed, including the unfortunate thoroughfare traffic which cuts the space in half pre and post-game (separating the tables from the bar), however there are smaller opportunities for the club to realise and improve the space.

An example of this would be changing the colour of the privacy blinds from black to blue, which will inject more colour and lights into the space. A review the furniture layout can also help shape social club culture, so that rather than fans experiencing a different table layout each match day they can build a more permanent and cultured experience with the space.

Finally the social club furniture itself probably needs a rethink. This point however needs a bit of market research. How big are fans’ social circles? Do we want people standing or sitting? How long do we want them in the space for? What do we want them doing once in the space? Now this may seem a little silly but consider how different you feel sitting on a bench seat compared to a regular seat. Or sitting on a high table compared to a low table. Or a circle table compared to a square table. All these decisions have impacts!

The other contingency to consider here is the future use of the canteen and how this interacts with the space. If we are looking to use a souvla for all NPL home games (men and women), then maybe we don’t serve food in the social club at all and the bar is used as just that – a bar! These considerations however clearly need some thinking though about what fans want and what the club wants – I don’t have the answers!

I know that there is not easy answer to these questions, as well as physical limitations but this is all just something to think about. Things can still be done to further enhance the space though – the murals added last year have been great example of this!

Also worth mentioning was that the Socceroos game was on Tuesday (clash not ideal but no other option really), I don’t think I saw this being played on the social club screens though. Seems like a missed opportunity to keep people back another half hour and sell another 50 drinks or so.