South Melbourne secured third place on the National Soccer League table at the half-way mark in the competition on December 15, as they handed the Football Kingz a 3-0 hiding to well and truly bring their three-match winning streak to an emphatic end.      The home team were deserving victors over their trans-tasman counterparts who, despite enjoying the greater share of possession, lacked the imagination and the finishing prowess to make the most of it, something which could not be levelled at their hosts.      In Paul Trimboli, Souths boasted the "old head" on the park which the Football Kingz, as a result of the absence of both Harry Ngata (injury) and Chris Jackson (suspension) sorely missed.      The wily NSL campaigner changed the course of the game with his positional sense, even before he grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and scored two goals, one of which was quite outstanding.      Before this 29th minute effort, however, the Kingz had enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, with Mehmet Durakovic forced to intervene to thwart Andy Vlahos after just seventy seconds, the former Souths man having pounced on an error by Patrick Kisnorbo.      The home team soaked up their opponents' pressure, and looked to strike on the counter-attack, to telling effect. Only timely tackles from Jonathan Perry thwarted openings for Vaughan Coveny and Peter Buljan inside the first fifteen minutes, openings which hinted that the Kingz defence was not destined to keep a third successive clean sheet.      Sure enough … and how! Jackson's deputy, Steven Turner, showed his inexperience by conceding an unnecessary free-kick twenty-five yards out from goal in the 23rd minute. How the talented but temperamental Zeljko Susa made the Kingz pay - a sumptuous set-piece which arced round the wall and cannoned into the net off the diving Michael Utting's right-hand post.      Either side of this strike, the Kiwi team came close to breaching South Melbourne's defences, but goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic proved equal to efforts from the largely anonymous Patricio Almendra - a header following a well-conceived build-up and Perry, whose twenty-five yard effort typified his lively first half showing.      Six minutes after Susa's strike, the left-footed midfielder was the architect of South's second goal, linking neatly with the overlapping Steve Panopoulos on the right. His first-time cross picked out Trimboli, who fended off one challenge and controlled the ball neatly before volleying an angled ten-yard volley home into the top far corner of the net in expert fashion.      At 2-0 down, there appeared to be no way back for the Kingz, who were losing the battle in midfield in a huge way after Trimboli had dropped back from his front-running role to assist Panopoulos and Susa in their battle with Turner and Raf de Gregorio.      It meant that the visitors were being outnumbered, and not just in midfield. The three-man defence couldn't cope with their opponents running at them from deep, and both Ibraim Ibraimi - a first half substitute for the injured Vaughan Coveny - and Susa, with an elegant curling chip, went close to doubling South's advantage before the interval.      Yet it could so easily have been 2-2 at the break, with woeful finishing by the Kingz the reason it wasn't. In the 33rd minute, Vlahos had a glorious opportunity to score against his old club, after working a one-two with Almendra near the edge of South's penalty area. The chunky number eleven found himself one-on-one with Galekovic, who stood his ground well to save with his legs.      Then on the stroke of half-time, the goalkeeper emerged triumphant again, this time at the expense

of Paul Urlovic, who was the beneficiary of another neat one-two between Vlahos and Almendra. The former Melbourne Knights striker unleashed a shot sorely lacking in conviction, allowing the advancing Galekovic to produce a less demanding save than he should have been faced with in the circumstances. Urlovic was keen to make amends for this miss, if his eagerness to score early in the second spell was anything to go by. Pouncing on a Durakovic error inside the opening seconds of the half, the striker let fly, and wasn't far away from dragging the Kingz back into the match on the scoreboard. Buljan and Mark Burton exchanged efforts on goal soon after, before the Kingz defence again creaked precariously under South Melbourne pressure - only timely interventions by Hiroshi Miyazawa, on two occasions, and Jonathan Taylor prevented the home team from pressing home their advantage on the scoreboard, as Susa and Trimboli weaved their wizardry. Soon after, it was South's defence which was being forced to scramble for the lifeboats, as the Kingz enjoyed their best spell of possession in the match. But for all their possession and inventiveness during this near-twenty minute spell, they managed only one shot on target of any consequence, from Almendra, who fired at Galekovic following a Mark Atkinson cross. The game was up for the visitors in the 74th minute, and, inevitably, Susa and Trimboli were heavily involved in sealing South's success. The former played the ball wide to Kisnorbo, whose angled, clipped ball into the penalty area found Trimboli, of all people, drifting into space some ten yards out from goal. The inevitable happened - left foot volley, top near corner, Utting hadn't a prayer - 3-0. While the contest may have been over, the drama wasn't, as thirteen minutes from time, the Kingz, rightly or wrongly, were awarded a penalty. Referee Brett Hugo had a mixed bag of a performance, picking and choosing his card-issuing incidents ad infinitum - such was the physical nature of this encounter that his match report could have passed for a novel, had he issued cards for all the offences which took place and prompted stoppages in play. On this occasion, he deemed Panopoulos guilty of tripping Burton in the area, and didn't hesitate in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Almendra, but Galekovic saved superbly, and recovered splendidly to keep out the Chilean striker's tamely struck attempt from the rebound. Seconds later, the referee was the centre of attention again, this time to the fury of the South's faithful, who saw the volatile Susa receive his second yellow card in four minutes. It meant the home team were down to ten men for the last eleven minutes, but the damage had already been done, the Kingz returning home still in fifth place, but with plenty to work on before their next match in a fortnight. Souths, too, don't play for two weeks after this encounter, but they showed enough in this match to suggest that, while Olympic Sharks and Perth Glory already look good bets for the top two placings at the end of the round-robin phase, the four-time NSL champions will be well in the hunt for a fifth crown come play-offs time. Souths:     Galekovic; Cisneros (booked, 5), Durakovic, de Amicis; Sekulovski (Tolios, 75), Panopoulos, Susa (booked, 76, 79 - sent-off), Liparoti (booked, 27); Coveny (Ibraimi, 24), Trimboli (Clarkson, 83), Buljan Kingz:          Utting; Perry, Miyazawa, Taylor (Campbell, 60 (booked, 88)); Atkinson, de Gregorio, Turner, Burton; Urlovic, Almendra (Young, 79), Vlahos Referee:     Brett Hugo