By Greg Blake
Kayne Razmovski captured lightning in a bottle and sparked the fuse to ignite Heidelberg United Alexander’s stunning come-from-behind 2-1 win at South Melbourne on Sunday. And just to show that lightning does strike twice, Christian Theoharous said “hold my beer” and came off the bench to nail an audacious never-to-be forgotten injury time winner against a storied rival.
It was Heidelberg United’s first league victory since May and their first comeback win since away back in round one. However, Sunday’s Lakeside Stadium triumph was just about worth the agonising wait. The theatre of it, the occasion, the stakes, the opponent. You couldn’t script it. Perhaps it was the sunshine and the first hint of spring had signalled an end to Alexander’s long, dirty and dismal winter. Or possibly the likes of Anthony Lesiotis simply tired of hearing “cue in the rack” talk while the season was still alive with even a modest glimmer of hope.
And after celebrating a couple of stunning jaw-droppers and sharing some fist-pumping and high fives at the final whistle Heidelberg United fans were left rubbing their eyes and processing this season’s first genuinely “did I just see that” game. Well, you did. And it was massive in the scheme of things. Alexander is now back in the top six and will play finals with a draw or better at home against Bentleigh Greens next Saturday.
With nightmarish predictability on Sunday the Warriors had not only matched it with South Melbourne but threatened to take a half time lead, only to fall behind eight minutes after the interval when Andrew Mesourouni pounced on a Yaren Sozer parried save and opened the scoring to put Hellas in front.
The storyline was familiar. Razmovski didn’t care for it and he nudged the narrative towards one of redemption with his first goal for the Warriors some 65 minutes in. It was as simple as it was stunning and spectacular, Razmovski chasing down a throw-in from the grandstand side, before taking two steps to balance before unleashing an unstoppable thunderbolt from the top left hand corner of the penalty area. It fizzed past Javier Lopez’s diving reach.
Fate has not been kind to Alexander recently, so despite the Warriors closing out Sunday’s game with twenty minutes abundant with promise, most Alexander supporters were still feverishly clutching their good luck charms and hoping to avoid another last minute disaster. A 1-1 draw would be fine. It’s been that sort of season.
Into stoppage time by half a minute and the ever-present promise of Theoharous translated into a goal for the highlight reels for sheer spectacle alone. But blend that with what it meant to Heidelberg by reviving an near lost 2026 campaign and you’ve got a moment Warrior fans to truly cherish. Steaming right to left adjacent to the perimeter of the penalty area to chase down the ball, Theoharous took two long strides before thrashing a left-foot screamer across his body, the ball flying perfectly beyond the reach of a stunned Javier Lopez and into the roof of the net. And with that the winter-long Warrior curse was broken.
South Melbourne sprinted out the blocks on Sunday, but Heidelberg had much the better of the day. And getting Max Bisetto right was a big part of that. He sizzled from the start and his outrageous pace off the mark is hard to quell. Marcus Humbert was unlucky not to bag a couple of second half goals, with Lopez the arch enemy a couple of times. Ciaran Bramwell’s front third pressure and chase downs were terrific. And Tobi Obani’s powerful running and creating from full back is a weapon.
Ryan Lethlean is a monstrous presence at both ends pretty much weekly. And then there is Anthony Lesiotis. He was man of the match against South Melbourne. He is beyond much of mere mortal praise. No words really. He’s just a huge-hearted champion of Alexander. I love the kid for what he brings to every single second of every single game.
I’m not going to go too early, but I reckon finally hitting paydirt with reward for effort against South Melbourne will give the not-too-shabby Warriors a massive boost for next week and an NPL finals series ahead. There is a purity of thought which comes with that single focus. No team has won from sixth place since finals kicked in Victoria in 1992, but Dandenong City showed the way and came so close last year.
In the words of Neil Finn, “Hey now, hey now, don’t dream it’s over”.
Warrior Nation!
