Expat Wanganui footballer James Musa played a big part in his latest club's performance to claim the Victorian state title in Melbourne this month.
The talented defender helped South Melbourne end its 2014 regular season in style with a comfortable 4-1 victory over the Goulburn Valley Suns at McEwen Reserve on Sunday.
Goals from Mathew Theodore, Nick Epifano, Milos Lujic and Jamie Reed sealed South's 21st win from 26 league matches this season. That meant coach Chris Taylor's side finished seven points ahead of the Oakleigh Cannons at the top of the Victoria division of the National Premier Leagues, Australian club football's second tier below the A-League.
With South already state champions and the Goulburn Valley Suns already relegated, the match was always going to be seen as a dead-rubber affair and Taylor used the match to blood some younger players to keep the squad fresh ahead of the Premier Leagues playoffs in the next few weeks.
Musa, a former Wellington Phoenix and Fulham under-21 defender returned from England at the start of summer to link with Team Wellington in the ASB Premiership, while also doing extramural studies through Massey University's Wellington campus.