Port Melbourne Sharks claimed their first win of the season, narrowly ousting Melbourne Victory 1-0 at JL Murphy Reserve.
Jamie de Abreu broke the deadlock in the dying embers of the first half to rid the demons of their opening round scoreless draw against Oakleigh Cannons, in which the Sharks were left frustrated in front of goal.
Stjepan Gal at the other end of the park was kept incredibly busy in the final 15 minutes of the clash, making several important stops to keep the Victory at bay.
The first half was a tight fought affair, with neither side overly willing to commit numbers forward.
In a rare opening in the first 15 minutes, David Stirton was on the receiving end of a Lambros Honos back heel before sending his first time shot wide.
Port Melbourne kept their midfield behind the ball, and we’re happy to pull the strings from behind the play with the quality of Alan Kearney and Alan Mulchay.
Likewise, Anthony Duzel was happy to do the grunt work as Jordan Brown enjoyed the space to work the pitch.
He started slow but built as the game went on, and linked up well to play his wingers in behind the defence.
However the Port backline were up to the task, repelling away a number of opportunities from their respective widemen.
Lucas Derrick was however able to wriggle free to test Gal from close range, with the Sharks custodian spreading wide to deny the young winger.
Likewise Spinella found himself at work in the last 15 minutes of the half, making a reflex stop off de Abreu and a stunning diving save to deny Stirton’s turn and shot.
He yielded with the final kick of the opening stanza, with de Abreu sneaking a shot underneath his gloves at the near post, the relief palpable in the stands.
Ryan Opperman stung the palms of the Victory keeper just minutes into the restart, while Stirton also had a chance to double the lead from Kearney’s cut-back.
De Abreu was proving himself a handful for the Victory backline as he strode onto Honos’ through ball, only for the impressive Callum Goulding to sweep clear of danger at the last moment.
He fashioned a shot with his next opportunity, Spinella making another quality save to keep the Victory in the contest, spreading wide whilst doubling back to deny de Abreu a certain goal.
Former Northcote City man Jacob Eliopoulos forced Spinella into conceding a corner with a bullet header which was well saved, before finding the back of the net three minutes later, only for a foul in the build-up to chalk the effort off.
The momentum began to swing as the Victory pushed higher up the park for an equaliser, but the promoted side weren’t able to get past the imposing Gal, who stood firm as the pressure mounted.
The keeper first denied substitute Josh Hope, with a sublime one-on-one save, before doing well to palm away a dipping Joey Katebian free-kick.
Katebian steered another effort agonisingly wide of the post while Christian Cavallo enjoyed the last desperate foray forward, only to be halted by a magnificent challenge from Eliopoulos as the Sharks held on for a valuable victory.
“The result is first and foremost,” Port Melbourne boss Eric Vassiliadis said.
“After that, you start to analyse how that came about and what else could have been. [I’m happy with the] clean sheet, I thought the desire was where it needed to be.”
In injury news, Melbourne Victory winger John Maclean looked to have sustained an injury to his left leg – the extent of which was not confirmed.
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MATCH DETAILS
Port Melbourne Sharks 1 (de Abreu 45+2′) defeated Melbourne Victory 0 at JL Murphy Reserve [HT: 1-0]
Port Melbourne Sharks: 1. Stjepan GAL (GK), 26. Lambros HONOS, 8. Bonel OBRADOVIC, 7. Jamie DE ABREU, 4. James KARVELIS, 10. David STIRTON, 22. Ryan OPPERMANN, 23. Jacob ELIOPOULOS, 6. Alan MULCHAY, 16. Alan KEARNEY (c), 3. James RICCOBENE
Substitutes: 25. Michael STARK, 14. Trent MANICAS, 12. Alec GOODWIN (on), 17. Erhan YALAZ (on), 9. Adrian ZAHRA (on)
Melbourne Victory: 1. Lucas SPINELLA (GK), 18. Christian CAVALLO, 4. Matt HENNESSEY, 3. Callum GOULDING, 6. Stefan NIGRO, 8. Anthony DUZEL, 16. Jordan BROWN, 10. Kieran DOVER, 11. John MACLEAN, 33. Joey Katebian (c), 7. Lucas DERRICK
Substitutes: 20 Wyatt CHANT, 5. Damien MISKULIN, 14. Sebastian PASQUAL, 15. Josh HOPE (on), 9. Pierce WARING (on)