Iaconis double sinks St Albans to propel Kingston into top six

by Mark Gojszyk 0

Image: Dion Fountas Photography

Damian Iaconis’ goalscoring form has continued with another double to take his season tally to six after netting a double in Kingston City’s 3-1 win over St Albans.

Kingston struggled to find inspiration early in proceedings, with the visitors earning an opening-half lead.

Daniel Chaabani’s delivery into the box wasn’t dealt with by the hosts’ defence, allowing Matthew Cundari two bites of the cherry, which he duly accepted to poke the ball past Kile Kennedy.

Suddenly a second consecutive win was on the cards for Dinamo after last week’s drought-breaking first victory of the campaign against the Oakleigh Cannons.

Nick Tolios’ men were restricted to half chances and blocked shots for the remainder of the half which, one may assume, would have prompted a spray at half time from the head coach.

His words had an immediate impact because after the break all it took was Sean McIlroy slipping through strike partner Damian Iaconis in transition for the latter to beat one defender and drive a shot past Chris May.

Moments later Mouad Zwed had one of the goals of the season at his mercy after dancing past three opposition players but just couldn’t apply the finish to propel his side into the ascendancy.

It didn’t matter as it was 2-1 soon enough with Zwed making amends for his earlier miss; his low cross wasn’t dealt with by Chris May, allowing McIlroy to tap home the lead.

The contest was dead and buried by the 76th minute with Iaconis at the double, volleying in after Faisal Sakhizada nodded Velibor Mitrovic’s cross into his path.

The Grange continues to be a fortress for the south-east-based side which still hasn’t lost at home on a Monday night.

Such is the congestion in mid-table that Kingston City now move into sixth place on 13 points, above the likes of Green Gully and Melbourne Knights.

Otherwise, had they not clawed back the deficit, City would have been back in ninth on 10 points and trailed closely by Port Melbourne and South, with Oakleigh also not too far behind.

St Albans would be ruing a the second half turnaround given the three points would also have propelled them out of the automatic relegation zone for the first time since Round 1, above Bulleen Lions.