Image: Steve Starek
North Geelong Warriors recorded their first win of the 2017 NPL Victoria season to send Elcho Park fans into raptures, while it was another Croatian-backed club in Melbourne Knights that also put on a spirited display to snap a winless run. Elsewhere, Heidelberg United and Bentleigh Greens also flexed their muscles against Port Melbourne and Green Gully respectively on Friday and Saturday night.
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Melbourne Knights bounced back from the departure of long-time coach Andrew Marth with a backs-to-the-wall 1-0 home win against Hume City on Friday night.
Ben Surey was the designated player-coach on the night, but having to serve a suspension for five yellow cards, had to send team instructions from the stands.
Due to numerous suspensions Danny Dixon started striker while there was a starting debut to 17-year-old Adrian Tardio. There was some good news with ex-A-League man Patrick Gerhardt finally available on bench for a first season appearance.
It was a three-minute period in the second half from the 73rd to 76th minute that determined the outcome of the contest.
The first came when Jason Hicks was directly sent off for an off-the-ball incident involving Jayden Prasad.
Despite going down to 10 men, the Knights sent a warning to the visitors when Elvis Kamsoba was played through on goal but missed just wide.
Atilla Ofli was then sent through at the other end but his shot was tame and held by Fraser Chalmers.
In a frantic, end-to-end scenario, substitute and club stalwart Marijan Cvitkvic pounced on Blair Govan’s heavy touch in defence, with the former FFV Gold Medallist baring down on goal and striking the go-ahead goal.
In a nervy few last moments, Chalmers did well to deny Wayne Wallace, while Michael Weier was sent up for a corner which resembled both clubs’ last fixture. But there were to be no late heroics as the Knights ran out 1-0 winners, snapping a seven-game winless streak and giving a new era some hope under Eric Vassiliadis.
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On the other Friday night game, Heidelberg United consolidated their place atop the NPL ladder with a slim 1-0 win over Vassiliadis’ former club, Port Melbourne Sharks.
One of the better chances in the first half saw Francesco Stella in a great position to score after Chris Theodoridis was caught in no man’s land but his goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Josh Wilkins.
That sparked the visitors into action and Jack Petrie scored the winning goal just before the beak.
Reuben Way’s adventurous dribble past numerous players ended with him whipping a ball into the area, and Kenny Athiu’s dummy allowing Petrie to ghost in at the back post to strike past the keeper.
Heidelberg’s defence stood tall in the face of Part’s advances in the second half, and the Bergers could have sealed it late when substitute Alusine Fofanah’s fresh legs won the ball for Kenny Athiu to find Sean Ellis, but the Scot was off target.
No harm done though as United kept tightened their grip on top of the ladder, extending their lead momentarily with Avondale yet to play.
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On Saturday, North Geelong broke their long drought in the top flight with a late 1-0 win over Pascoe Vale, who just can’t take a trick at the moment.
There were a few nervy moments for North Geelong after half an hour as Luca Santilli hit a shot at Marko Stevanja, while Davey van ‘t Schip missed agonisingly wide.
Before the break the Warriors had a chance of their own when Kene Eze did well to put Bobby Vidanoski behind, but couldn’t put away the return ball.
A golden moment in the 75th minute for North Geelong saw Michael Anderson latch onto a long ball forward from his keeper, but the opposite keeper Alex Pavlidis thwarted his advance.
The winning goal eventually did come when substitute Nicholas Jurcic crossed the ball towards the back post, with Andrew Doig rising the highest to place a header past Pavlidis.
Cue pandemonium as the Warriors recorded their first league win since late 2016, and kept their first clean sheet of the campaign to move to nine points, five behind current 12th-place side Bulleen.
Pascoe Vale are now seven games winless and continue to slide down the ladder in a stark contrast to their blistering start to the 2017 campaign.
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In the final game, Jack Webster was welcomed to the starting XI for Bentleigh Greens, with Marco Jankovic also returning from suspension, and both played a big part in defeating Green Gully on the road.
The visitors’ goals came early, all assisted by Andy Brennan who sliced open Gully’s defence.
The first game via a cross from the left wing which found Marco Jankovic for a strong finish into the top-right corner of the net which left Rani Dowisha with no chance, marking his first goal for the club.
The second was a result of Brennan weaving past some defenders before teeing up Keanu Moore for a deflected finish, with the visitors flying high after 26 minutes.
That’s the way the score was to remain, the likes of Brennan, Kieran Dover and Matt Thurtell having chances to further extend the lead in the second stanza to no avail, while Gully struggled to make inroads on a tough night at the office.
The win puts Bentleigh in second for the moment, two points behind Heidelberg but also with an extra game played and Avondale, while Gully are fourth with fifth-placed South Melbourne still to play on the weekend.