Kingston City have secured their first home win since Round 8 following Monday night’s 2-1 triumph over Pascoe Vale at The Grange Reserve to steer clear away from relegation danger.
The scoring was opened in the 23rd minute by Kingston debutant Taban Makoii, who rounded opposition goalkeeper Alex Pavlidis before finishing from an acute angle.
Fellow mid-season signing Sami Nour doubled City’s advantage in the 73rd minute with his maiden strike for his new employers only for Joseph Youssef to reduce the deficit a minute later.
Despite that stutter, Nick Tolios’ men held on for an important three points as they seek to avoid relegation, with the result seeing the Clayton South-based outfit move five points clear from the Melbourne Knights in 12th spot, with a game in hand over the nearest relegation rivals.
The home side surprised many onlookers by experimenting with a new-look attack as playmaker Velibor Mitrovic made way for 19-year-old striker Makoii, with Nour and Mouad Zwed supporting the new signing out wide while ,regular target man Damian Iaconis was deployed in a number ten role.
The Kiwi livewire certainly made an impact, causing numerous problems for the Paco defence throughout the 90 in addition to his goal on debut, and was pleased with his overall performances when discussing the result post-game Monday.
“I’m really happy to have gotten my debut today and gotten the three points as we’ve been working very hard at training,” Makoii said. “I’ve been itching to play as I couldn’t play in previous weeks due to other issues but happy to be on the park.”
While waiting for his international clearance to come through, Makoii has had plenty of time to adapt to his new surroundings, having been officially announced as a Kingston City player prior to their clash away to the North Geelong Warriors earlier this month.
He joins a group of players that make up one of the youngest squads on paper in the top-flight and admits that aspect has helped him settle into his new surroundings a lot better than expected.
“I thought I would have some problems adapting upon arrival but since my first day at the club the boys have been really good. We have a young squad which made it a lot easier for me and within the coaching staff Nick has been fantastic and I love training here as I am learning a lot.”
A raw talent who once earned a trial with Scottish giants Rangers in his mid-teens, Makoii got his first tastes of the physicality of NPL Victoria and made some observations on it post-match.
“I was told when coming here that it is a very physical league and I found that out today. When you play a team whose defenders are very physical, you need to sharper with your touches and movement and that was what I tried to do as I know I am not the strongest of players’.”
Having previously plied his trade in the Central League back home across the Tasman, Makoii has spent the past two years in Perth where he featured for Bayswater City under former Socceroo Chris Coyne and at Perth Glory Youth.
Having moved back to New Zealand this year, he detailed how the move to Kingston came about as well as his motivations behind returning to Australia to further his football development.
“I finished training on a Tuesday night back in NZ last month when I received a call from my agent who told me there was an offer on the table from Kingston,” Makoii stated.
“It took me a while to think about as this is the first time that I’m living by myself and I’m not a great cook – but YouTube is making me improve on that aspect. I knew the league here in Melbourne was of a good quality so I wanted to challenge myself and decided to accept the offer.”
Originally hailing from South Sudan, the up-and-coming teenager received a call-up to the Bright Stars training camp and although he ultimately didn’t make his first-team debut, the opportunity to sit on the bench of his ancestral homeland was a memorable one.
“It happened so quickly. Last year I got called up to the South Sudan national team which was unexpected. It was a good opportunity to go back home for the first time in my life as I’ve never been back there before. I am always aiming to take my game to a higher level and hopefully by continuing to work hard, good things come my way.”
With Makoii now on-board alongside the mercurial talents of Nour, Yalaz and Zwed in addition to that of regular goalscorers Mitrovic and Iaconis, the Kingston attack has been given a further boost as the entertainers of the NPL look to preserve their top-flight status for another campaign.