Melbourne Knights’ senior women team suffered its third defeat in four matches on Sunday, going down 2-0 to new league leaders, South Yarra SC.
Both teams came in strong from the first minute with the Knights eager to get back to winning ways and South Yarra wanting to redeem themselves after a loss against Eltham Redbacks.
The home side were quick to exert their presence with an early 9th minute goal following some great passing combinations, making the task for the Knights more challenging early on.
It was only 2 minutes later that another chance went to South Yarra, with their shot on goal rebounding off the post and their follow up going just wide.
South Yarra held most of the possession in the first half but a strong Knights defence made it very difficult to breakdown with captain Natalie Vukovic making some very crucial clearances.
The Knights had its first chance in the 30th minute with Anja Djordjevich’s shot going wide of the goal.
Some great play in the middle, a through ball from Annie-Rose Cassar and a good run by Nina Trupkovic gave Knights the chance to equalise but the South Yarra goalkeeper was quick to react, extinguishing the danger.
In the 43rd minute, South Yarra doubled its lead with some impressive play in the middle of the park and a simple placed shot past the Knights keeper Cassar.
The Knights came out firing in the second half with a good chance to peg back the deficit. A 47th minute Trupkovic through ball found Annie-Rose Cassar, whose shot went straight to the ‘keeper.
The 65th minute saw another chance go to the Knights after Tovilo won a free kick just outside the 18 yard box with the resulting Vukovic set piece going just over the crossbar.
South Yarra started to get the upper hand late in the game but failed to extend its lead, with a golden opportunity in the 40th minute and then a shot on goal hitting the woodwork in the 42nd minute. After the late flurry of opportunities for South Yarra, the referee blew the whistle ending the game with South Yarra running out 2-0 victors.
The Knights Women play next at home on Sunday the 10th of July against University of Melbourne SC with a 1pm kick off.