Melbourne Knights FC Official Website Melbourne Knights made it six wins in seven with a crucial 3-2 victory over Green Gully in NPL Victoria Round 10 action at Knights Stadium on Monday night.
A Ciaran Bramwell brace and late strike from super sub Mohammed Sumaoro extended the gap between fourth placed Knights and Gully in fifth to five points.
Bramwell opened the scoring in the 13th minute when he pounced on a loose ball before driving forward and rifling an effort in off the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the area.
The forward then added his second of the evening when he ghosted in at the near post and slid a deft finish past Liam Driscoll after an electrifying run down the left by Gian Albano in the 36th minute.
The 21-year-old’s first half brace takes his tally to six goals in all competitions for the 2023 season, leaving him level with Albano as the club’s top scorer so far this campaign.
Gully managed to halve the deficit in the 84th minute with a thunderbolt from the league’s leading goal scorer Piece Waring, for what was his eighth goal of the season.
The visitors hopes of a comeback appeared to be short lived when Sumaoro latched onto an Albano through ball and made space for himself inside the area before slamming a finish into the bottom corner just a minute a later.
The Cavaliers then clawed back a second goal in the 87th minute when an Adolph Koudakpo cross took a wicked deflection off Joey Franjic and found it’s way into the back of the net.
Despite the frantic finish the Knights held firm for the three points as they picked up their sixth win in seven to keep in touch with the NPL Victoria frontrunners after ten rounds of action.
Knights hadn’t managed to win three league matches on the trot in nearly four years prior to this season but have now achieved the feat twice in the space of seven games as Ben Cahn’s new look side begin to really hit their stride.
Speaking post-match, Melbourne Knights Head Coach Ben Cahn said he was delighted to pick up an important three points against difficult opposition.
“It was a big three points, Gully are a good team. I like the way they play, they’re a constant threat and you have to be organised and defend well against them,” Cahn said.
“We were very good in the first half, we managed to reduce their threat and press high at the right moments. We were good going forward and had chances to go in maybe more than 2-0 up.
“2-0 is always a tough score line but even so we were disappointed with the second half, we managed it well for the most part but we got sloppy in possession and let them back into the game.
“As I’ve said a few times, we’re still very early in the process and there’s a lot of work and a lot of improving still to do and I expect us to keep getting better as we play more and keep learning more about ourselves.
“There’s a good feeling around the club at the moment, we’ll get back to training and word as hard as we can to make sure we keep getting results and improving the details of our game.”
Next up for Knights is matchup with Hume City at Knights Stadium on Sunday afternoon (4:00pm KO).
Hume currently sit in seventh on the NPL Victoria standings and suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Bentleigh Greens in their most recent outing.
MATCH DETAILS
NPL Victoria 2023 – Round 10: Melbourne Knights v Green Gully
Knights Stadium, Sunshine North
Monday, 24 April
Melbourne Knights – 3 (Ciaran BRAMWELL 13’ 36’, Mohammed SUMAORO 85’)
Green Gully – 2 (Pierce WARING 84’ OWN GOAL 87’)
