It’s been a while between drinks Knights fans! The Melbourne Knights return to action on Saturday afternoon, when they visit Hume City.
After almost a month out of action, Football Victoria have given the green light for the resumption of competition. After returning to training on the 11th of July the Knights look set reignite their season! The league will resume from its current round, with the missed games (round 14-16) to be played at a later date.
Before the pause, the Knights fell to NPL Victoria newcomers – the Eastern Lions – two goals to one in an evening to forget. Gian Albano scored the would-be equaliser, only for the Lions to retake the lead through Ryan Losty in the 90th minute.
In round 13, Hume City travelled to the Oakleigh Cannons, and enjoyed a 2-0 victory. Goals in either half for the visitors ensured they took all three points home.
The last time the Knights faced Hume was earlier this season in round four in a dominating performance, winning three-nil. Following a first-half stalemate, the visitors suffered a setback early into the second half when Ben Bowler was sent off. With Hume City down to 10 men, the Knights restored their grip on the match. Goals from Caleb Mikulic, Gian Albano and Mohammed Sumaoro guaranteed the three points for the Knights.
The Knights will be looking to give particular focus to Hume striker Josh Bingham, who’s netted nine goals himself in 13 matches. Hume City’s Matthew Lazarides and Knights own skipper Ayden Brice will both be looking to avoid any citations from referee Andrew Meimarakis, with both players sitting on four yellow cards.
Keeping in line with current Victorian restrictions, the game will be played behind closed doors, with no spectators able to attend. As always, the game will be streamed live via Facebook Live and Youtube Live.
Melbourne Knights FC:
2- Jack Marth, 3- Oliver Zafiridis, 4- Nikola Jurkovic, 5- Ayden Brice (C), 6- Anthony Duzel, 8- James McGarry, 9- Alun Webb, 10- Gian Albano, 11- Caleb Mikulic, 12- Oliver Cakarun, 13- Daniel Petrov, 14- Trevor Zwetsloot, 15- Felipe Sanchez, 16- Mohammed Sumaoro, 17- Trevor Ssemakula, 18- Dor Jok, 19- Nicholas Glavan, 21- Thomas Manos (GK), 23- Joseph Colina, 99- Harry Cakarun (GK)
Head Coach: Steve Bebic
Hume City FC:
1- Michael Weier (GK/C), 2- Birhan Elibol, 3- Ebubekir Capar, 4- Jordan Maricic, 5- Danny Dixon, 6- Aden Gardner, 7- Andy Brennan, 8- James Brown, 9- Josh Bingham, 10- Marko Delic, 11- Theo Markelis, 12- Mark Ochieng, 13- Matthew Lazarides, 14- Mitch Cooper, 15- Hayden Tennant, 16- Tom Harris, 18- Ben Bowler, 20- Lucas Trenkovski (GK), 26- Patrick Langlois, Nick Hegarty
Head Coach: Nick Hegarty
2021 NPL Victoria Round 17 – Hume City FC v Melbourne Knights FC
Date: Saturday, June 19
Kick-off: 5:00PM (AEST)
Venue: ABD Stadium, Broadmeadows
Where to watch: Livestream via Facebook & YouTube