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Melbourne Knights has suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
A goal by Rodrigo Vargas in the 55th minute proved to be the difference. The former Melbourne Victory defender got on the end of a cross by Andy Vargas, turning the ball past Chris May and into the net.
May was solid in goal throughout the 90 minutes, pulling off a number of top saves, but was unable to keep Vargas’ effort from close range out.
In the first half, Knights was the dominant team, holding more of the possession and creating a handful of chances. However, the team’s lack of potency in front of goal proved to be telling, as the visitors struggled to properly challenge Gully ‘keeper Kieran Gonzalez.
The most controversial moment of the encounter came in the 27th minute, when Mitchell Bissinger was judged to have handled the ball. The Knights players were adamant the infringement occurred inside the area, the referee, however, decided that a free kick would be awarded on the edge of the area instead.
Just seven minutes earlier, Knights were denied a blatant penalty when a Green Gully player handled the ball inside the area, the referee waved protests away, and may have had his view of the incident impeded by other players.
HT: We’ve had the better of the play, but it’s been a largely uneventful half! #GGvMK #NPLVIC pic.twitter.com/ax5aiTnhAp
— Melbourne Knights FC (@MelbKnights) May 31, 2014
The momentum shifted in the second half, and it didn’t take long for Gully to take the lead, just ten minutes after the interval.
Knights struggled to find the form they showed in the first half and were unable to find an equaliser before the end of the contest.
Despite the result, there was some promising signs for Knights to takeaway from the game. Michael Simms did well to keep the pacey Osagie Ederaro quiet, youngsters Leo Athanasiou, Ivan Grgic and Nikola Srbinovski put in solid shifts and goalkeeper May once again pulled off some top-class saves.
Knights face Green Gully again on Tuesday, June 3rd in the Dockerty Cup. The winner faces South Melbourne in the Quarter-finals. Kick off at Knights Stadium is at 7:30pm.
