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VTC have shocked Melbourne Knights in a dramatic 3-2 victory in the round five opener at Knights Stadium on Wednesday night.
In what was a dramatic match the Melbourne Knights fought back from being 2-nil down only to drop the points as Luke O’Dea headed the winning goal in the 78th minute.
This saw a first up victory for Boris Seroshton and his assistant Harry Bingham who have taken over as Head and Assistant Coach for VTC as Mehmet Durakovic has taken over as care taker manager for A-league side Melbourne Victory.
After a close start, VTC were able to create some great lead up play to allow David Stirton to find a gap in the Knights defence and put the ball in the back of the net for a 1-nil lead in the fifth minute.
The Knights pushed for a quick reply as Amadu Koroma’s volley went over the cross bar.
However it was the VTC who once again got on the score board for a 2-nil lead in the 11th minute through Luke O’Dea.
O’Dea was able to score thanks to some fantastic lead up play and a close offside call which was met by some complaints from the home crowd.
Ivan Duzel looked towards his bench and made an early but inspired substitution in the 14th minute as Josip Kozic came on for Meyer Carlos De Camargo Junior.
It was the substituted player that found himself on the score sheet as Jean Charles Dubois was fouled by Ex Melbourne Knights and now VTC goalkeeper Sebastian Mattei.
Josip Kozic stepped up to the spot to comfortably score and began the Knights comeback in the 21st minute, taking the scores to 2-1.
The Knights continued to push and had opportunity in the 29th minute as Jean Charles Dubois cut his shot across the goal past the left post.
The game fired up just after the half hour mark as a tackle by VTC defender Enes Sivic fouled Knights winger Mathieu-Luc Welmant.
This caused a minor scuffle to occur between both teams that was soon separated by senior players.
The Melbourne Knights continued to push for a comeback while the VTC began to drop off from there fantastic start to the game towards the end of the first half.
This saw the Knights have numerous chances including a scramble from a corner in the 41st minute which was cleared off the line by the VTC defence.
The second half begin with a half time substitution as Andrew Mullet came on for former Football Superstar winner Luke Pilkington who suffered a knock and limped off the ground at half time.
The Knights continued to look for an equaliser and in the 58th minute Anthony Colosimo’s miss hit cross just missed the top right hand corner which gave Mattei a sigh of relief.
Colosimo continued to find space on the right hand side and found Craig Sweeney who headed the ball past the top left corner.
Amadu Koroma also got into the action for the Knights as he took on a couple VTC defenders with some fancy footwork only for his shot to go over the cross bar.
David Stirton continued to impress up front for VTC as he found some space in the 69th minute and saw his shot skim the right post.
Melbourne Knights were rewarded a penalty when a handball was seen in the VTC defence from a Knights attack. Once again, Josip Kozic stepped up and put the ball in the keeper’s bottom right corner to give Mattei no chance and levelled the scores at 2-all in the 71st minute.
The lead was short lived as VTC shocked the Knights crowd as a delivery by David Stirton meet the head of Luke O’Dea to hand the VTC a 3-2 lead in the 78th minute.
As the Knights pushed to make another comeback the VTC defended well and Sebastian Mattei was only forced to make a few comfortable saves including a scramble which saw him come out and collect the ball with ease.
As the final whistle blew the Knights supporters left with disappointment as VTC continue to shock Pemier League opposition with their third win of the season.
Melbourne Knights now look to collect three points when they meet Bentleigh Greens at Knights Stadium on Sunday at 6pm, while VTC host Hume City in next Wednesday nights clash also at Knights Stadium.
By Steven Talevski
VTC: Sebastian MATTEI, Enes SIVIC, Luke PILKINGTON (Andrew MULLETT 46’), Petar FRANJIC, Nick ANSELL, Paulo PETRE (Anthony SELEMIDIS 87’), Luke O’DEA, James JEGGO, Jake NAKIC, Samir LOKVANCIC, David STIRTON.
Unused Subs: Rani DOWISHA, Jason RICCIUTI
Goals: Stirton 5’, O’Dea 11’ 78’.
Melbourne Knights:
Martin JOHN, Ryan FILIPOVIC, Ben SUREY, Leo SHIN, Meyer Carlos DE CAMARGO JUNIOR (Josip KOZIC 14’), Anthony COLOSIMO (Jacob COLOSIMO 64’), Amadu KOROMA, Jean-Charles DUBOIS (Shaun ROMEIN 81’), Daniel DRAGICEVIC, Craig SWEENEY, Mathieu-Luc WELMANT.
Unused Subs: Josip MAGDIC, Matthew HRASTOV
Goals: Kozic 21’ (p), 71’ (p).
