Jasmine Ceni
Melbourne Knights played out yet another thriller at Knights Stadium, this time leaving it until the final touch of the game to steal all three points against fellow finals contenders Bentleigh Greens on Sunday afternoon.
In wet and wild conditions over Melbourne, Knights fell behind twice before super-sub Jacob Colosimo’s header at the 95th minute mark stole all three points from the contest.
The 3-2 victory shot the Knights up to outright second, only three points behind ladder leaders Northcote City, who suffered a shock loss against cellar-dwellers Southern Stars on the weekend.
Bentleigh took the lead within 10 minutes when Ryan De Vries found himself in acres of space, easily slotting the ball past Chris May in goals.
That was short lived as mid-season signing Milan Batur tucked away James McGarry’s perfectly placed free kick just four minutes later.
May was once again a stand out on the pitch and was called upon to make a magnificent save off a De Vries attempt to keep both sides on level terms heading into the half-time break.
However, there was nothing he could do to stop Luke Sherbon’s attempt at goal at the resumption of the second half. The striker made the most of a slight moment of confusion in the Knights’ box, poking the ball into the back of the net.
Despite constant attempts at goal to no avail, Knights finally broke through with Andrew Barisic continuing on his hot goal scoring streak, heading past Stuart Webster in goal to put the game back on level terms with 15 minutes remaining.
Knights were also denied what looked to be a clear penalty for a handball in the box in the final stages of the contest, however the referee called for play to continue.
It was then left to substitute Jacob Colosimo to seal the deal, latching on to a cross from Josh Berrios, looping his header past Webster with the final touch of the game to send the Knights faithful into ecstasy – and second place on the VPL table.
Knights travel to George Andrews Reserve on Friday night to take on Dandenong Thunder. Both sides played out what will go down as the match of the season in Round 8, when Knights defeated the reigning Premiers 4-3 at Knights Stadium courtesy of a late Adam Zilic winner. Should that contest be anything to go by, both sets of fans should strap in for what should be an intriguing fixture.
MELBOURNE KNIGHTS – Christopher MAY, Adam ZILIC, James McGARRY, William McLACHLAN, Andrew BARISIC (Jacob COLOSIMO 83’), Marijan CVITKOVIC (Christopher TALAJIC 71’), Milan BATUR, Ben SUREY, Josh BERRIOS, Shayan ALINEJAD, Sam TORRENS
Unused subs – Michael SIMMS, Nicholas JURCIC, Matthew HRASTOV
Goals – Batur 14’, Barisic 74’, Colosimo 95’
Yellow cards – Zilic 51’
Red cards – Nil