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This Friday night sees Melbourne Knights face off against neighbourhood rivals Green Gully in round 8 of the Victorian NPL. The task is up to the Knights squad to take all three points in order to jump two spots on the table, which will be a strong positive going into the next third of the 2018 season.
With perfect playing conditions forecasted for this Friday night, the Knights return home after last week’s match against Heidelberg United, where they unluckily walked away without any points despite a valiant attempt. This week sees Green Gully make the trip down the road to Knights Stadium to face off against our very own Melbourne Knights.
Going into round eight sees the Knights with a potential chance to move up to 5th position on the ladder. Currently, the team sits in seventh position with a total of eight points, after two wins, two draws and three losses. Importantly for the Knights, international forward Louis Fenton made his return in round seven against the ‘Bergers, where he was subbed on for the entire second half and was crucial in setting up a number of attacking plays. Coupled with rising talent AJ Inia and Brody Taylor, this could be the dawn of a new forward partnership which could be key for the Knights moving into the middle third of the NPL season.
Speaking on his return, Fenton had this to say:
“It’s great to be back to full training with the squad after being sidelined for seven weeks. I’m looking forward to getting more minutes under my belt and helping the team as best as I can week in week out.”
Green Gully on the other hand have enjoyed a fruitful start to their 2018 NPL campaign after suffering an opening round 4-3 loss at home to first placed Avondale FC. Since then, they have gone on to record four wins and two draws, and currently sit in fourth position on the NPL ladder with 14 points. In a best case scenario for Gully, recording a win against Knights will gain them the points, but not a higher ladder position. A fundamental player in most of Gully’s wins has been key-forward Kieran Dover, who has netted five goals in their seven matches to date.
Given Melbourne Knights’ recent spirited performances, there is no doubt the Knights can come out on top in this week’s match and as always it will be a great contest between the reds and their local rivals.
We remind all our fans that this weeks senior match will be kicking off at the slightly-later time of 8.15pm, with our Under 20s squad kicking off at 6.15pm.
Team News
Melbourne Knights FC squad: 1. Harry Cakarun, 2. Luke Jurcic, 3. Shaun Timmins, 4. Ben Surey, 6. Tomislav Uskok, 7. Nate Foster, 8. Brody Taylor, 10. Marijan Cvitkovic, 11. Nikola Jurkovic, 12. Anthony Dezic, 13. Ayden Brice, 16. Louis Fenton, 17. Nicholas Jurcic, 19. Anthony Duzel, 20. Jordan Gifkins, 21. David Stojic, 23. Tim Purcell
Ins: NA
Outs: NA
Unavailable: 5. Milan Batur (injury), 9. Kym Harris (injury)
Match Details
Kick-off: 8:15pm (AEST)
Venue: Knights Stadium
Forecast: 27C, Sunny
Referee: Alejandro Azcurra
Assistant Referee 1: Jordan English
Assistant Referee 2: George Loukeris?
4th Official: Daniel Isaac
