Melbourne Knights FC Official Website 
Related Articles
With just two points separating the 10th placed Melbourne Knights and 8th placed Pascoe Vale, this Friday’s fixture at CB Smith Reserve is set-up to be a critical must win clash for both sides.
Life after Marth began well for the Knights, notching up their first victory since March with a hard worked 1-0 win over Hume City last Friday.
New head coach Eric Vassiliadis was an interested onlooker on Friday night, and would have been encouraged by the positive result and effort shown by the squad as the former Port Melbourne coach takes the reins for the first time this week.
Last week’s win moved the Knights clear of the relegation zone & another 3 points will see them leapfrog Pascoe Vale and remain in contention for a late push for finals football.
Playmaker Jason Hicks will miss this fixture after receiving a straight red card last week, however that loss will be slightly cushioned with the encouraging return of Marijan Cvitkovic and Partrick Gerhardt from injury.
Both Cvitkovic and Gerhardt featured as substitutes in the win over Hume and played key roles, the former netting the only goal of the contest, whilst the latter coming on for his long awaiting debut to solidify the defence.
Our opponents Pascoe Vale are currently in the midst of their own form slump. After an encouraging start to the season which saw Vitale Ferrante’s men undefeated in their first 7 fixtures, they have now gone winless in their last 7 games culminating in a 1-0 loss to North Geelong last week.
Goals have dried up during this run, with Pascoe scoring more than 1 goal just once in the past 7 games, whilst conceding goals in each of their past 8 games.
They are not to be taken lightly however, as they possess a formidable squad with current golden boot leader Davey Van’t Schip more than capable of being a game changer. This was evident in the last meeting between the two sides, with Van’t Schip playing a large part in securing a 2-1 win for his side at Knights Stadium in Round 2.
Recent history is in favour of the Knights, and despite losing the last two games against Pascoe they hold an impressive record of 7 wins from 11 outings. Away from home sees the Knights undefeated against Pascoe Vale, with 3 wins and 1 draw from 4 meetings.
Match Facts/Stats:
When: Friday 26th May, 8:30pm
Where: CB Smith Reserve
Last Meeting: Melbourne Knights 1-2 Pascoe Vale (2017 NPL)
Past 11 Meetings: Melbourne Knights 7, Draw 1, Pascoe Vale 3
Melbourne Knights 2017 Season:
Ladder Position: 10th
Goals: 18 (1.28 per game).
Conceded 25 (1.78 per game).
@ Away
7 Games – 2 Win, 2 Draw 3 Loss.
Goals: 9 (1.28 per game)
Conceded: 12 (1.71 per game)
Knights Goal scorers: Hicks 6, Kamsoba 5, Cahill 4, Dixon 1, Cvitkovic 1, Mikulic 1.
Pascoe Vale 2017 Season
Ladder Position: 8th
Goals: 19 (1.35 per game).
Conceded 19 (1.35 per game).
@ Home
6 Games – 1 Win, 5 Draws, 1 Loss
Goals: 9 (1.50 per game)
Conceded: 9 (1.50) per game)
Pascoe Vale Goalscorers Van’t Schip 11, Lazaridis 2, Santilli 2, Youssef 1, Ferrante 1, Quaynor 1, Prelevic 1.
