Bentleigh Greens have kicked-off their Championship defence with a 1-0 victory over a resolute Bulleen Lions outfit at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Friday night.
A neat early finish from Greens midfielder Tyson Holmes was the difference on the night with the newly promoted Lions certainly not out of their depth in their first top flight fixture in almost a decade.
However the signs did not look good minutes into the contest when a neat one-two in the box between Holmes and Chris Lucas saw the latter strike the ball past Griffin McMaster with just four minutes on the clock.
The hosts dominated much of the early proceedings and almost doubled their lead eight minutes later when Liam McCormick found Ryan Paczkowski but the former Mornington striker fluffed his lines and skewed the shot wide off goal.
Bentleigh skipper Wayne Wallace was next to try his luck as he latched onto McCormick’s corner ahead of the stranded McMaster, but saw his header go over the bar much to the relief of the former Heidelberg United shot-stopper.
From there onwards, the visitors began growing in confidence and almost levelled the scoring bar a fantastic save from Greens custodian Ryan Scott who denied Takanori Nishimoto at the near-post.
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The Japanese attacking midfielder went even closer to finding an equaliser later in the half when his shot from the edge of the area had the beating of Scott but agonisingly hit the woodwork.
Bentleigh left-back Luke Pilkington had the half’s last chance but his driving effort from outside the but was rising from the onset and failed to trouble McMaster as the two sides headed into the sheds.
The home side continued to pile on the pressure in the second half with Holmes looking to return the favour by teeing up Lucas in the box only for the former Gold Coast United striker to be denied by a fantastic block by the out-stretching Felix Rosman.
Bentleigh’s experienced English pairing of Jack Webster and Wayne Wallace both had good opportunities from set-pieces with the former frustrated by some last-ditch defending from the visitors while the captain saw another header flash wide off target.
The Lions brought on Dean Lorenzi, Bardhi Hysolli and Sayeed Reza Hossaini in an attempt to find an equaliser and it was Hossaini who headed wide with minutes on the clock left to play.
Spurred on by that opportunity, Bulleen attacked and their persistence saw Sami Nour presented with a great opportunity to level proceedings only to see Scott adjust himself and make a save his legs before latching onto the follow-up.
That save proved pivotal with the Greens working hard to secure all three points against their spirited visitors who can take a lot of positives from their disciplined performance.
Bentleigh Greens Manager John Anastasiadis was contempt with the result adding that his side “started off great by grabbing that early goal but the more the game went on, the more Bulleen grew.”
“I’ve got to hand it to my boys who were professional throughout. We’ve got to expect teams to come here and structure themselves in an organised fashion where there are going to be difficult to break down which Bulleen were tonight,” Anastasiadis added.
His counterpart Dominic Barba was satisfied with the effort shown by his side in their first game back in the top-flight stating “we are a very inexperienced side but it’s good for the boys to get a test of the league so they can gain more experience and learn from it going into the rest of the season.”
“Given that we’re in uncharted waters, I’m not too disappointed with the loss and after tonight I’d say that we’ve still got a lot of work to do but have a good feel of the best of the best.”
Bentleigh will look to continue on their winning start with a home fixture against another promoted side in Richmond next week while Bulleen host Oakleigh on Monday Night Football, which returns to David Barro Stadium.
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Bentleigh Greens 1 defeated Bulleen Lions o at Kingston Heath [HT: 1-0]
Bentleigh Greens: Ryan Scott (GK), Josh Brindell-South (Dion Kirk 86’), Jack Webster, Ross Archibald, Luke Pilkington, Troy Ruthven, Wayne Wallace, Tyson Holmes, Liam McCormick (Danny Charalambous 71’), Chris Lucas, Ryan Paczkowski
Unused Substitute(s): Kane Pierce (GK), Nathan Tidmarsh, Jakob Williams
Yellow Card(s): Archibald 30′, Pilkington 87′
Red Card(s): None
Bulleen Lions: Griffin McMaster (GK), Eli Luttmer, Will Abbott, Felix Rosman, Anthony Colosimo, Andrew Mullett (Bardhi Hysolli 75’), Matteo Ballan, Takanori Nishimoto, Rodrigo Covarrubias (Sayeed Reza Hossaini 62’), Sami Nour, Gianni de Nittis (Dean Lorenzi 54)
Unused Subs: Tom Banfield (GK), Samuel Borghesi
Yellow Card(s): de Nittis 7′, Mullett 59′, Abbott 72′
Red Card(s): None