Image: Con Deves
In the debut of the NPL’s Flip TV broadcast, Kingston City came into round 7 off the back of a loss against Pascoe Vale, facing a difficult prospect in Bentleigh Greens to rebound from their first defeat of the season.
John Anastasiadis’ side most recently enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 victory over then cellar dwellers St Albans.
A win would put the visitors back into second place and a point behind leaders Avondale, while Kingston would jump back into the top six.
The visitors raced out of the blocks early, controlling possession and territory.
Andy Brennan, on the right wing, cut in and struck a thunderous left-footed drive that left the crossbar rattling.
Lambros Honos was the next to try his luck from outside the area, driving forward and hitting a right-footed effort that Kile Kennedy was able to parry.
But it was a mistake in the visitors’ defensive third that instead saw Nick Tolios’ men take the lead when Mouad Zwed stripped Brennan of possession, with Damian Iaconis taking the ball and curling in a low effort that nestled into the back on the net off the post.
1-0 to Kingston and a fourth goal in seven games for the young striker who continues to make positive strides in the top flight.
Rather than going back into their shell, Kingston’s confidence grew with half-time approaching as Iaconis was denied his second by Ryan Scott from a powerful volley, while in the same passage of play Velibor Mitrovic’s 20-yard effort whistled past the post.
After the break, a pattern similar to that of the early stages of the first half emerged as Bentleigh started with more of the possession, but this time it yielded the desired result for Anastasiadis.
Matt Thurtell fired the first warning shot with an acrobatic volley from Brennan’s cross that wasn’t too far off target.
But it was the next effort from Honos that was unstoppable. Accepting a pass from Tyson Holmes in the middle of the pitch, he thrust forward and unleashed a rocket that left Kennedy with no chance.
The game was back in the balance and momentarily it looked like Bentleigh would snatch the lead but this time Kingston’s custodian was able to thwart an advancing Brennan with a solid save.
Tolios made his attacking intentions clear thereafter when subbing on another striker in Sean McIlroy for midfielder Nick Stamatiou.
However it was defender Faisal Sakhizada that came closest to scoring via a couple of attempts on goal from corners, his second effort especially almost re-taking the lead, leaving Scott stranded but Ben Litfin was at the back post to block the goal-bound ball.
From there neither side was able to find the winner, with Anastasiadis left concerned by an injury to Jack Webster that forced the highly rated defender off the pitch, replaced by Marco Jankovic in the latter stages of the contest.
The result leaves Bentleigh in third with 14 points, one point behind Pascoe Vale and three behind Avondale, while Kingston sit in equal sixth alongside the Knights on 10 points.