Image: Con Deves
Kingston City coach Nick Tolios took on a former mentor as Hume City technical manager Dean Hennessey took his place along the visitors’ bench at the Grange Reserve, both sides looking for their second win of the season.
Kingston have been the best-performing of the promoted sides to date and find themselves still unbeaten, but faced a tough prospect in Hume, with their firepower capable of putting the hosts’ sometimes suspect defence – despite last week’s clean sheet – to the sword.
The home side were without one of their best so far this season in Erhan Yalaz but it was another winger in Mouad Zwed who did the damage early when he pounced on Kris Kioussis and teed up Velibor Mitrovic for the opening goal in the early stages of the contest, making Mitrovic the league’s top scorer so far this campaign on four – three of those coming from the penalty spot.
Holding a lead hadn’t been Kingston’s strong point in the top flight so far, and both sides had scored more and conceded more than the average this season, so it was no surprise that by half an hour it was already 2-2.
The first equaliser came when Daniel Clark’s run to the byline ended in a pinpoint cross for Liam Boland to head home, his aerial threat being a trait that wasn’t always utilised at Green Gully.
Mitrovic turned provider in the 20th minute when a deft pass found Damian Iaconis who sprung the offside trap and slid the ball past Michael Weier in goal to make it 2-1.
Another quality goal for the second equaliser saw James McGarry control Blair Govan’s long pass out from defence, taking a classy touch before rifling a shot into the top corner past the outstretched Kile Kennedy.
The scorers took a breather until half time but once again the commencement of the second half had a bumper Monday night crowd at the Grange well entertained as Zwed tussled with Kioussis for the ball and won by the byline to cutback to Iaconis for his double.
The tricky winger attracted plenty of attention throughout the night as confrontations with Nick Hegarty and Bryan Bran ensued later on, but Zwed should also have had a hat-trick of assists – and likewise Iaconis a hat-trick of goals – when the former skipped past Govan on the wing again and found the latter in the box, only to be denied at point blank range by a desperate Weier.
Both sides then struggled to find either the equaliser or the sealer as Bran had a header denied on the goalline, while at the other end Mitrovic also had a goalbound shot cleared off the line, with Weier pulling off a double save in the same passage of play to deny Nick Stamatiou and Mitrovic on the rebound.
Despite Daniel Clark’s second yellow reducing Hume to 10 men, the visitors threw plenty of bodies forward late as the hosts’ defensive line kept creeping deeper, often looking for their captain Hegarty for the killer delivery, but many of his efforts were thwarted by the head of Faisal Sakhizada, who played a vital role for his side.
Last time Atilla Ofli faced off against Kingston at the Grange he scored a hat-trick for Whittlesea Ranges but this time he was kept scoreless, a late volley of his blocked and leading to one final cross into the box. Liam Boland claimed to be impeded while going for a header, which led to an all-in brawl at the final whistle replacing the usual joyous scenes reserved for a victorious side as a referee ends a contest.
Both sides have now scored 11 and conceded eight in 2017, the difference being Kingston now sit in third place on nine points and Hume in eighth on five points.
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Melbourne Knights’ 2017 campaign was summed up in their 90 minutes at the Veneto Club on Monday, with a 3-0 lead showcasing some of their best but two late goals conceded also highlighting their not-so-best.
Bulleen are without first choice Shane Viitakangas due to injury, and his replacement Wyatt Chant struggled to stem the Knights’ flow early when Jason Hicks’ corner was deflected into his own net by a teammate.
One of the league’s danger men in Elvis Kamsoba played a part in the lead-up to that corner and also had a chance of his own miss wide, with warning bells well and truly tolling for the hosts now.
The scoreline read 2-0 to the visitors by half time when Tim Purcell’s cross was nodded in by Tom Cahill to give his side a comfortable buffer at the break.
The contest looked to be dead and buried early in the second period when good work by Danny Dixon on the wing saw the winger cut in and make it 3-0 by the 51st minute.
Yet a 10-minute spell later on had the Lions’ deficit back to the solitary goal.
It were the hosts’ two imports who did the damage, as Oliver White’s powerful strike couldn’t be kept out by Harry Cakarun, while Jordan Templin’s cross had Christian McKenna diving in to place a header into the back of the net.
However the run was left a bit too late as the Knights held on for victory despite late penalty shouts at one end, while at the other end Kamsoba had a chance to seal the contest only to be denied by Chant’s good save.
Still, it was an important three points on the road for the Knights, whose form has been the least predictable of an already unpredictable league so far, but a pattern emerging is that their away form has trumped their performances at Somers Street so far.