Match Details
Melbourne Knights vs Bentleigh Greens
3:00pm, Sunday 29 September
Knights Stadium – Pitch 1
Sunday’s qualifying final between Melbourne Knights and Bentleigh Greens at Knights Stadium is shaping up to be a fantastic contest between two remarkably even sides. There is an almost symmetrical evenness between the two sides in terms of recent results. Knights and Bentleigh have beaten each other at home this season and share a dead-even VPL history of five wins each.
Melbourne Knights’ blistering momentum in the second half of the season ultimately could not deliver them the VPL premiership. Nevertheless, it has meant that the former NSL powerhouse managed to comfortably qualify for finals after rocketing to the top end of the table from mid-season mid-table mediocrity.
A mouth-watering race for top place finish between Knights and Northcote City had been set up for the last regular-season round. However, the highly-anticipated scenario was railroaded by the alleged match-fixing by Southern Stars and consequent voiding of all of the club’s results, much to the frustration of Knights’ ambitious officials and supporters.
By contrast, the story for Bentleigh Greens has been somewhat different but not altogether unfamiliar compared to the journey taken by Knights. Bentleigh kicked off the season with a series of winning results, making them one of the VPL’s early-season frontrunners. As the season progressed, however, the team’s form dipped in consistency.
It has become somewhat of a cliche to say that Bentleigh play stunning football when at their best, but it is true that the side from the south-eastern suburbs has, regrettably, not always fulfilled their undeniable potential.
Knights supporters will be desperately hoping that Andrew Barisic will recover from a leg infection in time for Sunday’s clash. The talismanic striker has been typically clinical this season, netting seven goals in his short time at the club since his return from overseas stints at Arema FC in Indonesia and East Bengal FC in India.
Thankfully for his side, a major strength of this Knights outfit is their ability to score prolifically from all over the park. Jacob Colosimo, Marijan Cvitkovic, and Tommy Fraser have all chipped in with their fair share of goals, and even captain Adam Zilic has netted several times.
Luke Sherbon has been a shining light for Bentleigh, netting an impressive tally of 14 goals for his side, which included a hat-trick against Pascoe Vale. Flying winger Ryan De Vries is another to look out for on Sunday. The South African wide man’s pace, guile, and ability to skip past defenders are all key components of the Bentleigh Greens game plan.
Although they possess star players, Bentleigh have refused to be fully reliant on them, and are therefore also highly capable as a collective unit. This was demonstrated by their commanding 2-0 triumph away to Port Melbourne despite being heavily hampered by the absence of six first-team players.
Given the equilibrium between these sides in recent times, Sunday’s final could be an attractive contest between two clubs keen to break the deadlock and challenge for what could perhaps be the last VPL title ever.
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