In the Traditional Melbourne Derby where ladder position barely matter, seven goals were shared between South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights as South ran out 5-2 winners in front of a buzzing crowd at Somers St.
Milos Lujic and Matt Miller bagged a brace each, with Luke Adams netting a header for himself, while Jacob Colosimo and James McGarry each recorded a goal in the first half for Knights.
South were aiming to retain top place on the NPL Victoria ladder, whereas Knights were looking to push for a top six position.
The deadlock was broken after only three minutes into the match, with Colosimo nodding a cross past Nikola Roganovic to set the mood at Knights Stadium.
South immediately looked hungry for an equaliser, finding their well-earned goal off a Milos Lujic header in the eighth minute to increase the nerves felt by both sets of fans, in what they could already tell would be a high-scoring game.
Only four minutes later did South find the goal to put them ahead, with Miller tapping in a rebound that had fallen in front of him after coming off the upright.
Just when South looked like they were ready to run away with the game, McGarry netted a close-range attempt to level the scores again at 2-2.
Lujic restored the faith of the South fans yet again two minutes before half-time, ensuring Chris Taylor’s half-time change room speech wasn’t as fiery as it could’ve been.
Shots were exchanged at both ends for the beginning of the second half, with Knights looking the better team as they pushed for yet another equalizer.
Tensions had flared during the game when Nick Epifano had appeared to be offside to the naked eye of the fans, then taken down in a last man challenge on the edge of the box from Damien Miskulin, resulting in the defender seeing red in his first match for Knights.
While the resulting free-kick was fisted away impressively by Knight’s keeper Michael O’Farrell, the scenario of the sending off was arguably the turning point of the game.
As the game edged closer and closer to full-time, Knights pressed men forward in search of an equaliser, with the red card coming back to haunt them as South began to launch some dangerous counter attacks through the undermanned Knights defence.
Adams nodded home South’s fourth goal, celebrating with the travelling fans along the fence; the header had lessening the mood among the Knight’s grandstand.
That wasn’t helped when Miller capped off a great play by South to make it 5-2, finishing a close-range effort around the Knights defenders who were looking to block the shot.
Ultimately, all fans who travelled to Sunshine were treated to a high-scoring Melbourne Derby with plenty of excitement and drama to keep them content until next week.
South Melbourne return to Lakeside Stadium on Friday night where they face an under fire Pascoe Vale, whereas Melbourne Knights are looking to get back onto the winner’s list against an Avondale FC team who also play tonight against Bulleen Lions.