Photo: John Punshon/Goal! Weekly
It was a tale of late goals and high drama in the NPL2 East as a late goals gave Dandenong City a come-from-behind victory, Kingston City a reprieve after earlier seeing a 2-0 lead falter and Brandon Barnes his fifth hat-trick of the season.
***
White Eagles valiant but Kingston class shines through
A spirited comeback at 2-0 down wasn’t enough for the Springvale White Eagles to claim a share of the spoils, as a late Jerry Karpeh goal gave Kingston City a 3-2 win at White Eagles Stadium.
2-0 down at half-time, goals to Dejan Erakovic and Damir Stoilovic restored parity for Springvale only for Karpeh to turn in a header for an 81st minute winner.
The early running was with the White Eagles, with winger John Pykett just missing the target with a free-kick, while Stoilovic and Erakovic sent shots over the bar.
However, it was Kingston who opened the scoring through Rowan McNamee, who flicked a back heel in from close range.
The Eagles were shocked into submission by the goal, as such they soon conceded a second to a Kingston side who grew into the contest as the half wore on.
Mitrovic was the man to capitalise in the 31st minute to make it 2-0 with a powerful effort.
He nearly had a second after deceiving Lajos Oliveira with a moving effort, which was palmed down and safely held by the Springvale shot-stopper.
Karpeh got amongst the action as the half-time whistle approached, first helping a ball towards Slaven Vranesevic to shoot wide, then glancing a header towards goal, which was well saved by the Springvale custodian.
The start of the second half saw the hosts strike back with two goals in the opening 10 minutes, first through Erakovic who turned a Pykett cross in from inside the penalty area to halve the deficit.
A scramble on the City goal line preceded the eventual equaliser on 55 minutes, as youngster Stoilovic poked home from close range.
It didn’t appear to be Kingston’s day, after they saw a brilliant chance go begging after Muad Zwed hit the upright after breaking clear of the White Eagles defence.
However, his blushes were spared just nine minutes from time as an unmarked Karpeh steered a powerful header home for the eventual winner, coming from an immaculate cross from Velibor Mitrovic.
Late flourish keeps Dandy City’s promotion hopes alive
Three goals in 13 minutes saw Dandenong City emphatically turn a 1-0 deficit to Goulburn Valley Suns into a crucial 3-1 victory at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex.
The Suns shone bright in the early stages of the contest, on a surprisingly warm Winter afternoon, and they hit the lead after 37 minutes through skipper Cody Sellwood.
Looking likely to run out with the three points, a 77th minute equaliser from skipper John Carroll gave the hosts a reprieve, before they were soon sent to the spot with the chance to win the game.
Dario Matkovic made no mistake in converting from the penalty spot to give them the lead, with David Morovic making sure of the result in injury time with a third to seal an important three points in the hunt for a promotion play-off spot.
Counting Benjamins after youngster’s multiple goal haul for Thunder
A fifth hat-trick of the season to Brandon Barnes took a back seat in Dandenong Thunder’s a 5-0 win over Murray United, as 16-year-old Godwill Benjamin netted a first half brace in just his second ever NPL Victoria start.
He took just four minutes to open the scoring by poking home from a goal mouth scramble, before doubling the dose soon after by latching onto a lofted ball and finishing.
Barnes netted in between Benjamin’s two goals, his first of the afternoon coming from a beautiful curling effort to beat Dylan Nikolovski in goals.
The Englishman converted twice more in the final moments of the game to complete his hat-trick and round out a 5-0 scoreline.
Gow goal gives Box Hill first win in seven starts
NPL2 2016 Box Hill v Eastern Lions from Eastern Lions Soccer Club on Vimeo.
Box Hill United broke a six-game winless streak with a narrow 1-0 win over eighth-placed Eastern Lions at Wembley Park on Saturday afternoon.
The winning goal came courtesy of Jack Gow who launched a deflected shot towards goal from an Alex Schroen cross, which forced Eastern Lions’ Rob Havercroft to scramble back to stop the shot dipping into the goal.
Gow spotted a second opportunity and followed up his initial effort to give Box Hill a confidence building victory.
Early dominance allows Brunswick to cruise to victory over Nuna
In an uninspiring contest, Brunswick City strolled to a 3-0 victory over cellar-dwellers Nunawading City, their 19th loss of the NPL2 East season.
Two goals within the space of a minute set up a relatively comfortable result from the get go, with Welshman Adam Wright on hand to profit from a turnover in possession from Nunawading, before Jack Dalla Via scored almost immediately from the restart to double the lead.
Matt Murphy rounded off the result on the hour mark with a strong finish, to extend Brunswick’s seven-game unbeaten run.