Sharks sink Cannons after second half collapse
By Brandon Galgano (@bgalgano94)
Port Melbourne has heaped further misery on a sorry Oakleigh Cannons outfit, with a sensational 4-0 victory over last season’s PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria runners-up at JL Murphy Reserve on Friday night.
A brilliant double for the in-form Kamal Ibrahim and a brace from substitute Nick Krousoratis saw the hosts come away with the unexpected result.
It was actually the visiting side that had the upper hand early, with Goran Zoric breaking forward in the opening seconds of the match, crossing the ball back into the area before an effort from Dusan Bosnjak was tipped over the bar by Stjepan Gal.
Dom D’Angelo was the next to go close for the visitors in the 21st minute but his fizzing effort from the edge of the area flew just wide of the top corner.
John Black was the closest to opening the scoring for the visitors with the left back driving a low free kick into the base of the post with Gal nowhere near it.
The game almost reached boiling point right on the half time whistle as John Honos was cleaned up by the onrushing Shaun Kelly, with Oakleigh’s defenders taking exception to the challenge.
Oakleigh then had cries for a penalty turned down early in the second half as Andrew Milicevic seemingly used his hand as Bosnjak tried to flick the ball past the right back in the area, only for the referee to wave play on.
Just two minutes later, Port Melbourne winger Ibrahim stepped up with some real quality.
The former Melbourne Heart youngster found space on the edge of the area to smash the ball into the top left hand corner past Honos to open the scoring in the 50th minute.
Just 13 minutes later he made it two with yet another sensational strike; this time it was from a free kick with Ibrahim caressing the ball over the wall and into the bottom corner.
With Oakleigh on the back foot, a late double from substitute Nick Krousoratis merely added further misery in a dismal second half collapse from the Cannons.
Match Details:
Port Melbourne 4 (Ibrahim 50’, 63’ Krousoratis 86’, 90+1’) Defeated Oakleigh 0 at JL Murphy Reserve.
Port Melbourne XI: 1 Stjepan GAL, 2 Andrew VIOLA, 19 Shaun KELLY ©, 16 Alan KEARNEY, 5 Nick TZOULIS, 14 Kamal IBRAHIM, 22 Ryan OPPERMAN (20 Julius DAVIES 88’), 6 Chris GROSSMAN, 10 Andrew MILICEVIC, 15 Erhan YALAZ (11 Nick KROUSORATIS 71’), 9 Trent RIXON (8 Brent FISHER 67’),
Unused Substitutes: 25 Michael STARK, 21 Rayane FINIHI
Oakleigh XI: 76 John HONOS, 3 John BLACK (21 Kristopher KOUSSIS 55’), 5 Aaron Wilford, 6 Steve PANTELIDIS, 18 Adam LE CORNU, 11 Evan CHRISTODOULOU, 23 Dominic D’ANGELO, 26 Lampros HONOS, 8 Dusan BOSNJAK, 19 Goran ZORIC, 16 Liam BOLAND (10 Dean PIEMONTE 58’)
Unused Substitutes: 35 Lajos HUN, 12 Tremayne SADLER, 15 Jake McLEAN
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