Port Melbourne condems Gully to sixth consecutive loss with comeback win
By MARISSA LORDANIC (@maridanic_)
Port Melbourne has condemned Green Gully to its sixth consecutive loss with a 2-1 win at Green Gully Reserve.
Gully’s Roddy Vargas opened the scoring before Port’s Kamal Ibrahim equalised. Substitute Julius Davies secured the win with a goal in the 63rd minute.
The hosts began the match brightly, with Omar Abdigafar present in everything. The young winger was able to register a cross, beat the Port defence after a fantastic run down the right, take a shot on goal and earn his side a corner in the opening 11 minutes.
Gully capitalised on this early dominance in the 14th minute when Vargas found himself free at the far post from a corner to head the ball past Port goalkeeper Michael Stark.
The home side looked to double its advantage, continuing to attack the wings and earn set pieces in good positions.
Port Melbourne made an early substitution with Mitchell Walsh coming off for Julius Davies, with the equaliser coming six minutes later from a set piece.
The initial corner was cleared by the Gully defence before Jamie Riccobene’s second cross was coolly finished by Kamal Ibrahim, scoring his fifth goal of the season.
The windy conditions at the ground began to show with both sides’ set piece opportunities affected by the breeze.
Ibrahim’s free kick in the 32nd minute had some of the pace taken off it as it headed directly into the wind, while Muriqi’s effort down the other end had some extra power in it.
At the restart, the teams continued to earn set pieces but failed to convert.
The Sharks came the closest to scoring, with Alan Kearney’s corner picking out Nicholas Krousoratis. His header hit the side netting.
The visitors then appeared to have taken the lead, with Ibrahim’s cross finding Brent Fisher, but his header into the back of the net was deemed to be offside.
Two minutes later, the Sharks had their winner. Substitute Julius Davies’ shot just inside the box took a slight deflection off a Gully defender, leaving Gully goalkeeper Rani Dowisha unable to react in time.
Gully was unable to find an equaliser in the remaining 25 minutes, allowing Port to pick up a much needed three points after five games without a win.
Match Details
Green Gully 1 (Vargas 14’) defeated by Port Melbourne 2 (Ibrahim 27’, Davies 63’) at Green Gully Reserve
Green Gully: 23. Rani Dowisha, 3. Aaron Cohen, 4. Daniel Jones, 5. Rodrigo Vargas, 6. Jem Berkant, 7. Liam Scott, 10. Rinor Muriqi (2. Matthew Reid 70’), 11. Matthew Breeze, 13. Omar Abdigafar (9. Nikola Markovski 80’), 14. Amadu Koroma, 17. Alon Blumgart (8. Tomas Murphy 80’),
Unused Subs: 1. Sebastian Mattei, 15. Muhammed Uzumcu
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Port Melbourne: 25. Michael Stark, 16. Alan Kearney, 14. Kamal Ibrahim, 6. Chris Grossman, 2. Andrew Viola, 19. Shaun Kelly, 3. James Riccobene (10. Andrew Milicevic 69’), 11. Nicholas Krousoratis, 22. Ryan Opperman, 8. Brent Fisher (9. Trent Rixon 82’), 21. Mitchell Walsh (20. Julius Davies 24’)
Unused Subs: 1. Stjepan Gal, 17. Erhan Yalaz
Yellow Cards: Milicevic 67’
Red Cards: None
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