By Matthew Conversano

Melbourne Knights prevailed 2-0 winners on Sunday afternoon as they defeated Hume City in a one-sided PS4 NPL Victoria contest at Knights Stadium.

A first half full of goalmouth action saw goals from Stipo Andrijasevic and Robbie Zadworny which was enough to secure the three points for the hosts.

As was to be expected in this contest between two attacking sides, the game came to life right from the get go leading to a goal within the opening three minutes of play.

A brilliant touch from Zadworny took two defenders out of play as he darted into the box and topped off a terrific solo effort with a classy finish into the bottom corner.

The goal proved to be a catalyst for an open and attacking first half of football.

Just three minutes after the opener, Hume’s Theo Markelis streamed through the middle of the park and released a strike just outside the 18 yard box. However his strike was comfortably caught by Knights custodian Chris May.

Knights looked sure to extend their lead after 25 minutes best as a pin point through ball from James McGarry found Andrijasevic whose shot was deflected wide by Hume keeper Chris Oldfield.

With only a minute remaining in the first half, Knights doubled their lead thanks to a handball from Petar Franjic which left referee with no choice but to award a penalty to the hosts.

Andrijasevic stepped up confidently and converted the spot kick with a firm strike right down the middle of the goal.

The second half in comparison to the first was a fairly dull affair as Knights looked to nullify the opposition and hit on the counter.

The first real chance of the half fell to Hume as an over hit cross from Hegarty found Markelis at the back post whose subsequent cross found the head of Shroen.

However his header from six yards flew high of the mark.

Despite a large number of counter attacks from Knights, they failed to convert these into shots on target during the second half.

Knights most dangerous attack of the second half fell to Andrijasevic as he burst into the box following a through ball from McGarry and was seemingly chopped down by Hume defender Shane Rexhepi.

Despite it looking a more obvious foul than the previous penalty awarded to Knights, the referee waved play on.

The win sees Knights state their claim for a top three finish.

MATCH DETAILS

 

Melbourne Knights 2 (Zadworny 5’, Andrijasevic 45’) defeated Hume City 0 at Knights Stadium, Sunshine North

 

 

 

Melbourne Knights: 1. Chris May (GK), 12. Ivan Grgic, 6. Tomislav Uskok, 5. Milan Batur, 11. Anthony Colosimo, 4. Ben Surey, 15. Alex Dao ( 2. Luke Jurcic 88’), 8. James McGarry, 17. Robbie Zadworny (7. Chris Talajic 81’), 21. Stipo Andrijasevic, 14. Luis Covarrubias (10. Marijan Cvitkovic 26’)

 

 

 

Unused Subs: 25. Michael O’Farrell

 

Yellow Cards: Batur 11’, Zadworny 65’

Red Cards: Nil

 

 Hume City: 1. Chris Oldfield (GK), 12. Daniel Clark, 13. Shane Rexhepi (23. Josh Markovski 80’), 17. Marcus Shroen, 11. Ivan Pavlak (15. Liam Newman 54’), 5. Petar Franjic, 3. Shaun Timmins, 39. Nick Hegarty, 7. Jai Ingham, 4. Isyan Erdogan, 8. Theo Markelis

 

 Unused Subs: 20. Tom Banfield, 16. Matt Hennessy, 21. Niko Jackson-Tserexidis,

 

 Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil