Oakleigh cannon past the Knights

VPL Match of the Round by Liam Coventry-Poole

Coming off of two consecutive defeats, Oakleigh have overcome a late Melbourne Knights' surge to win 2-1 at Knights Stadium.

The Knights were without key forward, Jean-Charles Dubois, and couldn’t match it with the Cannons in the first half.



A late Melbourne surge for an equaliser wasn’t enough to clench a point as the Cannons held out to take all three points.

Oakleigh dominated the first 45 minutes and should have opened the scoring through Ricky Diaco in the 9th minute.

Back from injury Meyer Carlos De Camargo Junior didn’t have the best of starts, giving away the ball on the last line of defence and allowing Diaco to break through on the left of the area, blasting the ball into the goal post.

Dane Milovanovic made up for Diaco’s missed opportunity one minute later, opening the scoring with a simple tap in on the goal mouth.

Oakleigh continued to press for a second goal, even striking the crossbar in the 36th minute.

The Knights created a rare opportunity to open their account in the 40th minute when Jacob Colosimo broke through into the box to go one out with Peter Zois.

Zois was equal to the challenge, making a great close range save to deny the Knights an equaliser.

The Knights chances were deflated on the edge of half time when Stephen Hatzikostas scored Oakleigh’s second of the half.

The goal left the Knights defenders red faced after Hatzikostas’ long range free-kick skipped through the box, beating everyone, eventually rolled into Martin John’s net.

The Cannons should have had a third seconds before the half time whistle when Craig Goodwin headed the ball into the path of James Downey on the goal mouth but Downey couldn’t get enough power on his header, making for a simple save for Martin John.

It didn’t take long for the Knights to respond after the break, Josip Kozic scoring one of his trademark kicks from the spot.

The referee awarded the penalty after Peter Zois brought down Daniel Dragicevic, receiving a yellow card for his troubles.

The Knights had another appeal for a penalty in the 57th minute when their players erupted in an appeal for handball against Oakleigh’s Luke Walker. It appeared that he had used his arm to play the ball back to Peter Zois in goal however he waved away the claims for a penalty and Oakleigh cleared the danger.

Oakleigh came close to closing out the match in the 66th minute when a corner found its way through a barrage of bodies, only to fall to James Downey at the back post who once again failed to finish.

He was unable to shoot past the desperate Knights defenders who successfully cleared the ball off the line.

Daniel Dragicevic almost equalised with a long range attempt from outside the area in the 73rd minute.

Dragicevic’s shot had beaten Peter Zois but only began to dip at the last moment, smashing against the crossbar.

The Knights created one last chance to equalise in the 77th minute. Daniel Dragicievic’s ball across goal almost found a waiting Jacob Colosimo, who opted for a back heel, missing the ball completely and allowing for the Cannons to escape another Melbourne surge for a an equaliser.

The final whistle was welcomed by a sigh of relief from the Oakleigh supporters bringing an end to their two match losing streak.

The win takes Oakleigh up the third spot, sitting on 16 points alongside the Dandenong Thunder and one point behind league leaders, South Melbourne.

The loss leaves the Knights in 9th spot with eight points, only two points clear of the drop zone.

Oakleigh have a quick turnaround, facing a besieged St Albans outfit at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night while the Knights face fellow strugglers Heidelberg United at Olympic Village next Sunday night.


Melbourne Knights: Martin JOHN (GK), Shaun ROMEIN (Craig SWEENEY 70’), Ryan FILIPOVIC, Ben SUREY, Meyer Carlos DE CAMARGO JUNIOR, Ridvan SAGLAM (Leo SHIN 46’), Josip KOZIC, Anthony COLOSIMO, Daniel DRAGICEVIC, Adam ZILIC (Yusuf YUSUF 46’), Jacob COLOSIMO. Unused subs: Aaron ROMEIN, Josip MAGDIC.

Goals: Kozic (51').

Yellow cards: Kozic (37').

Oakleigh Cannons: Peter ZOIS (GK), Bonel OBRADOVIC, Anthony BRAN, Craig GOODWIN (Melvin BECKET 70’), Dane MILOVANOVIC (Billy DAMIANOS 55’), Frankie LAGANA, James DOWNEY, Luke WALKER, Ramazan TAVSANCIOGLI, Ricky DIACO (Neven ANTIC 80’), Stephen HATZIKOSTAS. Unused Subs: Daniel NEESHAM, Jeremy WALKER.

Goals: Dane Milovanovic (11'), Lagana (40').

Yellow cards: Zois (51'), Diaco (68'), Stephen Hatzikostas (73').

Match Highlights courtesy of Football Federation Victoria, if you have yet to check out their site we highly recommend you do so!