Closing in … Ridvan Saglam fends the ball off his Dandenong opponent. 60514
By Dejan Kalinic
MELBOURNE Knights fell to a hard-fought 1-0 loss against Dandenong Thunder in the opening round of the Victorian Premier League on Sunday.
The home side failed to create any clear-cut chances and were punished when Thunder midfielder Chris Taylor scrambled home the only goal of the game in the 71st minute.
Knights coach Ivan Duzel was disappointed with his team’s performance after they were outplayed through the middle of the park in the second half.
“The performance was not good enough. The tempo wasn’t good, the passes weren’t there and we didn’t create any chances,” Duzel said.
“I believe we have to learn a lot from this game.”
After a solid first half showing, the Knights were outdone by Thunder’s diamond midfield in the second period.
Duzel said he wasn’t sure why his midfield lost momentum, allowing Dandenong to take control of the match.
“I don’t know the reason why our midfield dropped a little bit (and) that was my problem,” he said.
“I believe my defence was good and attacking part was a little bit out of the game because the balls weren’t delivered and there were a lot of mistakes.”
The Knights looked dangerous in spurts in the first half and carved out the best of the chances in the opening period.
The lively Ridvan Saglam crossed from the left hand side, narrowly missing Daniel Dragicevic who had made a run into the area.
But as the Thunder dominated possession in the second half they begun to create chances and Luke Sherbon went closest to opening the scoring in the 62nd minute.
The lively midfielder struck a stinging shot with the outside of his right boot from the edge of the area, beating Knights keeper Martin John but hitting the post.
Moments after being introduced, Alex Rojas set up what proved to be the winner with an in-swinging free kick from the left hand side.
The Knights defence failed to clear their lines, allowing Taylor to hit his shot into the roof of the net on his Thunder debut.
Duzel’s team travels to Northcote City in round two on Saturday.
Green Gully was forced to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against South Melbourne with Brent Fisher scoring the second half equaliser.
St Albans did the same as Liam Cannell scored a 75th minute leveller to secure a 1-1 draw against 10-man Hume City.
