Melbourne Knights won the battle of the basement against Football Kingz at Somers Street on Wednesday evening. Captain Andrew Marth converted from close-in as the first half drew to an end for the only goal of the game.
"I was very disappointed," said Kingz' coach Tommy Mason at the post-game media-conference. "It was a game we were trying to get something from - the way the game went it could have been about eight-seven in Knights' favour."
Knights' coach Ian Dobson was understandably happier at the outcome. "The three points was very important to us. We've got to try and pick-up points. We don't believe we are out of the season yet."
Goal-scorer and captain Marth had returned to the Knights earlier than expected from a family commitment to cover the absence of Steve Pantelidis who was concussed during the previous weekend's game in Wollongong.
"I went away for a week," said Marth after the game. "I thought I would have been a bit underdone, but I was quite happy with my performance today. Once I'm out there, I give one hundred percent."
"(Marth) had a point to prove today and he did that," said Dobson of his returning captain. "He had family commitments - it was a decision that he decided. It wasn't something I agreed upon, but he got his opportunity back into the team this week."
This was a battle between the bottom and second-bottom teams in the league, and regardless of the result, neither would escape their positions.
Although the game took a long time to get alight, when it did, it well outshone its bottom of the table billing. In a ten-minute patch at the end of the first half, both teams created some fine goal-scoring opportunities, the majority of which fell Knights' way, and one of them converted.
Marth had regularly made his move from the back, and as first-half regulation time drew to a close, he managed to convert from close-range.
The move started innocently enough with a throw from Ante Kovacic who played a swift one-two with Kris Trajanovski. Once the ball had been returned to Kovacic he swiftly sent in a cross which looked very poor off the boot due to its low trajectory and the number of Kingz' defenders in the box. But with one either side of Marth, it was Marth who was first to deal effectively with it by sending it into the net with the outside of his boot.
"The goal was just a tap-in," said Marth. "It was a mistake by two defenders in the box and the ball just fell to me." "It was probably the easiest one I've ever scored."
Just two minutes later, Knights could have extended its lead when Rodrigo Vargas sent a ball up the line to Trajanovski, who in turn saw Stanko Zilic in a good position more centrally. Zilic attempted to loop his shot over Kingz' keeper Ross Nicholson, but watched as it only narrowly cleared the bar.
As first-half added time continued, Peter Buljan sent a Trajanovski cross into the side netting from a near-post position.
Just prior to this period of Knights' dominance, Jeremy Christie had a golden opportunity to give Kingz the lead. After a mazy run which took him past three static Knights' defenders and with only Knights' giant goalkeeper Tommi Tomich to beat, his shot went just by the post.
Kingz' long-serving midfielder Harry Ngata was the impetus behind most of Kingz' more effective moments, and despite his veteran status in the league, still provides the work-rate that drives his team.
The sparkling end to the match was in sharp contrast to its start. Other then a fourth minute chance which fell to Andrew Vargas who had beaten a poorly-set Kingz' offside trap, there was little being created. But two good opportunities had been spurned by Knights in the middle of the half.
Buljan had sent a header past the post from one yard out after Marth had set him up. Trajanovski had also missed, after man-of-the-match Billy Natsioulas had set him up with a cross from the right, sending his header off the post.
Natsioulas was substituted by Dobson with around twenty minutes left to play, much to the displeasure of the small but vocal Knights' crowd. "He was totally shattered," said Dobson of the hard-working Natsioulas. "He ran out of legs."
Such was Natsioulas' influence on the game, Kingz' was compelled to make a change at the interval to switch around the defence Natsioulas confronted. "We were getting into trouble down (Natsioulas') side. I tried to stem that flow a little bit and to some extent that worked in the second half."