Melbourne Knights ensured its season would end with a bang rather than a whimper with a solid two-nil win over Finals contenders Brisbane Strikers at Somers Street on Sunday evening.
Rodrigo Vargas headed Knights into the lead just before the half-hour. Serkan Oksuz applied the killer blow two minutes from time as the Strikers committed resources to the attack in an effort to equalise.
But perhaps the greatest blow to the Strikers on the night was when Karl Dodd - a key player at the heart of the Strikers' defence - was stetchered off with an injury to his right knee just after the hour.
"I was just behind the incident," said Strikers' player-coach Stuart McLaren. "It was just one of those awkward moments where his body has gone one way and he's gone to turn the other way."
Dodd had a full knee reconstruction a year ago.
"It's (only) the second home win of the season," said a delighted Knights' coach Ian Dobson after the game. "But we thoroughly deserved to win the game."
"We weren't really allowed to settle," said McLaren. "Every time the ball dropped, it seemed to be Knights' players that were getting there first."
"Knights started very brightly, and once you're in that rythmn it's (easy) to maintain," he said.
Royce Brownlie was making some good runs during the half, and from one of his earliest, almost crafted an opener. Adrian Leijer had attempted a clearance as Brownlie approached only to see the ball crash off the Strikers' front-man and run handily for his follow-up chase. Tommi Tomich did well to close down the angle and make an effective block which Steve Pantelidis cleared.
Brownlie was to repeat this charging run throughout the first half, but Leijer and Pantelidis were quick to minimise the danger by crowding him out and marshalling him away from the danger area.
Knights too created some decent chances in an enterprising first period. Oksuz found space behind McLaren down the left on a number of occasions without being able to play the telling ball afterwards. But this was a Knights which was playing - as last week - with significantly more energy and commitment than was displayed a fortnight earlier in the Melbourne derby, and which deserved more than the small crowd in attendance to witness.
Once again, there was little at stake for Knights, playing - as they are - just to conclude their tenure as a national league club. However, although Knights cannot hope for Finals action this year despite its proud history as a contender during its NSL stint, Knights can still make an uncomfortable opponent for teams which do. Brisbane Strikers will now have some work to do to ensure its ability to play beyond February.
Although Knights' opening goal came from a corner, when Rodrigo Vargas headed in at the far post from his brother's well-flighted ball, its genesis was in a quickly taken free-kick by Leijer.
Leijer had spotted the potential of Ante Pelikan's run and sent him free before the Strikers' defence had regained their positions. As Pelikan was in the act of shooting, a last-ditch tackle conceded the corner which - at the time - seemed a less dangerous option. The Vargas brothers put paid to that thought.
The game opened up in the last half-hour. Knights was seeking the comfort of a second, and Strikers the goal that would bring them back into the contest.
"We had a chat at half-time, and we came out a bit more determined in the second-half," said McLaren. "But when you start a game a little below your best it's hard to drag yourself up to a higher level."
Pelikan for the Knights, and Josh McLoughlin and Warren Moon for the Strikers all had good chances as the game entered its final phase.
Pelikan's shot from 14 metres was blocked by Scott Higgins who had an effective game in goal for the Strikers. McLoughlin's header at the far-post from a Louis Brain corner almost reprised the Knights' goal, but instead flashed over the bar. And Moon, who had come on for Dodd but was played in a more advanced position, put a shot wide when he had ample time right in front but outside the penalty-area.
These misses were to prove costly as Knights extended the lead in the final minutes. A storming run up the middle was made by Pelikan with Henry Fa'arodo in support to his right, and Oksuz to his left. Playing a quick one-two with Fa'arodo, Pelikan had space to shoot. Higgins did well to block, but the ball fell neatly for Oksuz to sweep home.
Some standard protests were made by the Strikers' defence, claiming offside, but McLaren dismissed any objection in his post-match comments. "Clutching at straws," was his direct response. "I'd pushed up the park, and we got caught on the break a bit. It's the risk you take."
"We had pace coming off the bench," said Dobson. "It makes it quite dangerous, particularly when teams are pushing to equalise."
Oksuz had another chance in added-time after Fa'arodo sent a square all across the face of goal but the youngster's side-foot shot went just wide.