 Lions
begin its 50th anniversary year with a tight loss to
Knights
Tuesday 03
March 2009
(Roy
Hay, Goal Weekly)
-
Cameron
Watson broke the hearts of the Preston Lions, as he scored
two late goals to steal all the points from a gallant
Lions outfit at BT Connor Reserve on Sunday.
Both Preston Lions and the Melbourne Knights have had
major squad changes during the off-season and fielded
plenty of new faces.
Former St Albans Saints duo Damir Salcin and Ivan
Filipovic made their debuts for the Lions and Serkan Oksuz
also returned back to the club, while for the Knights no
less then five players made debuts. Defender John
Fitzgerald (Galway United, Ireland), Josh Groenewald
(Heidelberg), Greg Draper (Wellington Phoenix), Dimi
Hatzimouratis (Western Suburbs) and Frankie Lagana
(Oakleigh Cannons) all starting the match.
It was the Knights who started the stronger with Alex
Kiratzoglou and Frankie Lagana seeing early efforts go
wide. However it didnt take long for some of the familiar
Preston veterans to start clicking. Blaze Georgioski
setting up Robert Dolevski who saw his chip successfully
beat Ozdemir in the Knights goal, but agonizingly bounce
back of the crossbar.
Minutes later Georgioski saw his close range effort flash
just wide after some good work from Captain Michael
Bosevski set up the chance.
The new Knights strike duo of Draper and Groenewald
combined well, with Draper setting up Groenewald for a
goal only for the assistant referee to rule out the goal.
Preston
Lions squad wearing 50th Anniversary Strip
That was as good as it got in the first half, as both
teams failed to truly test the opposition goalkeeper.
Early in the second half Draper wasted a golden
opportunity from fifteen yards out, blazing over the bar
after a good run from Hatzimouratis set up the chance.
At the other end Serkan Oksuz was having a nightmare,
having been kept quiet by the Knights defence for much of
the game, the striker had two opportunities within a
minute, but was let down by poor first touches which
summed up his night.
The game
looked like it was heading for a dull goalless draw, when
it suddenly burst to life in the last fifteen minutes. An
inconspicuous long from was not dealt by the Knights
defence and allowed Blaze Georgioski to calmly chip the
ball over a stranded Ozdemir and give the Lions a 75th
minute lead.
Performers
of Macedonian Cultural Artistic Assocations Goce Delcev
and Svetlost
Mate Dugandzic who returned from Croatian champions Dinamo
Zagreb, and youngster Tedros Yabio was thrown on to give
the Knights that extra flair upfront. It worked a treat as
the duo created major headaches for the Preston backline,
who conceded a dangerous free on the edge of the box in
the 85th minute. Up stepped Cameron Watson who expertly
placed his shot over the wall and into the top corner.
The drama didnt end there however, as Preston captain
Michael Bosevski was given a straight red card in injury
time for a dangerous tackle. It only for worse for the
Lions, as a blunder between goalkeeper and defender in the
94th minute allowed Cameron Watson to slot the ball into
an empty net and snatch all three points.
The loss was
harsh on Preston, as a draw would have been the more fair
result. Next week Preston faces Altona Magic on Saturday
night at Paisley Reserve, whilst the Knights take on
Richmond at Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Friday night.
PRESTON LIONS FC: Salcin, Bosevski, Dolevski (Arsovski
76), Najdovski, Filipovic, Micovski (Ladnjak 66),
Georgioski, Miskas, Popovic, Oksuz (No 23?? 83), Tolevski.
Goals: Georgioski 75
Cautions: Miskas 45, Tolevski 57.
Red Cards: Bosevski 90.
MELBOURNE KNIGHTS: Ozdemir, Elvin, Cumming,
Fitzgerald, Grbesa, Watson, Groenewald (Dugandzic 65),
Draper (Cannell 90), Hatzimouratis, Lagana (Yabio 74),
Kiratzoglou.
Goals: Watson 75 94.
Cautions: Lagana 57, Fitzgerald 70, Yabio 90.
Red Cards: None.
Crowd: 2,000 (unofficial) at
BT Connor Reserve
Photo's:
Nome Risteski |
