By Bill Molloy (@Bill_Molloy94)

Oakleigh Cannons took advantage of an undermanned Melbourne Knights and kept its unbeaten record intact with a comfortable 3-1 win at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night.

Goals from Nate Foster, Goran Zoric and a Dusan Bosnjak penalty saw the Cannons keep the pressure on South Melbourne at the top of the table, while Milan Batur’s goal for the Knights was merely a consolation.

Such was the bad luck for Andrew Marth’s Melbourne Knights that there was yet another injury blow prior to kick-off.

Samuel Torrens strained his hamstring in the pre-match warm-up, forcing Michael Simms to replace him in a late change.

“Just in the warm-up he goes ‘Andrew, I’ve done my hamstring...it’s not good’,” Marth said.

The game started at a frenetic tempo and it was Oakleigh which had the majority of the chances, hitting the crossbar and the post in the space of five minutes.

There was also a heavy appeal for a penalty on the half-hour mark as the Oakleigh players and coach Miron Bleiberg were adamant the ball had struck the hand of a Knights defender.

Bleiberg was disappointed the assistant referee failed to call it.

“My eyesight is not as good over the years and I saw it from the other side of the field and the lineswoman was that close. I think it was a matter of bravery...maybe another assistant referee would have called it,” Bleiberg said.

Nonetheless, Oakleigh managed to find a well deserved goal through Foster late in the first half. The Canadian striker sneaked past the Knights defence and tucked the ball into the back of the net.

The Knights players were clearly getting frustrated in the second half as the tempo dropped off, but was replaced with many heavy challenges.

Their frustration was compounded when Zoric scored just before the hour mark, as a quick counter-attack saw the striker played through to a one-on-one with goalkeeper Christopher May.

The Knights worked their way back into the game as Batur crept forward to give the visitors a glimmer of hope. The opportunity was well taken and may give Marth a new attacking outlet as first-choice strikers Jacob Colosimo and Rodrigo Covarrubias remain on the sidelines with knee injuries.

“It’s always hard when you lose four strikers that you signed at the beginning of the season...we decided to put Milan (Batur) up front to give us some strength and height and it paid dividends,” Marth said.

The goal was cancelled out shortly after however, as Zoric went down in the box and the referee awarded a penalty to the hosts.

Dusan Bosnjak stepped up to the spot and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom-left corner.

Bleiberg was happy with the result and praised his team’s effort.

“It wasn’t easy because we played against a wounded animal. (Melbourne) Knights is a proud club but results haven’t gone their way recently...when you play against a team like this that are desperate, it’s never easy,” Bleiberg said.

MATCH DETAILS

Oakleigh Cannons 3 (Foster 39’, Zoric 58’, Bosnjak pen. 78’) defeated Melbourne Knights 1 (Batur 74’) at Jack Edwards Reserve [HT: 1-0]

Oakleigh Cannons: 1. John Honos 22. George Krommidas 5. Aron Wilford 18. Adam Le Cornu 7. Bonel Obradovic 21. Andreas Govas (10. Veton Korcari 59’) 11. Evan Christodoulou 23. Dominic D’Angelo 14. Nathaniel Foster (4. Ian Kamau 70’) 8. Dusan Bosnjak (17. Dean Piemonte 80’) 19. Goran Zoric

Unused Subs: 35. Evan Kraloglou 25. Stelios Konstantinidis

Yellow Cards: 7. Bonel Obradovic (71’)

Red Cards: None

Melbourne Knights: 1. Christopher May 2. Michael Simms 4. Ben Surey 5. Milan Batur 6. James McGarry 7. Daniel Visevic 11. Anthony Colosimo (8. Adrian Barresi 81’) 13. Antun Kovacic 17. Nikola Srbinovski 18. Anthony Duzel (12. Ivan Grgic 64’) 19. Shayan Alinejad

Unused Subs: 25. Michael O’Farrell 10. Billy Kathopoulis 14. Leo Athanasiou

Yellow Cards: Milan Batur (11’) Antun Kovacic (76’)

Red Cards: None

Image credit: Peter Psarros