By Bill Molloy (@Bill_Molloy94)

Melbourne Knights has put its season back on track with a 3-1 win over Port Melbourne Sharks at Knights Stadium.

Nick Tzoulis opened the scoring for Port Melbourne before a rampant second half from the home side saw Daniel Visevic equalise early, before a late brace from Anthony Colosimo sealed the points.  
The hosts – who were coming off a seven-match losing streak - took control of the game early.

A pair of chances from Visevic showed the Knights’ intent as a free-kick just outside the box stung the palms of Adam Hrehoresin, followed a few minutes later by an equally venomous volley.

Despite the Knights creating the clearer opportunities early in the game, it was Port Melbourne which took the lead rather fortuitously as a curling corner from Tzoulis eluded Christopher May as it struck the back post and ended up in the bewildered ‘keeper’s goal.

Melbourne drew level almost immediately in the second half, as Colosimo found an unmarked Visevic in the box.

Visevic’s header seemed to take an eternity to find the back of the net but it was ultimately well placed.

Much like the first half, it was the Knights who were creating the chances and controlling general play.

The longer the game drew on, the more the Knights put pressure on Hrehoresin’s goal.

Finally with just under 10 minutes left, Colosimo found the decisive goal after a long spell of golden opportunities for the Knights.

Colosimo notched a second goal in stoppage time to put the icing on the cake and finally give the Knights faithful something to smile about.

Knights midfielder Tomislav Uskok played a crucial role in his side’s second-half resurgence and said it was good to be on a winning side again.

“It’s a long time coming but I think it [Knights’ winless streak] thoroughly deserved an end. The young boys really stepped up today and I think we played a really good game,” Uskok said.

Uskok said his side was unlucky to go into halftime behind, but was equally pleased he and his teammates were able to step up again in the second half.

“I thought we played really well first half, we kept the ball...it was a bit disheartening going in at halftime but we were pretty confident that we were going to win this game.”

Port Melbourne coach Eric Vassiliadis was less impressed with his side’s performance.

“Probably two key things. Number one; a lack of sheer desire and determination and want...and the second one was more pertinent for me; an inability to follow instructions,” Vassiliadis said.

Vassiliadis said he would reassess the performance and look forward to a better effort next week against Bentleigh Greens.

“We’ve shown already over the year that we’re inconsistent so we’re likely to come out and put in a good performance...we need to work on that, we need to have desire.”

MATCH DETAILS

Melbourne Knights 3 (Visevic 51’, Colosimo 81’, 90’) defeated Port Melbourne Sharks 1 (Tzoulis 31’) at Knights Stadium [HT: 0-1]

Melbourne Knights: 1. Christopher May (GK) 4. Ben Surey 5. Milan Batur 6. Tomislav Uskok 7. Daniel Visevic (18. Anthony Duzel 75’) 8. Leo Athanasiou (17. Michael Katiforis 90’) 11. Anthony Colosimo 12. Ivan Grgic 13. Antun Kovacic 16. Nikola Srbinovski 19. Luka Jurcic (2. Michael Simms 46’)

Unused subs: 25. Michael O’Farrell, 3. Dennis Koutroulis

Yellow Cards: 11. Anthony Colosimo (89’)

Red Cards: None

Port Melbourne Sharks: 1. Adam Hrehoresin (GK) 20. Milos Ridesic (19. Lisandro Paz 83’) 6. Chris Grossman 7. Amadu Koroma 15. Stefan Nigro (23. Connor Redden 70’) 5. Nick Tzoulis (10. Luka Prelevic 63’) 27. Andrew Milicevic 14. Kamal Ibrahim 9. Kevin Braniff 26. Lambros Honos 11. Nicholas Krousoratis

Unused subs: 22. Alexander Connell, 18. Joshua Kweifio-Okai

Yellow Cards: None

Red Cards: None

Pictured: Knights goalscorer Anthony Colosimo celebrates his brace (Image credit: Alen Delic, FFV)