By Bill Molloy (@Bill_Molloy94)

Northcote City and Melbourne Knights shared the points in a 1-1 draw at John Cain Memorial Reserve on Sunday.

A Jonathan Munoz free kick was cancelled out by Shayan Alinejad early in the second half and the goalkeepers starred at each end to ensure their teams came away with at least a point.

Northcote controlled play in the opening stages and after 20 minutes it was able to convert its dominance into a goal when Munoz curled a magnificent free kick into the top corner from 25 meters that left Knights ‘keeper Chris May with no chance.

The Knights had a chance to equalise at the end of the half as Tomislav Uskok found himself on the end of Daniel Visevic’s free kick, but the assistant referee’s flag was raised as the ball had struck his arm on the way into the goal.

A few minutes later the visitors had another opportunity as Milan Batur struck the upright, but the ball stayed out.

Melbourne made good on its next chance early in the second half as Alinejad played Visevic through on goal.

The shot was parried by Chris Theodoridis but Alinejad finished what he started, pouncing on the rebound and tucking away the equaliser.

Northcote had a chance to regain its lead a few minutes later after Trent Rixon was dragged down in the box.

James Kalifatidis stepped up to take the penalty but the effort was well saved by May, as he dived down low to his right to deny Northcote a second goal.

As the game drew on, both teams pressed for a winner and with five minutes remaining Alinejad was denied after a great save from Theodoridis saw the one-on-one opportunity palmed out for a corner.

May upstaged him however, as Rixon had a chance to win the game for Northcote deep in stoppage time, but his volley was spectacularly tipped away by the Knights custodian, who leapt high to reach the shot and make sure the points were shared between the teams.

Northcote coach Goran Lozanovski was ultimately disappointed with the result but heaped praise on each of the goalkeepers.

“He (Christopher May) was called upon when he needed to be...and does what he does best,” Lozanovski said.

“They (Knights) had their one-on-one breakthrough and he (Chris Theodoridis) pulled off a great save and obviously kept us in the game.”

Looking ahead to next week, Lozanovski said his side could steal points from an in-form Bentleigh Greens.

“We’re looking forward to next week’s game against Bentleigh who are flying high, and we’ll see if we can go there and upset them,” he said.

Knights midfielder Leo Athanasiou was happy with the performance in the second half.

“The second half was much better. We went out and did what we had to do and got a point, possibly could’ve got three but it could’ve gone either way so I’m happy with the draw in the end,” Athanasiou said.

Christopher Antoniadis and Michael Doyle made their debuts for Knights and Athanasiou was pleased for his new teammates.

“Michael was very good at right back, he was strong. I saw Chris play in the reserves, he looks like a good player. I think he’s struggling with fitness but I’m sure he’ll get up,” Athanasiou said.

The Knights will now turn their attention to Wednesday night’s Dockerty Cup quarter final against South Melbourne, with the winner to qualify for the Westfield FFA Cup.

MATCH DETAILS

NORTHCOTE CITY 1 (Munoz 20’) drew MELBOURNE KNIGHTS 1 (Alinejad 49’) at John Cain Memorial Reserve [HT: 1-0]

Northcote City: 22. Chris Theodoridis (GK) 11. Liam Wooding 7. Jonathan Munoz 10. Marino Gasparis (23. Jonathan Bounas 62’) 16. Greg Lombardo 3. Tremayne Sadler 14. Michael Catalano ( 15. Wade Dekker 71’) 4. Kristian Konstantinidis 8. James Kalifatidis 9. Trent Rixon 5. Philip Petreski (2. Adrian Chiappetta 13’)

Unused subs: 1. Luke Gavalas 21. Ersin Kaya

Yellow cards: None

Red Cards: None

Melbourne Knights: 1. Christopher May (GK) 3. Samuel Torrens 4. Ben Surey 5. Milan Batur 6. Tomislav Uskok 7. Daniel Visevic 8. Leo Athanasiou (17. Christopher Antoniadis 75’) 12. Ivan Grgic 13. Antun Kovacic 14. Michael Doyle 19. Shayan Alinejad

Unused subs: 25. Michael O'Farrell 2. Michael Simms 10. Marijan Cvitkovic 18. Nikola Srbinovski

Yellow cards: None

Red cards: None

Image credit: John Punson/Goal! Weekly