By Brad Hutchings (@BradHutchings_)

Melbourne Knights survived a late scare to defeat Werribee City 4-2 at Galvin Park on Sunday afternoon.

The win was seen as payback for the Knights, who suffered a shock, controversial Round 3 defeat at the hands of Werribee in a match they should have won.

Two goals in the opening five minutes set the Knights well on their way to victory as they pushed Werribee from the opening whistle.

The visitors looked to have the match wrapped up with two further goals in the second half, before Werribee was given a sniff of a comeback when Tomislav Uskok received his second yellow in the 65th minute.

Werribee pushed hard in the dying stages of the match but ultimately fell short as it slumped to its third-straight defeat.

Those in attendance had barely settled into their viewing points when the Knights opened the scoring in just the fourth minute.

Stipo Andrijasevic got the Knights off to a perfect start when he found the back of the net when Werribee couldn’t clear the ball out of defence.

The early action didn’t end there when Ben Surey made it two barely two minutes after with his deflected shot getting the better of Tommy Dunn in the Werribee goal.

The Knights dominated the first half of the game as they controlled possession, giving Werribee nothing as they did as they pleased.

It looked as though the busy transfer window affected Werribee, as it struggled to adjust with eight new signings recently joining the club.

Continuity was lacking - particularly in the first half for Werribee - with players not being on the same page as their teammates.

The second half started in almost identical fashion to the first, with Daniel Visevic grabbing a goal just two minutes into the second period with a neat volley.

The Knights looked to have the match wrapped up in the 58th minute when Visevic dispatched a fierce shot into the back of the net to give the Knights a four-goal advantage.

Werribee did add some respectability to the scoreline thanks to goals from new boys Simon Tolli and Evan Batsis.

Werribee finished the match strong and pushed the Knights all the way to the final whistle, as it desperately searched for more goals to at least take a share of the points.

The Knights shut up shop in the final 30 minutes when they were reduced to 10 men thanks to two yellow cards to Uskok.

The damage was already done earlier though, as they held on to record their second successive win.

Werribee assistant manager Agim Sherifovski spoke after the game on how his side’s slow start impacted on the result.

“Two early goals really put us on the back foot. It was a struggle to get some momentum after that. Possession was fairly even in the first half but two errors and they won’t let you out of prison easily,” Sherifovski said.

“They got a player sent off, we threw some players forward and the game shifts. They are very hard to beat in the back.

“We knew coming from a 3-0 loss it doesn’t automatically get better, coupled that there’s newer players coming in so it’s a lot of work.”

Jordan O’Doherty, making his starting debut for the Knights, hailed the performance of his teammates.

“Very pleased with the result, a hard-fought win but I feel like we deserved it in the end,” O’Doherty said.

“When they came back it was worrying but I knew we would be good in the end. Obviously a good start, felt confident throughout the game that we will keep playing well and with a good start you’re never doubtful. We were certain we would get the job done in the end.”

MATCH DETAILS

Werribee City 2 (Tolli 61’, Batsis 73’) defeated by Melbourne Knights 4 (Andrijasevic 4’, Surey 6’, Visevic 47’ 58’) at Galvin Park [HT:0-2]

Werribee City: Tommy Dunn (GK), Ersin Kaya, Matko Budimir, Evan Batsis, Devon Bonne, Milan Savic (c), Bobby Vidanoski, Matt Cundari, Jose Guerrero (Dom Marafioti 62’), Liam Brian (Simon Tolli 46’), Steven Cudrig.

Unused subs: Damir Marusic, Roderick Yousef, Robbie Naumoski.

Yellow cards: Vidanoski 16’, Savic 29’

Melbourne Knights: Chris May (GK), Samuel Torrens (Nikola Srbinovski 53’), Ben Surey (c), Milan Batur, Tomislav Uskok, Daniel Visevic (Marijan Cvitkovic 66’), Stipo Andrijasevic, Jordan O'Doherty (Antun Kovacic 77’), Ivan Grgic, Michael Doyle, Shayan Alinejad.

Unused subs: Michael O'Farrell, Leo Athanasiou.

Yellow cards: Uskok 55’ 65’, Surey 90’

Red card: Uskok 65’

Image credit: Steve Starek