By Sean Ellicott (@SeanEllicott)

Moreland Zebras has secured its third consecutive win, defeating Kingston City 2-1 at the Grange Reserve on Monday night.

Two second-half goals from Nick Symeoy and Scott Robson put the game beyond doubt before Velibor Mitrovic pulled one back for the hosts late in stoppage time.

Sitting in ninth position, Moreland entered the contest in reasonable form after defeating second-placed Bulleen last weekend, but Monday night’s result sees it leapfrog Kingston into eighth position.

In a reasonably uninspiring first half, neither side was able to attain the ascendancy as opportunities were few and far between.

Moreland coach Danny Gnjidic was forced into an early change on 12 minutes as Danny Charalambous was unable to recover from a collision with Kingston ‘keeper Sermin Sadikovski - Nick Symeoy his replacement.

Set pieces appeared to be the most likely avenue towards goal despite some mediocre deliveries, yet both sides failed to find any aerial potency.

The second interval nevertheless provided a more entertaining spectacle as Moreland commenced the restart on top.

Ten minutes later and the game had its first goal.

Lively since his early introduction, Nick Symeoy capitalised on an error at the back in the hosts’ penalty area - the ball deflecting off two Kingston defenders during an attempted clearance and allowing Symeoy to slot his effort into the back of the net

The hosts looked to respond immediately as they turned up the pressure on Moreland's defence.

Max Etheridge was a target up front but the Zebras' defence - led by Mile Medjedovic - held its own in an impressive and uncompromising performance.

The most exciting passage of the match however came in the final minutes prior to Moreland's second.

Involving Nick Symeoy, Joel Nikolic and Scott Robson, the trio combined with a series of slick passes and intricate movements, allowing the latter to sublimely finish his strike into the top corner, handing the visitors a 2-0 lead with four minutes to play.

With the game appearing all but dead and buried, Kingston found a consolation in the second minute of added time.

Played into the penalty area, Mitrovic slotted the ball into the back of the net past the closing Nikola Kostadinoski in goal.

Gnjidic was delighted to see his Zebras continue their recent run of results.

"We haven't been looking at the ladder a lot," Gnjidic said, despite jumping a spot on the table.

"We've just been about trying to get some results and get on a bit of a run and we've done that now with three wins, five out of six, we've turned it around and the hard work begins now."

Slumping to its third consecutive defeat, Kingston coach Nick Tolios said his players had themselves to blame.

"We are [our own worst enemy]," Tolios said.

"Last few weeks, even last week, we dominated the first half and gave away two cheap goals, it's our mistakes.

"We are a young side, it’s going to happen but it’s at a point where you've got to stop making that as an excuse."

Kingston City will be looking to rebound  when it travels to face an in-form St Albans, while Moreland can make it four wins in a row with a victory over FC Bendigo at home.

MATCH DETAILS

Kingston City 1 (Mitrovic 86') defeated by Moreland Zebras 2 (Nick Symeoy 55', Robson 85') at the Grange Reserve [HT 0-0].

Kingston City: Sermin SADIKOVSKI, George STAVRIDIS, Peter LORD, James KARVELIS, Nick STAMATIOU (Deniz SABANOVSKI 79'), Andrew DOIG (Lukas PEDDER 84'), Nick MODAFFARI, Stelios KONSTANTINIDIS, Velibor MITROVIC, Max ETHERIDGE, Gino DEFEO (Arthur PAPADOPOULOS 70')

Unused Substitutes: Kemal CURIN, Nicholaus WOOLWARD.

Yellow Cards: Stavridis (35'), Etheridge (61')

Red Cards: None.

Moreland Zebras: Nikola KOSTADINOSKI, Simon SYMEOY, Mile MEDJEDOVIC, Adam CENTOFANTI, Johnny CRIVELLI, Scott ROBSON, Brad MURRAY, Danny CHARALAMBOUS (Nick SYMEOY 12'), Josh McMONAGLE-IMASZ (James PAPADIMITRIOU 75'), Joel NIKOLIC, Danillo BONILLO-OSPINA (Daniel SWEENEY 87').

Unused substitutes: Francesco GRECO, Mario PIRIANO.

Yellow cards: Crivelli (10'), N.Symeoy (90’+4)

Red cards: None.