By David Manuca (@davidmanuca)

Port Melbourne have held off a late charge from Green Gully to secure a 2-1 win at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Kamal Ibrahim gave the away side the lead mid-way through the first-half before Nicky McNamara made it 2-0 minutes later with a sensational finish.

Gully pulled one back in the second-half, thanks to a McNamara finish at the wrong end, but couldn’t manage to find an equaliser despite its efforts late in the game.

On a rare warm Winter’s day in Melbourne, both sides failed to create any clear-cut chances early in the contest.

The first came on 22 minutes when Mathew Sanders got on the end of a Stephen Downes cross but the forward could not direct his header on target.

Port Melbourne went down the other not long after though and Ibrahim showed composure and trickery in the box to make a fool of Rodrigo Vargas before smashing the ball past Green Gully goalkeeper Kieran Gonzalez.

Ibrahim found himself in a great position to grab a second goal just minutes later but he was adjudged to be offside after being played in one-on-one.

It mattered little as Port Melbourne made it 2-0 on 32 minutes when Nicky McNamara let rip from 30 yards and his rocket of a shot went in to the top corner of the goal.

Gully were 4-0 down last week at half-time against Melbourne Knights but managed to claw the result back to 4-3 and needed a similar comeback to manage to get a result this time.

They started the second-half brightly but a poor pass from Downes gave Lambros Honos the opportunity to run at goal, but the midfielder curled his shot wide of the post.

Gully youngster Jem Berkant found himself with space in the box but instead of crossing it in to three teammates in the centre he went for goal and missed by some margin.

But just two minutes later a Downes cross in to the box connected with McNamara, who put the ball in to his own net with a spectacular diving header.

Downes came centimetres away from scoring an equaliser in the 72nd minute when he smashed a free-kick towards goal, but Port goalkeeper Stjepan Gal produced an amazing double-save, touching the first on to the post before denying Osagie Ederaro from the rebound.

The home side continued to press for an equaliser and almost found themselves through in the third minute of added time when Peter Deng found himself forward, however Gal came out to smother any possible attempt at goal.

Incredibly, the referee continued to play in to the fifth minute of added time and Gully had another glorious chance to take a share of the points but Ederaro’s attempt at an over-head sailed over the bar.

Port Melbourne coach Eric Vassiliadis was content that his side was able to soak up the Gully pressure but admits it should have been avoided in the first place.

“I think we’ve got to be a bit more mature in situations like that,” Vassiliadis said.

“When you’re under pressure I think that’s your opportunity to take one step forward instead of one step back.

“In fairness we held out in the end but I think the lesson learned today is to go for that third goal and kill the game off.”

Green Gully coach Bob Stojcevski was pleased with his side’s response in the second-half despite another lackluster start to the game.

“I’m not happy with the way we responded from the first whistle,” Stojcevski conceded.

“That’s the trend each game. We put in a fantastic second half and battle through.

“It’s really poor quality that doesn’t give us a good start and from there it’s catch-up games. It makes it interesting but there’s no result at the end of it.”

MATCH DETAILS: 

Green Gully 1 (McNamara OG 56’) defeated by Port Melbourne 2 (Ibrahim 25’, McNamara 32’) at Green Gully Reserve. [HT: 0-2]

Green Gully XI: 1. Kieran GONZALEZ, 4. Matthew REID, 5. Rodrigo VARGAS, 6. Stephen DOWNES, 7. Jeffrey FLEMING, 10. Ratip CILELI, 11. Jem BERKANT, 12. Mathew SANDERS, 16. Thomas DENG, 19. Habib FLEIFEL (13. Omar ABDIGAFAR 82’), 20. Osagie EDERARO.

Un-used substitutes: 23. Christopher AILAKIS, 21. Adam PETKO, 22. Peter MODAEFFERI, 18. Cameron DAVIS.

Yellow cards: Cileli 88’

Red cards: Nil

Port Melbourne XI: 22. Stjepan GAL, 18. Milos RIDOSIC, 23. Conor REDDAN, 17. Phillip RICCOBENE, 26. Lambros HONOS, 7. Amadu KOROMA, 19. Nicky McNAMARA, 8. Zois GALANOPOULOS (4. Timothy PATON 83’), 6. Chris GROSSMAN (27. Andrew MILICEVIC 55’), 14. Kamal IBRAHIM (15. Stefan NIGRO 65’), 3. James RICCOBENE.

Un-used substitutes: 1. Adam HREHORESIN, 10. Luka PRELEVIC.

Yellow cards: Reddan 71’, P. Riccobene 85’, Honos 90+2’

Red cards: Nil