By Damir Kulas (@DamirKulas)

Bentleigh Greens has come from behind to defeat Oakleigh Cannons 2-1 at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night.

The victory marked the Greens’ first success over their local rivals in 11 years as goals from Matt Thurtell and Jack Webster cancelled out Goran Zoric’s opener.

Coming into the clash, the hosts were looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat away to Werribee City while Bentleigh was hoping to continue its undefeated start to the campaign and temporarily regain top spot.

An injury in the warm-up for Greens goalkeeper Alastair Bray saw back-up Ryan Scott make his competitive debut for the club as the visitors looked to make it six games without conceding a goal.

That streak would be broken four minutes in when a swift Oakleigh counter-attack saw speedy winger Goran Zoric shrug off his markers and slot the ball home past Scott for the opener.

Greens attacker Daniel Visevic did his best to give his side an immediate response but his curling effort from the edge of the box went over John Honos in Oakleigh goals.

A late tackle from Bentleigh Luke Pilkington saw Zoric go down and pick up an injury which forced him off early on with Ben Clarke coming into the fold.

The Greens should have equalised just after the half hour mark when a quick break-away found the feet of Matt Thurtell who teed up Visevic but the former Melbourne Knights man could only blast his attempt wide of goal.

Less than two minutes later, a surging run from the right by centre-half Steven Topalovic saw his cut-back fall to Visevic who placed it neatly for Chris Lucas to narrowly see his shot go over the bar.

The game was turned on its head moments later when a crunching challenge by Cannons substitute Clarke saw the forward given his marching orders, leaving Arthur Papas’ side with ten men for the remainder of the contest.

The hosts hung on until half time but were met with intensified pressure from the visitors after the break as Bentleigh looked to make their numerical advantage count.

And that’s just what they did after the hour mark as the ball found its way to Visevic on the left who directed his pin-point perfect cross into the box onto the onrushing Thurtell, who blasted the ball past Honos for the equaliser.

That goal allowed the Queenslander to join Milos Lujic on the top goalscorers chart as the striker reached double digits with his tenth of the season.

With Oakleigh putting numbers back trying to hang onto a point, another Visevic cross from the left was met by the head of Tyson Holmes, but the effort went safely into the arms of Honos.

The pressure would finally pay off in the 78^th minute when a Liam McCormick ball in from a free-kick met the head of Jack Webster, who cushioned his header into the top right corner as Honos had earlier lost his footing in his attempts to retrieve the ball.

The game should have been wrapped up later but Lucas blasted his shot straight into Honos after finding himself one-on-one with the Oakleigh custodian.

Despite some late pressure from the hosts, Bentleigh hung on for a hard-fought 2-1 victory moving back to the top of the table and putting the pressure on South Melbourne as the defending champions visit Northcote City on Saturday afternoon.

Oakleigh Cannons 1 (Zoric 4’) defeated by Bentleigh Greens 2 (Thurtell 64’, Webster 78’) at Jack Edwards Reserve

OC: 76. John Honos (GK), 3. John Black, 5. Aron Wilford, 6. Steve Pantelidis (21. Jakob Williams 46’), 8. Dusan Bosnjak (23. Dominic D’Angelo 60’), 12. Tremayne Sadler, 14. Mirjan Pavlovic, 15. Jake McLean, 18. Adam le Cornu, 19. Goran Zoric (7. Ben Clarke 20’), 26. Lambros Honos

Unused Subs: 10. Dean Piemonte, 21. Lajos Hun (GK)

Yellow Card(s): None

Red Card(s): Clarke 36

BG: 1. Ryan Scott (GK), 2. Tom Matthews, 4. Troy Ruthven (6. Liam McCormick 65’), 5. Jack Webster, 8. Wayne Wallace, 9. Chris Lucas, 10. Tyson Holmes (11. Dion Kirk 88’), 18. Matt Thurtell, 19. Daniel Visevic, 24. Luke Pilkington, 36. Steven Topalovic

Unused Subs: 7. Jamie de Abreu, 17. Ryan Love, Anthony Madafferi (GK)

Yellow Card(s): Wallace 31, Topalovic 90+2

Red Card(s): None