By Daniel Campos @francisfields

Moreland City overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Melbourne Victory 3-2 and keep alive its slim hopes of promotion in PS4 NPL Victoria NPL 1 West.

Victory's dramatic defeat leaves it top of the NPL 1 East league by goal difference only from Richmond.
A minute in and Victory took immediate possession and test Moreland City keeper Brandon Galgano.
Shane Carr then had his shot saved by Lucas Spinella. It was an early test for City and an early scare for Victory.

With play coming out from the back, Darren Davies' boys looked to make the break from both out wide and by patiently holding possession.

On 13 minutes Lisandro Paz had his effort denied very well though he had time to finish moments earlier, with quick thinking much to the relief for the Victory.

After the break, two minutes in and George Howard had his effort hit the post leaving Galgano stranded.

Joey Katebian opened the scoring with a tap in much to the dismay of the "home" side. It did show a sign of relief as the Victory were showing more intent to play the ball after the restart despite the hard cricket surface in the middle of the park and the wet conditions.

Five minutes later and John Maclean got his name on the score sheet with a long range shot that flew in leaving Moreland City ball-watching and with Galgano with no chance.

Two-nil and City looked depleted.

Scrambles were aplenty and both sides then looked for long balls, in a rather messy affair. From a corner kick taken by Moreland City, Lisandro Paz got himself smartly on the end of an aerial ball to head the ball and reduce the deficit on '64 minutes.

It was game on. Victory looked to combine out wide courtesy of Katebian, with Moreland City holding up tightly in marking, with Yang Toy Yeng a standout. Looking committed to get back into the game on the scoreboard and with the season on the line, the equaliser came in one of the most awkward of fashion.
The match referee appointed to the spot and with both sides in amazement with the decision, Moreland  City needed to take full advantage.

Welshman Casey Thomas made no mistake from the spot for 2-2.

The intensity was fierce. Every ball was fought as if it was the players' last and to be fair, the result could have also swung either way. With only nine minutes to go on the clock, Mo Kurucu popped up to swiftly head the ball past Lucas Spinella in goal from a resulting cross for the eventual winner.

Moreland City boss Adrian Mathers concluded after the game, "At half-time, we were a little disappointed with the lack of possession. We knew we are better than what we put out in the first half.

"The application was there, we spoke about that and when a side like Victory to score two goals woke us up."

"I'm not sure about the mental element but we seem to be a reactive side. It is a good quality to have but you want to be proactive, games are there to be won. We've done it all year but that does not necessarily win you games throughout the season."

"We want to play proactive football. Some weeks we've done it, I'm not quite sure if it's the occasion (against Melbourne Victory) and we'll have to address that. For the remaining two games, we have no other option than to play proactive."

Meanwhile Victory coach Darren Davies thought the facilities were "disgusting, and may as well packed up and gone home."

"The biggest learning curve today had nothing to do with technical and tactical ability. It was learning to fighting and scrap to win a game. Unfortunately that takes Victorian football back a long time".

"Congratulations to Moreland City, we wish them the very best in the finals, we were fairly beaten. I want to acknowledge that", he concluded.

With the vocal crowd in full swing, City's win was sealed upon full-time, and a staunch reminder of their intentions for promotion. It was a sweet result whilst for Melbourne Victory, a lesson to take into account with the two rounds remaining in the 2015 season.

MATCH DETAILS:

Moreland City 3 (Lisandro Paz 64', Casey Thomas 69', Mo Kurucu 81') defeated Melbourne Victory 2 (Joey Katebian 50', John Maclean 55') at Campbell Reserve, Coburg.

Melbourne Victory:  1. Lucas SPINELLA, 18. Christian CAVALLO, 4. Callum GOULDING, 19. Nick GLAVAN, 2. Reece CALDECOURT, 8. Anthony DUZEL(12. Dion PAOLA 78'), 6. Stefan NIGRO, 10. Kieran DOVER, 9. Joey KATEBIAN, 11. John MACLEAN, 17. George HOWARD.

Unused Substitute(s): 7. Jesse DALEY, 16. Patrick AVICE, 13. James XYDIAS, 20. Andre JANNESE.
Yellow Card(s): GLAVAN 44', CALDECOURT 68'

Moreland City: 1. Brandon GALGANO, 2. Yang TOU-YENG, 18. Orhan KARA, 5. Yanni AVRAMIDIS, 12. Shane CARR, 4. Quinn MCDONALD, 8. Corey THOMAS, 14. Casey THOMAS, 9. Lisandro PAZ, 23. Mohammed KURUCU, 10. Liam FRANCIS (17. Liam BRIAN 62').

Unused substitutes: 11. Chris NICHOLS, 7. Alex PETROVSKI, 21. William CURRIE, 16. Nathan GOURZELAS.
Yellow cards: Nil

Red cards: Nil