By Rory Flanagan (@Rory_Flanagan)

Bentleigh Greens’ return to form has continued with a hard-fought 1-0 triumph over 11th-placed Melbourne Knights on Friday night.

Brent McGrath’s breakthrough on 85 minutes delivered the expected result after a number of frustrating passages of play.

On the back of two consecutive wins against Port Melbourne and Hume City, the Greens were brimming with confidence although it was the visitors who started brighter and spent the opening 10 minutes in their forward half.



The Knights failed to capitalise on their start, as Daniel Visevic and Shayan Alinejad both shot tamely at in-form goalkeeper Alistair Bray.

Sam Torrens returned to the starting 11 following a constant battle with injury and immediately set about nullifying Jamie De Abreu.

The industrious left back produced a stunning goal-line challenge to prevent De Abreu from opening the scoring after the ever-dangerous McGrath marauded into the box.

After gaining control of the match, Bentleigh’s familiar habits returned – incisive possession-based play with poor end product.

McGrath was repeatedly inches away from applying the finishing touch to numerous crosses, while Jack Webster and Wayne Wallace each launched an abysmal effort into orbit from the edge of the box.

As halftime approached, the Knights struggled to maintain their clean sheet under immense pressure from the home side.

McGrath again went close, along with penalty claims for a handball after the visitors failed to effectively clear their lines.

Inside five minutes of the second half, McGrath had the ball in the back of the net only to see his joy cut short by the linesman’s flag.

Everything from the Greens was created by the former Socceroo, who repeatedly ran at the Knights defence and caused all sorts of problems for the entirety of the second half.



A cruel blow was dealt to Torrens midway through the second half when a recurrence of his hamstring problem forced him to make way for Nikola Srbinovski

Tom Matthews joined the mile-high club with another effort 20 metres over the bar, leaving John Anastasiadis to wonder if his side would rue a woeful shooting display for the sixth time this season.

The Knights’ battling efforts came undone on 85 minutes when Antun Kovacic’s only mistake for the night gifted McGrath a one-on-one with May, and the number 11 clinically dispatched the only goal of the night to seal three points and huge sighs of relief.

Bentleigh coach John Anastasiadis praised the mental strength of his side.

“It’s a recurring nightmare for us (failure to take chances). To the boys’ credit we have got the result we deserved. We’ve added a bit of steeliness and a bit of belief. I don’t care if we have to wait until the 91st minute, as long as we score that (winning) goal,” Anastasiadis said.

Both Bentleigh and the Knights now have Dockerty Cup quarter-final clashes against Richmond and South Melbourne respectively.

MATCH DETAILS

Bentleigh Greens 1 (McGrath 85’) defeated Melbourne Knights 0 at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex [HT: 0-0]

Bentleigh Greens: Alastair Bray, Thomas Matthews, James Cumming, Jack Webster, Christian Cavallo, Luke Pilkington, Wayne Wallace, Liam McCormick (Stephen Hatzikostas 80’), David Stirton, Brent McGrath, Jamie De Abreu (Luke O’Dea 69’)

Unused Subs: Andrew Giannos, Andre McNamara, Perry Lambropoulos

Yellow Cards: De Abreu 30’, McGrath 90’, Hatzikostas 90’+4

Red Cards: None

Melbourne Knights: Chris May, Michael Simms, Ben Surey, Milan Batur, Tomislav Uskok, Daniel Visevic, Leo Athanasiou, Sam Torrens, Nikola Srbinovski 68’), Ivan Grgic, Shayan Alinejad (Joseph Monek 76’)

Unused Subs: Micheal O’Farrell, Anthony Duzel, Michael Kaliforis

Yellow cards: Alinejad 55’, Uskok 81, Surey 91, Kovacic 94

Red Cards: None

Pictured: Bentleigh's David Stirton in action (Image credit: Graeme Furlong)