By Tim McGlone

A ten-man Northcote City has cut short Bentleigh Greens’ winning run with an upset 2-1 win at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Friday night.

After Bentleigh’s Brent McGrath scored early in the second half to cancel out James Kalifatidis’ opener, Kristian Konstantinidis headed home to give the visitors the lead.

Despite Jonathan Bounas’ late dismissal, last year’s Victorian Premier League title winner held on for a well-deserved victory over its 2013 grand final opponent.

Bentleigh came into the game as one of the form sides of the competition, with four straight wins reigniting its title hopes.

The game started as many predicted, with Bentleigh on the front foot and completely dominating possession.

Northcote goalkeeper Chris Theodoridis was busy early, saving shots from Jamie De Abreu and Wayne Wallace in the opening quarter of an hour.

In windy conditions, Northcote looked most likely to score from a set piece, as an incredible run of six consecutive corners saw Konstantinidis and Bounas come close with headers.

Just before the half-hour mark Kalifatidis found himself in the right spot at the right time when the ball deflected off a Bentleigh defender and straight into his path.

The forward was able to poke home from point-blank range to hand Northcote an unlikely lead.

It took Bentleigh just 54 seconds after halftime to equalise, with Brent McGrath getting on the end of a slick passing move to breathe life into the contest.

As the game wore on, Northcote City’s stronger bodies began to dominate the aerial contests.

It almost took the lead in the 54th minute when Liam Wooding’s thunderous strike struck the crossbar, with Greens goalkeeper Alistair Bray beaten.

It didn’t take much longer for the winner to arrive, with Konstantinidis heading home from Jonathan Munoz’s corner five minutes later to send the small contingent of Northcote supporters into raptures.

Bentleigh had a couple of late chances to snatch an equaliser, with Liam McCormick and substitute Andre McNamara coming close.

Bounas was sent off for a second yellow in the 85th minute, but Northcote was able to hold on in the closing stages for a hard-fought victory.

Northcote coach Goran Lozanovski was pleased to see his side grab the three points after a winless past month.

“We’ve had a rough few weeks, and we knew it would be a tough battle tonight against one of the best teams in the competition,” Lozanovski said.

“We knew if we hung in there we would be a chance, and after we got the second goal I thought we held out well.”

The Bentleigh contingent was unavailable for comment.

Northcote travels to Ballarat next week, while Bentleigh will be looking to bounce back when it takes on Pascoe Vale.

MATCH DETAILS

Bentleigh Greens 1 (McGrath 46’) lost to Northcote City 2 (Kalifatidis 25’, Konstantinidis 59’) at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex [HT: 0-1]

Northcote City: 22. Chris Theodoridis (GK) 11. Liam Wooding, (9. Trent Rixon, 87’) 7. Jonathan Munoz, 23. Jonathan Bounas, 16. Greg Lombardo 14. Michael Catalano (10. Marino Gasparis 75’) 15. Wade Dekker, 4. Kristian Konstantinidis 8. James Kalifatidis (12. Steve Sifinos 90’), 5. Philip Petreski 2. Adrian Chiappetta

Unused subs: 1. Luke Gavalas (GK) 6. Aaron Ward

Yellow cards: Jonathan Bounas 28’ 85’,Phil Petreski 56’

Red Cards: Jonathan Bounas 85’

Bentleigh Greens: 21 Alastair BRAY (GK), 2 Thomas MATTHEWS, 34 James CUMMING, 24 Luke PILKINGTON, 15 Christian CAVALLO, 5 Jack WEBSTER, 8 Wayne WALLACE, 11 Brent McGRATH, 10 David STIRTON 19 Liam McCORMICK, 7 Jamie DE ABREU (25 Andre McNAMARA 66’).

Unused subs: 1.Lajos HUN, 12. Luke GALLO, 18. Perry LAMBROPOLOUS, 22 Lewis FOSTER

Yellow Cards: None

Red Cards: None

Image credit: Graeme Furlong