By Chris Hearn (@_ChrisHearn)

Dean Campelj's second-half header was enough to hand Avondale Heights its 11th straight victory, as Kingston City fell 1-0 at Avondale Heights Reserve on Saturday.

In a game of few chances, most of which fell to central defender Campelj, the league leaders simply found what was required to keep Bulleen nine points adrift on the NPL 1 standings.

Kingston started on the offensive, but Avondale Heights created the first moment of danger. A fluent move saw skipper Andrew Le Page's driven strike fire off the upright and cleared.

Bale Micovski then went close to putting his side ahead in magnificent fashion - Fabian Gugliandolo's cross-field ball found the striker whose volley whistled just wide of Sadikovski's goal.

Kingston's high-pressure game was matched by the hosts, and as a result there were a lot of questionable tackles flying in.

Le Page broke free from the midfield scrap and tried his luck no less than three times before the interval, but could not force the opening goal.

Stefan Baricevic was then called upon to occupy the left full back position in place of the injured Jason Principato on 40 minutes, but this did not affect the hosts.

In fact, Campelj should have put them ahead shortly after. The defender was guilty of missing two gilt-edged chances, the first a free header from a corner, and the second saw the defender sky another headed effort over the bar after Burakan Koca's cut-back left Campelj with an empty net.

The game lost the tempo that was seen before halftime, with niggling fouls becoming the order of the day. This affected both side's fluency, but once again, Avondale Heights recovered quickest and got the go-ahead goal on 72 minutes.

Campelj rose highest from a Gugliandolo free kick to nod home past Kingston custodian Sadikovski, effectively writing the wrongs of a couple of glaring first-half miscues.

Thereafter, Avondale Heights was at its best and choked the life out of each Kingston attack.

The industrious Resit Culcologlu and his midfield partners left Anthony Saric with little to do in goal as Avondale Heights clung on for a 1-0 victory.

Avondale Heights coach Anthony Barbieri praised his side after such a short turnaround after facing Bulleen last Monday.

"I thought we might be a bit flat today, but that being said, we did have a few chances," Barbieri said.

"I said to the boys at halftime, 'If you want to win this game, you've got to show a bit more hunger and determination' and that's what happened in the end.”

Kingston City coach Nick Tolios was happy with his side's output, but lamented the state of the Avondale Heights pitch.



"I think the boys battled hard, and to be honest, this pitch is a disgrace," Tolios said.



"Aside from that, they (Avondale Heights) have to play on the same pitch as we do."

Tolios did spare some praise for the organisation shown by Barbieri's side.

"They were the better side today, they worked harder, and got the three points,” he said.

Kingston plays host to Whittlesea Ranges next round, while Avondale Heights is on the road to face the in-form FC Bendigo.

MATCH DETAILS

Avondale Heights 1 (Campelj 72') defeated Kingston City 0 at Avondale Heights Reserve [HT: 0-0]

Avondale Heights: 1. Anthony SARIC (GK), 31. Michele CRAZIA, 15. Zoran PAJIC, 33. Dean CAMPBELJ, 24. Resit CULCULOGLU, 10. Burakhan KOCA (4. Christopher VARTALI 85'), 7. Andrew LE PAGE (5. Andrew SACCHETTA 90’), 19. Jason PRINCIPATO (9. Stefan BARICEVIC 40'), 34. Oleksiy KHRAPKO, 11. Bale MICOVSKI (14. Daniel SLOVACEK 66’), 3. Fabian GUGLIANDOLO

Unused substitutes: 5. Andrew SACCHETTA, 20. John SCOLLO (GK)

Yellow cards: Dean Campelj 76', Oleksiy Khrapko 80', Andrew Le Page 88'


Red cards: None

Kingston City: 1. Sermin SADIKOVSKI, 2. Peter LORD, 4. James KARVELIS, 5. Kemal CURAN, 11. George STAVRIDIS, 7. Velibor MITROVIC (8. Lukas PEDDER 72'), 9. Max ETHERIDGE, 14. Arthur PAPADOPOULOS, 15. Gino DEFEO, 16. Nick STAMATIOU, 17. Deniz SABANOVSKI (10. John MACLEAN 72')

Unused substitutes: 3. Stacy TSALKOS, 6. Joshua COLOSIMO, 13. George MALLIARIS

Yellow cards: Velibor Mitrovic 53', Arthur Papadopoulos 66'

Red cards: None

Image credit: Mark Avellino