Keilor Park ended a run of three consecutive defeats in style on Saturday, edging out Altona Magic 2-1 in state league 1 soccer.
A trip to Altona’s Paisley Park is always a tough ask, but the Parkers were first to capitalise on a chance.
A string of passes just outside the box in the 25th minute ended with a lob to the far post, where Reno Damianou headed the ball into the back of the net.
But a defensive error soon after allowed Altona a quick reply and the scores were locked at 1-1 at half time.
With neither team able to break the deadlock in the second half, the match appeared to be headed for a draw.
But Keilor Park’s Lorenzo Carbone had other ideas, making the most of a Magic defensive error to give his side the lead in the 75th minute.
That was all the Parkers needed to secure the vital three points.
Keilor Park president Paul Portelli was rapt to be back on the winners’ list.
“It was a very good performance,” he said.
“The boys really did well, particularly the defence. Altona were up for it and they’ve recruited pretty well since the last time we played them.
“ We’d lost three in a row before this week and the confidence wasn’t high. But it was a good team performance and good to bounce back.”
The win is Keilor Park’s sixth of the year and lifts it into third spot on the SL1 ladder.
Portelli is hoping the victory will kickstart a big second half of the season.
“We knew we were going to struggle in the season’s second half because we’ve lost a few players who have gone on holiday overseas and things like that,” he said.
“We’re hoping this can give us a bit of confidence going into the second half of the season.
“It’s a very tough league and every week teams are up and down.
“It’s very close; nobody is running away with it. We want to consolidate and get up there as high as we can.”
Keilor Park will take on Sunbury United this week.
