Tara Murray
The Melbourne Knights are through to the national stage of the Australia Cup for the first time since 2019.
The Knights sealed their spot in the final 32 with a solid win against FV state league 1 side Yarraville Glory on Tuesday night.
The Knights had to do it the hard way coming from a goal down at half time to win, 3-1.
The Knights finally found the back of the net in the 60th minute through Luka Kolic, who headed one into the back of the net.
The Knights took the lead in the 75th minute through Mitch Hore, before sealing the win when Ciaran Branwell scored in the 81st to give his side a 3-1 lead.
Knights coach Ben Cahn said they were thrilled to be back into the national stage of the competition.
“It’s good to tick that box,” he said.
“Given it’s the club’s 70th year and we have aspirations for the national second tier competition, it was a big goal of ours.
“It was a big expectation for the club to make the final 32 and it’s a big tick.”
Cahn said it wasn’t their best game and that the Glory made them work for it. He said in the end, it was that extra experience that paid off after what ended up being a tenser game than they would have liked.
“Yarraville made it difficult and defended really well,” he said.
“We missed a few opportunities and they took theirs. We made some substitutions and they paid off.
“The experience was the difference and the physical conditioning. We brought on two of the best wingers in the NPL competition and they played a big part in the three goals.
“We made it difficult for ourselves. If we had taken our chances early or even early in the second half it could have been a 6-1, 7-1 score line.”
The Knights are joined by the Goulburn Valley Suns, Heidelberg United, Northcote City and the Oakleigh Cannons in the next round.
As well as qualifying for the national stage of the Australia Cup, the Knights are through to the finals for the Dockerty Cup.
The Knights will face Northcote City as they aim to win their 10th Dockerty Cup. The two will play in a play off game with the winner to face the Oakleigh Cannons in the semi finals.
Before that, the Knights were back in action on Friday night in the National Premier League competition.
The Knights are set to face Port Melbourne,
Cahn said it was a massive match in the context of their season.
“They are one spot behind us on the ladder, seven points behind us,” he said.
“If we win we can open up a good lead ahead of them. We want to be in the top four and we’re happy, confident and in good form heading into the weekend.”
In other matches scheduled for the weekend, Green Gully will face Altona Magic on Friday night, while the St Albans Saints are on the road to the Oakleigh Cannons.
