Tara Murray
Melbourne Knights’ believe they aren’t far from turning close results into more points in the National Premier League.
It’s been a tough period for the Knights in the past five rounds, with two losses, two draws and their match with Green Gully postponed.
Knights Steve Bebic said ahead of their match with the Eastern Lions, which was after deadline, that they had been playing some good soccer without getting the results.
They were able to beat the Eastern Lions, 2-0.
“It has been a difficult few weeks,” he said.
“Against St Albans it was close. We performed at a high level, but we had a lapse of concentration.
“Hume [City] is always a difficult game and they are a team fighting for survival in the league. We had little errors early.
‘We conceded a penalty and we missed a penalty as well. Our performances have been on a decent standard and we haven’t been blown off the park at all.”
Bebic said while they had been able to match it with the top sides as well, the side’s inexperience showed at key moments.
The Knights have one of the youngest squads in the competition.
“Our average age is 22 or 22 and half,” he said. “With a young squad you get ups and downs with results.
“At times there’s a little bit of lack of concentration along the way. You need to concentrate for the whole 90 to 95 minutes at this level.
“Most of the results don’t do justice to the types of matches that we’ve played.”
With such a young squad, the Knights looked to add a bit more top end talent during the transfer window.
Newcastle Jets’ Dylan Murnane joined the Knights after playing in the most recent A-League season.
George Ott is another with A-League experience. He played two games for the Wellington Phoenix in the 2021-22 season.
Taylor Schrijvers has crossed the ditch from New Zealand, with the central defender captaining his side over there.
“With a young group we looked to bring in a little bit more experience,” Bebic said.
“They are not only good players, but players who can add their knowledge. There’s those little moments in games, where experienced players can lead on the park.”
Bebic said they would keep working hard and hope that they finally see some reward for their hard work.
“Mathematically we can still make finals,” he said. “We will not give up until it’s not possible.
“I think from our perspective we have to keep working. Hopefully we get a good run of results.”
