Melbourne Knights have moved back into the middle tier in the standings, alongside the teams chasing a spot in the National Premier League top six.
The Knights have finally broken away from the stragglers and moved up to ninth on the ladder with a hard fought 2-0 road win over Port Melbourne Sharks at JL Murphy Reserve on Friday night.
Tomislav Uskok opened the scoring for the Knights with a goal from the penalty spot after just 12 minutes.
It would take a while for the Knights to find an insurance goal, but it eventually came in the 73rd minute through Nathaniel Foster Bowen.
With four points from their past two matches, the Knights are slowly beginning to turn the corner.
They will have a chance to make it three unbeaten on the trot when they meet bottom-of-the-ladder FC Bulleen Lions at Knights Stadium on Sunday.
Green Gully also got off to a flying start, but its joy was short-lived in a 3-1 loss to Heidelberg United at Olympic Village on Friday night.
The Cavaliers led after a 16th minute goal from Josh Barresi, but that was cancelled out only two minutes later.
United reeled off three unanswered goals to inflict Green Gully’s second loss in three games.
The Cavaliers are still well placed, sitting fourth with a home game to come against lowly Hume City at Green Gully Reserve this Friday night.
In NPL 2 west, St Albans Saints played out a nil-all draw with Box Hill United away at Wembley Park, while Sunshine George Cross had a 2-2 draw with Dandenong City away at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex on Friday night.
In NPL Women’s, top-of-the-ladder Calder United produced one of the most dominant performances of the season, mauling Southern United 9-0 at Monterey Reserve.
Import Catherine Zimmermann led the way for Calder with a hat-trick, while Aleksandra Sinclair scored a double.
Calder’s other goal scorers were Marie Rampal, Raquel Deralas, Emma Robers and Angela Beard.
Calder will host Senior NTC at Keilor Park Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
