Green Gully’s push up the National Premier League soccer ladder was halted on Friday night, with the Cavaliers falling to Pascoe Vale by a goal.
Coming off three wins in a row and looking rejuvenated under new coach Slobode Stojcevski, the Cavaliers were undone by an Adrian Talarico strike in the second half, going down 1-0.
Nothing could separate the sides early, with neither team able to find a way past the defence at Hosken Reserve.
After going into half-time locked at 0-0, it was Pascoe Vale that made the most of its chances after the resumption of play.
A nicely taken corner kick from Marco Santilli ended up in the path of Talarico, who was able to put the ball into the back of the net in the 64th minute.
Despite its best efforts to find an equaliser, Green Gully was unable to capitalise on a number of forward presses and fell to its seventh loss of the season.
The result adds further weight behind Pascoe Vale’s mid-season rise up the ladder.
Pascoe Vale has not conceded a goal in its past four matches and has collected wins against Oakleigh Cannons, Goulburn Valley Suns, Port Melbourne Sharks and now Green Gully.
After jumping from 11th to sixth in the past three weeks, the Cavaliers have slipped to seventh.
Green Gully will take on western suburbs rival Werribee at Galvin Park when round 14 of the season gets under way this Sunday.
In other NPL results, it was a tough Friday night for the Melbourne Knights, who continue to battle a growing injury list.
The Knights, already missing a number of key players through injury, were dealt another blow when they lost to Bentleigh Greens by one goal.
After a positive start, the Knights were unable to make the most of their time in possession and went into half-time locked at 0-0.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock in the second half, and it looked as though the match was heading for a draw.
However, Bentleigh’s Brent McGrath had other ideas, handing his side a 1-0 win with a goal in the 85th minute.
The Knights (4-9) will take on 10th-placed Northcote City at John Cain Memorial Park this Sunday.
