Melbourne Knightsı poor home form continued with a two-one defeat at the hands of Olympic Sharks on Sunday.
Olympic had taken an early lead when Tom Pondeljak scored after eight minutes in an entirely unintentional way - a clearance by Daniel Piorkowski canonned off his shins and into the net.
Toto Da Costa levelled midway through the second half when he reacted first to a free-kick which had breached the Sharks' defensive wall to bring the Knights into a game which had seemingly vanished out of reach.
But defender Ante Juric wrapped up the points for Olympic when he took advantage of a half-clearance from a corner to bang the ball home under minimal pressure from ten yards.
Sharks' coach Gary Phillips was thankful that his teams' dominance on the park provided the win, when it seemed that the chance had gone. "We created enough chances but we turned the ball over and put ourselves under pressure," he said after the game.
"We missed Nick (Carle) a lot tonight." Carle had just that evening stepped on a flight to France to begin his contract at First Division Troyes.
But there were returning players fielded by both teams. Olympic gave a debut to Steve Laybutt who had returned to Australia after a stint in the Netherlands, and Kresimir Marusic made his first appearance for Knights after returning from various periods in Belgium and with other NSL sides Sydney United, Sydney Olympic, and Carlton.
However, it was left up to two others making returns to put their stamp on the direction of this game. It was Pondeljak returning to Knights stadium where once he was a crowd favourite who spoilt the Knights party with an opportunist goal after just eight minutes. And Juric returning to Olympic after spending the early part of the season in Norway showed he could also play the part of the prodigal son with his priceless winner.
Although the opener came early, Lindsay Wilson had already shown he was to be a potent force wide on the right for the Sharks, running past Ivan Jolic almost at will. After just eight minutes, he sent in a hard and low cross from the bye-line which skimmed along the edge of the six-yard box. Jade North only just failed to reach it and the Knights defence looked to clear. The task eventually fell to Daniel Piorkowski who sought to belt the ball out of the danger area. Unfortunately for the hapless Piorkowski, the clearance canonned off Pondeljakıs shins and carried into the far corner of the Knightsı goal.
Although it was scarcely the most elegant of goals, it was fair reward for the Sharks' approach to the game, even at that early point in the contest.
Wilson was to continue his dominance on the right for Olympic throughout the half, and much of the opportunities being carved out for the visitors were being created by him.
Within five minutes, Wilson again sped up the right to the bye-line and crossed. Andrew Packer at the far-post, only just failed to connect with a header after Knights' goalkeeper Martin Johns was well beaten by its flight.
Knights' first effort worthy of that classification came with just five minutes left in the half. Captain-coach Andrew Marth - who each week strains every sinew in service of Knights - had a spectacular and speculative left-foot shot from 20 metres which fairly whistled by the post.
Sharks could have stretched the lead immediately before the break. Pondeljak - having an influential game on his return to Sunshine - took off on a spirited run from half-way and into a shooting position at the edge of the penalty-area. It took a marvellous save by John to deny him a goal he could certainly claim as a more conscious effort.
Sharks' dominance continued in the early moments of the second half. Sash Ognenovski was on hand just in time to prevent a shot from Pondeljak troubling John, once again after being set up by Wilson on the right.
And Jade North went close with a header just after the hour from a Troy Halpin mid-pitch free-kick.
Da Costa's equaliser came out of the blue and when the game seemed well in Olympic's grasp. Referee Simon Micallef had awarded Knights a free kick just left of goal and 30 metres out. Daniel Vasilevski hit it at the wall where Jolic backheeled it behind him and the wall to where Da Costa had ghosted. With all of the Sharks players claiming for an offside except the Sharks player who played Da Costa onside, Da Costa blasted the ball into the net with understandable glee from point-blank range.
But the Knights' supporters' joy was short-lived. Despite the set-back, Olympic continued to press for the win. With time fast disappearing, Juric scored following-up after an earlier Sharks' shot arising from a corner had only been able to be palmed away by Johns.
"I thought our first half an hour was one of the worst weıd played this year," said a disappointed Marth after the game. "After we went down (to the first goal) we started to play a bit better, and in the second half we played quite well. But we werenıt quite good enough."