A goal at the start and end of the first half was enough for Melbourne Knights to defeat Newcastle United two-nil at Knights Stadium on Sunday evening. The win continues Knights' unbeaten run in this year's campaign in the lead-up to next week's Melbourne derby game against South Melbourne.
Anthony Pelikan celebrated his call-up by under-20 national coach Ange Postecoglou with a goal at the start of the game but left the pitch through injury shortly afterwards.
Imported striker Leon Buhic, making only his second start this year after injuring himself in Knights' first game of the season, netted the second just before the interval.
"Leon made a huge difference for us," said Knights' player-coach Andrew Marth after the game. "He blew out of steam at the end. (Buhic) only trained one week and he looked very sharp." Marth had preferred to return Buhic to the strike-force over Adrian Cervinski who played youth football instead.
Apart from a period midway through the second half, Newcastle seemed second-best across the park. United coach Ian Crook wanted to see the tape before he felt prepared to analyse what went wrong for his side. "It's difficult sometimes. You get a different picture when you watch it again. I felt we were fine between both boxes, but (Knights) was a bit more desperate than us in the two (penalty) areas .... where the game is won or lost."
Pelikan had netted in the second minute after an error by Newcastle goalkeeper Daniel Beltrame who let a cross from the left slip though his hands. Beltrame had taken the pace off the ball and it fell right to the youngster's feet no more than three metres from the goal-line. Pelikan blasted low into the net despite the presence on the line of Scott Baillie who was powerless to intervene.
It was to prove Pelikan's first and last involvement in the game as shortly after he was receiving attention on the touchline, and after just fifteen minutes was substituted for Henry Fa'arodo.
Marth was critical of Pelikan's insistence in coming off. "I think it was a bit of a heart-string, to be honest. He scored a goal and thought he'd done enough. We'll address the situation during the week."
Beltrame made up for this error five minutes before the break, saving sharply from a Fa'arodo header aimed low after a cross from the right.
But Beltrame had no chance in stopping a bullet header at the near-post from Buhic after Knights took a quick free-kick just before the interval following a foul on Fa'arodo by Robbie Middleby 30 metres out. Lubo Lapsansky played the ball to Daniel Vasilevski wide on the right. Vasilevski's cross was whipped into Buhic at the six-yard line, catching Newcastle completely cold.
"That's what we set out to do," said Crook. "But we never did that today."
Esala Masi had one of United's few chances midway through the second half when he ran onto a clever reverse pass and into space. His far-post shot went just wide. But Newcastle's efforts to gain some ascendancy were generally snuffed out by Knights' tenacious five-man midfield.
Peter Tsekenis had a shot cleared off the line by Rodrigo Vargas after volleying a corner a few minutes later. Tsekenis himself had earnt the corner forcing a diving save from Johns from a header.
Lapsansky had a golden opportunity to seal the game with just five minutes remaining when he skipped by Andy Roberts to face only Beltrame and with Xheziar Sulemani in support, but his weak effort at chipping Beltrame was easily blocked, then scrambled clear.
The loss was Newcastle's fourth on the road and that record displeased Crook. "It's something we're going to have to correct, and correct quickly."