Melbourne Victory were not able to hold on as Dandenong City prevailed with a 3-1 win at the Frank Holohan Soccer Complex.
With the likes of Daniel Graskoski and Jing Reec travelling to Western Sydney for Victory Men’s elimination final, Boris Seroshtan was forced to make several changes to his Starting XI.
Christian Siciliano was reinstated between the sticks, while Parker Williams and Daniel Lazarevski were promoted into the starting lineup.
Dandenong City looked to control possession on home soil, while Victory looked to threaten on the counter-attack with pace to exploit space in-behind.
Taking a tough knock early in the half, captain Kayne Razmovski was withdrawn on the half-hour mark for defender Aaron Bazenski, who made his senior NPL debut in tough circumstances.
Despite being bombarded in goals, Christian Siciliano made a number of crucial stops to keep Dandy City scoreless in the first half.
Meanwhile, Patrick Wall picked up a loose ball in the attacking third and drove through a pack of Dandy bodies with speed and power to create an excellent opportunity.
Firing a strike on goal, his effort took a significant deflection off a defender, wrong-footing the goalkeeper and trickling into the back of the net to open the scoring in the 35th minute.
It was Wall’s fourth goal of the season, becoming Victory’s top scorer in the league after breaking his way into the side.
It was a great moment for Victory, converting on an opportunity to score as the entire side held well to see the game into the break.
However, the game would quickly turn early in the second half.
Receiving a surprising second yellow card in the 48th minute for a foul, Victory were down to 10 men after midfielder Jack Mihailidis was sent off.
Enjoying the extra-player advantage, Dandy City would find their equaliser on the hour mark through substitute Brad Plant.
Plant would not stop there, taking his side into the lead just 16 minutes later.
Substitutes Jordan Hoey, Tommaso Minutoli and Stasi Georgakopoulos were all introduced as Victory pushed for a response.
Scoring the third goal that ultimately sealed the win, substitute Valli Cesnik helped Dandy City claim all three points and their fifth consecutive win in all competitions.
As the home side continued their flying form, Victory endured a third straight loss in NPL Victoria.
While a disappointing defeat to take, positive results in past rounds have the newly-promoted Young Vucks remaining 9th in the state’s top flight.
Looking ahead, Melbourne Victory will have the opportunity to turn the tide as they face Altona Magic next Saturday on May 17.
Match Details
NPL Victoria Men Round 13
Dandenong City 3 (Plant 60′, 76′, Cesnik 83′)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Wall 35′)
Melbourne Victory Starting XI: 40. Christian SICILIANO (GK), 6. Kayne RAZMOVSKI (C), 8. Alexander MENELAOU, 10. Jack MIHAILIDIS, 11. Daniel LAZAREVSKI, 20. Parker WILLIAMS, 22. Patrick WALL, 23. Jesse HOEY, 29. Tobenna OBANI, 36. John RADIMISIS, 46. Luka DIDULICA
Substitutes: 41. Yonathan SULTAN (GK), 9. Tommaso MINUTOLI (80′), 14. Jordan HOEY (66′), 16. Anastasios GEORGAKOPOULOS (80′), 32. Aaron BAZENSKI (32′), 38. Alexander HOURIDIS
