Melbourne Victory resumed the NPL 3 Victoria season with a 2-2 draw against the Springvale White Eagles on Sunday.
Summary
Victory took a 2-0 lead into half-time at the Serbian Sports Centre thanks to a Nicholas Hamakiotis goal and Gianluca Iannucci penalty.
But Brady Quinn pulled a goal back before Andrija Kecojevic scored an equaliser in additional time after Luca Da Silva had been sent off for Victory.
Under the guidance of Danny Graystone, Academy – Coaching Lead, Victory made a fast start and almost opened the scoring through Hamakiotis in the fifth minute.
A nice move down the left led to Josh Varga cutting back for Hamakiotis, whose strike was destined for the top corner before unfortunately hitting Adem Duratovic.
But Hamakiotis would open the scoring in the ninth minute with his first goal of the season.
After receiving a pass from Iannucci, Hamakiotis drilled a superb finish past Springvale goalkeeper George Tzamouranis.
Victory continued to create good opportunities and Varga was denied from an angle by Tzamouranis after a one-two with Hamakiotis.
The White Eagles settled into the contest and Victory goalkeeper Marko Bulic made a low stop to deny Stephen Tonios approaching the half-hour mark.
But Victory went 2-0 up before half-time thanks to an Iannucci spot-kick.
A powerful William Wilson effort was well saved by Tzamouranis, but Duratovic was brought down as he got to the rebound first and Iannucci made no mistake with the penalty.
Duratovic also had a chance prior to the break following a Thomas Lambiris pass, but Tzamouranis saved with his feet.
Springvale pulled a goal back to begin the second half, Quinn capitalising on a defensive error to find the bottom corner.
Wilson looked the most dangerous for Victory, the midfielder’s 25-yard effort well saved by Tzamouranis in the 56th minute.
Just five minutes later and Wilson threatened again, Tzamouranis tipping away his low strike after a powerful run.
But Victory was reduced to 10 players with eight minutes remaining when Da Silva was shown his second yellow card.
And Springvale found a late equaliser through Kecojevic, who put away a rebound after a strike hit the crossbar.
NPL 3 Victoria 2021 Round 12
Melbourne Victory U21s 2 (Nicholas Hamakiotis 9′, Gianluca Iannucci 36′ pen)
Springvale White Eagles 2 (Brady Quinn 49′, Andrija Kecojevic 90+4′)
Melbourne Victory U21s: Marko Bulic (gk); Thomas Lambiris, Edmond Lupancu, Aisen Ishak, Luca Da Silva (c); William Wilson (Anthony Leban), Jack Morton; Nicholas Hamakiotis (Jimmy Paneras), Josh Varga (Ryan Lethlean), Gianluca Iannucci; Adem Duratovic.
Under-21s
Victory’s U19s made it 10 straight wins to begin the campaign, beating the Springvale White Eagles 8-0.
