A damaging start proved costly for Melbourne Victory, as they lost to Keilor Park SC in Round 5 of the NPLW.
The hosts, eager to bounce back from a defeat against South Melbourne the previous weekend, were slow out of the blocks on Sunday afternoon and found themselves two goals behind in double-quick time.
Runa Komidori capitalised on some defensive indecision to open the scoring inside 60 seconds before Abby Holmes broke onto a speculative forward ball to double the lead after four minutes.
Victory had to be patient in their response, and would find a goal back with half an hour to play when Ella O’Grady converted a penalty, but the Girls in Blue were unable to mount a full-scale comeback at The Home of The Matildas.
Match details are available by clicking here.
Speaking to MelbourneVictory.com.au, NPLW Head Coach, Santi Escudero, outlined what cost the team a chance of the points in Bundoora.
“We anticipated a scrappy contest and were unable to impress ourselves on the match as we would have liked, with our play lacking consistent fluidity and the control we are capable of.
“Conceding two early goals hurt us, and it took us some time to get going after this, but I was pleased that the players did not lose their competitive edge despite the scoreline.
“To develop from this performance, we will be focusing on coming out on the right side of individual duels and showing intensity for a full 90 minutes.”
