The Examination: Paco breaks down Knights

Pascoe Vale inflicted Melbourne Knights’ sixth National Premier League loss on the trot after it took down Knights 2-1 at Knights Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Played in wintry conditions, it was Pascoe Vale which had the game’s first notable opportunity. Knights goalkeeper Fraser Chalmers got enough on the ball to keep out Marino Gasparis’ free kick, although his punch could only fall into the path of Luca Santilli, who headed wide.

The drought was eventually broken barely a minute after the restart when Chalmer’s scuffed clearance allowed Matthew Lazarides to round the former and poke the ball into an empty net.

Adrian Talarico followed up with a vicious attempt of his own, before Luka Prelevic added his side’s second with a telling finish after getting on the end of a pristine pass from Lazarides.

James McGarry breathed life back into the match with a skidding shot that flew past the outstretched hand of Dennis Martin ten minutes from time.

Paco held on though to notch up its maiden win over Knights in a competitive fixture.

The Peak:

Luka Prelevic’s sweet strike.

The New Zealand international made a rare start for Vitale Ferrante’s team and his boss wouldn’t have been disappointed by his midfielder’s performance.

Intelligent runs and splitting passes made up Prelevic’s afternoon, although it was his shot which capped off the day.

His placement inside the area was inch perfect to receive Lazaride’s pass first time and do the rest.

68' | GOOALL! Luka thrashes the ball home after sublime lead-up play from Munoz and Laz! 0-2 #PS4NPLVIC #Paco #MVvPV pic.twitter.com/ODVhyAQsAN

— Pascoe Vale FC (@pvfc_official) August 21, 2016

The Trough:

Fraser Chalmers’ punt blunder may have opened the door for Pascoe Vale, but it certainly came at the expense of Melbourne Knights, which had all its hard defensive work undone in an instant.

The ball appeared to bobble up awkwardly for the young custodian, although this will do little to appease him.

It undoubtedly had an impact on the match’s momentum and will be a moment that the former Brisbane Roar National Youth League junior will want to put behind him.

The Game Breaker:

Some could argue that it was Matthew Lazarides, but it is hard to go past Fraser Chalmers once again. And for all the wrong reasons.

The Sydney natives’ unfortunate error broke the game’s ice, which allowed both teams to come out of their shells and play. His side’s second concession for the day proved to be too tough a challenge to surmount.

What We Learned:

For all one’s hard work, it can pale into insignificance very quickly.

Melbourne Knights looked disciplined defensively throughout the opening half, but wavered somewhat after going behind.

It lacked conviction in the front third for the majority of the match and will want to rectify this ahead of the visit of Green Gully in its FFA Cup Round of 16 clash on Tuesday week.

Pascoe Vale concluded its 2016 season superbly after being one of the league’s the form team since the closing of the mid-season transfer window.

It ultimately left its run too late, missing out on a finals berth by six points.

Onwards and upwards for a team hoping for a lot more in 2017.

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TEAMS:

Melbourne Knights: Chalmers, Glavan, Batur, Grgic, Purcell, Hicks, Jurkovic, McGarry, Andrijasevic, Cvitkovic, Colosimo.

Pascoe Vale: Martin, Talarico, Munoz, Santilli, Youssef, Prelevic, Lazarides, Pistininzi, Quaynor, Milardovic, Gasparis.