heidelberg 1 melbourne knights 0

[arxidi]

Heidelberg stumble past determined Knights

By Simon Chiarelli

Monday 14 August 2006

Heidelberg has staked its claim for a double chance in the finals after the side registered a hard-fought 1-0 win over the embattled Melbourne Knights at Olympic Village on Sunday night.

Joe Tricarico’s 17th minute goal proved to be the match winner, as the striker coolly nodded home a corner by Jim Drossos.

Unmarked in the area, Tricarico caught the Knights defence flatfooted, and was able to simply head the ball past a hapless Adrian Cagalj at the near post, forcing Melbourne to rue its lack of urgency.

With little time remaining, the Knights had a chance to steal a point but a last-ditch clearance by captain Eric Vassiliadis spared the ‘Bergers blushes after the side became rather complacent late in the second half.

Dominating the game’s early stages, Heidelberg dominated through the midfield, dictating the early tempo of the match.

Struggling to generate scoring chances despite their total supremacy, Heidelberg capitalised on a defensive lapse and took the lead with their first attempt on the Knights goal, courtesy of Tricarico.

The inexperienced Knights struggled to contend with the ‘Berges constant threat, but in their first attack of the match, Knights marksman Nathan Caldwell headed just wide of Acevski’s goal.

Not afraid to venture forward, Goran Talevski also went close to restoring parity with a long-range strike. However, the Knights were visibly a shadow of the side which dominated the competition in its early rounds, lacking cohesion or any flair in the final third of the park.

Without a recognised forward following Tricarico’s first half substitution, Heidelberg were unable to convert its dominance to the scoreboard, and were almost punished after the hour mark by a 25-yard Talevski pile driver that forced the ‘Bergers experienced shot-stopper Acevski into making an acrobatic save.

Experiencing a late resurgence, aerial menace Nathan Caldwell headed wide before Vassiliadis’ interception secured victory for Heidelberg.

Sebastian Petrovic almost snatched a second goal for the former NSL side in injury time with a diving header, but his attempt went wide as the 2001 champions temporarily move to second place on the Vodafone Cup ladder.