Bentleigh Greens has earned a shot at its first ever Dockerty Cup trophy after defeating Melbourne Knights 2-1 at Jack Edwards reserve on Wednesday night in the Dockerty Cup semi-final. The win comes days after a 3-1 home win in the league against arch-rival South Melbourne, which lifted the Greens into top spot ahead of the Lakesiders for the first time this season, putting it in line to add the Premier’s Plate to its trophy cabinet.

It’s been an eventful week for the reigning NPL champion. Two crucial wins in succession have put it in pole position to win two more major trophies this season to add to its Community Shield. And the team has managed to do it with a squad stretched thin with injuries and suspensions.

In Wednesday night’s semi against the Knights, the Greens got off to a flying start, scoring from a set piece in the second minute when defender Luke Pilkington escaped his marker and side-footed home a Ross Honos free kick.

The Knights equalised through a set piece of their own in the 40th minute, when the Greens keeper Ryan Scott misjudged a free kick allowing Stipo Andrijasevic to flick the ball onwards into the net.

The Greens were back in front soon after the break when an attempted Knights clearance of a Tyson Holmes cross cannoned off Knights defender Nikola Jurkovic into the net for an own goal in the 48th minute.

A late Andrijasevic header was cleared off the line by a desperate Greens defence, with the referee ignoring Knights claims that the ball had crossed the line.

After the match Bentleigh Greens coach John Anastasiadis commented that “it was extraordinary some of the chances we missed today”.

“It meant that the Knights were in the game all along. We’ve got to be careful and complete those chances we created. Another day, if we didn’t have a bit of luck we could’ve lost the game. Fortunately we got away with it.
“At the moment we’re running on empty. We’ve got injuries, we’ve got suspensions. A lot of players are very tired out there at the moment. We’re hanging on. We know this is the time of the year when a lot of teams are suffering with the players being fit.”