Bentleigh Greens slumped to their second straight defeat at the hands of Green Gully at Kingston Heath on Friday night, eventually going down 3-1 in what eventuated into a spiteful affair with two Greens players being sent off and a rain of yellow cards.
Both teams came into this match in poor form with the Greens losing to Northcote and Green Gully falling to Altona Magic at home. The Greens were without their captain and goalkeeper Peter Gavales while Green Gully made four changes after their senior coach quit in frustration after weeks of poor performances.
From the beginning Green Gully looked the hungrier side and their persistent paid off in the 10th minute when Gully striker Gary Wales shot through a header to make the margin 1-0 for the visitors.
The margin was then extended to 2-0 in the 25th minute when Gully striker Joshua Groenewald took a long range shot at goal.
Bentleigh stand in goal keeper Clifford Henry could only watch in dismay as he failed to hang on to the ball and allowed it to roll over the goal line.
What started off as shock for the Greens turned into lunacy when Greens midfielder Dennis Alliovic kicked Gully’s Jonathan Munoz right in front of the referee earning himself a straight red card.
However the 10 man Greens seemed to lift and after Greens striker Damir Lokvancic pegged the margin back to 2-1 there appeared to be some fight left in the Greens.
Unfortunately for the Greens any hopes of a comeback where dashed when Greens veteran Con Athopoulos earned himself a second yellow in the 55th minute after a stretch of undisciplined behaviour.
The nineman Greens just couldn’t contain the more disciplined Green Gully outfit with the nail in the coffin coming in the 75th with Gully’s Michael Sanders scoring from a cross securing all three points.
Next week Green Gully host Northcote City on Saturday afternoon (kick off at 3pm) while the Greens travel to Dandenong Thunder on Saturday evening (kickoff at 7pm).