Bentleigh Greens bounces back to secure first VPL1 win since relegation

After being “embarrassed” in Round 1, Bentleigh Greens bounced back strongly to secure its first win since June, despite a Luke Lofts worldie.

Kieran Dover celebrates a goal for Bentleigh Greens. Picture: Content Hype

After being “embarrassed” in Round 1, Bentleigh Greens proved why it is among the VPL1 premiership contenders on Monday night.

The Greens bounced back strongly from an opening round loss to Langwarrin with an exciting 4-2 win over Bulleen Lions at the Veneto Club.

A pair of second-half penalties sealed the club’s first win since June last year, a season that saw it relegated.

Kieran Dover scored a first-half brace in an all-action performance, while Anton Kinnander and Erdeniz Yildiz netted from the penalty spot.

Bentleigh coach David Chick said it was the kind of response he was looking for.

Gevaro Nepomuceno in action for Bentleigh Greens. Picture: Content Hype

“Last week was very disappointing and you carry that around for a week,” Chick said.

“You look for a reaction, we felt a little bit embarrassed, so you look for a reaction from the players and staff and we got that.

“A few leaders shone through and had some words during the week and it came together on the night.

“Obviously, the sending off early – a reckless tackle, I don’t think he meant to hurt anyone but when it’s that high and you make contact – made it a different game but you’ve still got to win the game.”

Bulleen took the lead in just the sixth minute when Dante Conte was fouled in the box by Shaun Timmins and Luke Lofts had no trouble from the penalty spot.

However, the Lions were reduced to 10 men just six minutes later when James Wilson left a high boot in on Timmins and was shown a straight red card.

A quick fire double from Dover, scoring twice in seven minutes, then had Bentleigh in front at half-time.

The former Dandenong Thunder winger headed home from a Christian Cavallo free-kick in the 21st minute before a close-range finish, somehow finding a gap between Bulleen keeper Ethan Reed and his near post, in the 28th.

Just seconds into the second half it was all square again as Lofts scored with a wonderful long-range strike, to make it 2-2.

Both teams had strong chances in front of goal before the decisive moment as Kinnander was fouled by Reed inside the penalty area and converted the spot kick himself to restore the Greens’ lead.

Recent Bentleigh signing Riki Foster-Hosoai then won a stoppage time penalty with Yildiz sealing the win.

Chick was pleased with the attacking show but said there was still plenty of improvements to make.

“I was really pleased we created a lot of chances and got in really good areas,” he said.

“Obviously they were penalties but you’ve got to get in the box to get penalties and we’ve got a lot of skilful players that are hard to get the ball off.

“We’ve also conceded two penalties in two games, so that’s not ideal.

“The alarming part was the timing of the goals, we conceded the penalty early – we did that against Langwarrin – and we conceded early after half-time.

“It’s been two games so it’s not a relevant stat yet but we’ve let in five goals, you’re not going to score three, four goals every week.”

“That’s the challenge with so many new faces and it’s not like everyone turns up on the first day of pre-season.

“We signed two guys in the last week (before the season) and the cost of that is we haven’t played together, we haven’t played the same back four once.

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“I believe we’ll be a good side but are we going to be good enough quick enough, we’ve spoken about how we can accelerate the team cohesion, because the league doesn’t wait for anyone.”

The wins sees Bentleigh jump up to seventh on the VPL1 ladder, while Bulleen Lions are 11th.

Both play Monday night games in Round 3 with the Greens travelling to John Cain Reserve to play ladder-leader Melbourne Victory, while the Lions host Eastern Lions.

Elsewhere on Monday night, Kingston City snatched a last-gasp draw with Melbourne City with Paul Kuol striking late to cancel out Max Caputo’s opener.