South Melbourne claims original derby win over Melbourne Knights in NPL Victoria kick off

Harrison Sawyer marked his return to South Melbourne with a spectacular goal as Hellas topped Melbourne Knights in the NPL Victoria season opener.

Harrison Sawyer scores a goal for South Melbourne. Picture: Luke Radziminski

It just had to be Harry.

Harrison Sawyer marked his return to South Melbourne – in his first official game as captain – with a spectacular goal in just the fourth minute of the NPL Victoria season.

And it proved enough for Hellas to claim a 1-0 win over original derby rival Melbourne Knights in the season opener at Lakeside Stadium on Thursday night.

The 2022 NPL Golden Boot returned to South this season after overseas spells at VPS in Finland and Indian club Jamshedpur.

From a Max Mikkola long-throw, Sawyer reacted quickest as the ball fell to the back of pack and acrobatically drove it home.

Harrison Sawyer celebrates a goal for South Melbourne. Picture: Luke Radziminski

00.04: GOAL! South Melbourne scores to make it SMFC 1 : MKFC 0.

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It came just seconds after the towering striker hit the post and only the quick reflexes from Knights goalkeeper Chris Oldfield kept the ball out but he would not be denied a second time.

South looked dangerous from set pieces all night with their tall timber; Sawyer, Jake Marshall, Marko Jankovic and Ross Archibald.

Meanwhile, Knights created several chances on the counter-attack with Tommy Semmy producing a memorable – and arguably best-on-ground – display on debut after crossing from Altona Magic.

However, the visitors couldn’t find the finishing touch as either crosses or long-range strikes missed the mark.

South Melbourne coach Esteban Quintas praised his players to fighting out a difficult match as Knights pressed hard at the death for an equaliser.

“The first game, a derby, at home, we got the three points, which is all important,” Quintas said.

“Today, some players – for example Harrison – hadn’t trained for a month so we couldn’t press too much because they weren’t fit.

“The second half, we had three players – Jankovic, Archibald and Harrison – the physio said I had to make the substitution after 45 minutes.

“The message at half-time was to keep the ball, we were winning and if not we’d be running for 45 minutes and Melbourne Knights are too good.

“I was pleased with all of them, and Harrison when you’re not fit it’s obviously difficult to play at a high level but he did because he has a big heart, the captain.”

Semmy had the first shot of the game in just the second minute, bursting onto a long ball of the top but firing into the side netting.

Just before the hour mark, Knights again came close as Anthony Duzel almost scored an audacious Olympico from a corner only to see Javi Lopez tipped it onto the crossbar and over.

Seconds later there was controversy as Mikkola went down and Mitch Hore was shown a yellow card as they battled for the ball in the corner.

With 10 minutes to play, Mikkola was booked himself in bizarre circumstances.

Ivan Franjic charged down the right hand side but pulled up sharply with a hamstring injury and Mikkola was shown a yellow by referee Astro Sakalis despite seemingly not laying a finger on the Knights captain.

Franjic was immediately substituted off and will be in doubt for next Friday’s match against Port Melbourne.

The visitors pushed hard in the final 20 minutes but couldn’t find a way through the Blue wall.

Quintas said it was a good start but his team would have to step it up next week and every week of the season.

“We had good moments with the ball, now we have to grow,” he said.

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“If we had 10 good moments with the ball (tonight), the next match we have to have 20 good moments, this is the process.

“I’m very happy with the players, they ran and fought and got the three points.”

Archibald impressed in his Hellas debut, while Jack Painter-Andrews was excellent in both defence and attack.

Semmy was a standout for Knights as Duzel and second-half substitute Felipe Sanchez also caught the eye.