Goal controversy

By Gavin Staindl
A controversial goal awarded to Knox City was the only thing that prevented the visiting Berwick City from taking out their first win in State League Division Two soccer on the weekend.
According to coach Miro Kupinic, the 1-1 draw at Egan Lee Reserve was a positive result but he admits that Knox were lucky to walk away with one point.
After 20 minutes of pressure by the home side, Berwick goalkeeper Bobby Pecyevic gave away a free-kick for receiving an intentional back pass that resulted in a Knox goal. The decision caused a spill of emotions on the sidelines as the Berwick coaches and players were adamant that the ball unintentionally clipped the leg of a Berwick defender and made its way to the goal box.
But as they have done all pre-season, the opposing goal sparked life into the Berwick side and apart from the opening 20 minutes, the visitors controlled most of the play.
A brilliant “Lionel Messi-like” goal by Orlando Mejias levelled the scores in the second half.
Mejias got onto the end of a through ball before rolling past a defender and flipping it over the fast-approaching goalkeeper to secure Berwick’s first goal of the season.
“We’re in a new division, and we were playing away from home so I’m just happy to get one point,” said Kupinic. In the first 20 minutes they had all the possessions but after their goal they never looked like scoring. We controlled the game and their goal only spurred us on more,” Kupinic said.
In the other Division Two match, Casey Comets drew 0-0 with Frankston Pines at Comets Stadium.
After a mass-exodus depleted most of the Endeavour United Provisional Two side during the off-season, coach Norm Maitland has resurrected his side and pulled off a 1-1 draw against Ashburton at Reema Reserve.
Also in Provisional Two, the Berwick Kings went down to the University of Melbourne 2-1 at Princes Park.
Rounding off the local performances was Doveton who beat Monash Uni 1-0 in their Provisional One clash at Waratah Reserve.