A goal from Carl Recchia in the last minute of extra time gave Altona Magic a 1-0 win over the Melbourne Knights to take out the 2008 Foxtel Cup at a sun drenched Bob Jane Stadium on Sunday afternoon in what was a somewhat uninspiring finale to the 2008 Victorian Premier League season. It gave the Magic their first title since 1997 and left the Knights still without a title since returning to the VPL after the collapse of the NSL.

Altona dominated possession early in a scrappy opening as Referee of the Year, Hakan Anaz looked to stamp his authority on the game from the opening whistle. The Knights were kicking with the aid of a slight breeze in the first half but were struggling in the early stages to mount any cohesive challenge on the Magic goal. It took almost fifteen minutes for the first attempt on goal with the Knights’ Zoran Petrevski taking a speculative shot from distance that went straight to Bojo Jedjevic in the Altona goal.

Moments later, Melbourne had another opportunity to get on the scoreboard but for a great last ditch tackle by Slave Bozinovski who cleared the ball away from Andrew Barisic after he had been put through by a long ball from James Cumming. In what was period of dominance for the Knights, Cameron Watson blazed well over the crossbar after being put in the clear by Stefan Piorkowski only minutes later.

It took until just after the half hour mark for Altona to have their first serious attempt on the Knights’ goal as Michael Curcija sent his shot well over the crossbar with an empty goal beckoning after Knights ‘keeper Savas Ozdemir was caught out of position as he dived full length in an attempt to clear a low Carl Recchia cross.

After a slow start to the match the Knights finished the first half in a flurry of chances and really should have gone into the break at least a goal up as both Barisic and Petrevski spurned golden opportunities in the dying moments of the half to put their team ahead.

The second half got off to a cagey start as both teams failed to impose themselves on the game, although the Knights continued to dominate the game possession wise but didn’t create any scoring opportunities of note. It wasn’t until the hour mark that a bit of feeling came into the match as the Knights’ players reacted to a challenge by Altona left back, Phillip Riccobene on Knights veteran, Steve Iosifidis in what first appearance looked like a 50/50 challenge. Both groups of players came together and Riccobene and Petrevski exchanged heated words and received a yellow card each for their troubles. Moments later, Melbourne’s claim for a penalty were waved away after Petrevski went down in the area under a challenge.

With a little over ten minutes to go in the second half, Altona ‘keeper Jedjevic denied a certain Watson goal with with his feet, after the Knights’ player got on the end of squared ball from Petrevski, in what was the Knights’ best chance to score in normal time. As normal time drew to a close both teams had an added urgency in their play in attempt to avoid extra time and the possibility of penalties. However, their efforts came to nought and the game was destined for an extra thirty minutes.

In the opening minutes of extra time, Melbourne skipper Craig Elvin almost grabbed the opener as he sent his header inches wide of the upright from a Cameron Watson free kick as he rose unmarked in the area and it was fast looking like it wasn’t going to be the Knights’ day. Midway through the first half of extra time, Altona had their own chances to open the scoring but Knights’ keeper, Savas Ozdemir made a number of crucial blocks in rapid succession to deny the Magic and keep his team in the game. Just before the end of the half, Watson again spurned a gilt edged chance as he scuffed his shot wide of the mark and it looked as if the match was destined for penalties.

Altona came out the hungrier team in the second period of extra time and were unlucky not to go ahead as a fully stretched Ozdemir tipped a searing shot from Riccobene over the crossbar as the left back made a surging run through the midfield. But with seconds’ remaining before the final whistle and the game looking to be heading to penalties, Carl Recchia caught the Knights’ defence napping and beat the offside trap, and lobbed a despairing Ozdemir for the match winning goal to send the Altona fans into delirium. The Knights barely had time for a restart as referee, Hakan Anaz blew his whistle for full time.

Overall, neither team set the world on fire it what was an uninspiring final. The Knights would be certainly ruing their missed opportunities and the absence of Spiteri and Franjic and they will be hoping they can go one better in the 2009 season.

Neil Zimmerman is the editor of the84thminute and also runs the Victory In Melbourne site. On most weekends Neil can be found at a football match, be it either A-League, Victorian Premier League or a match that he happens to come across whilst walking his dogs.

Photo credit: Neil Zimmerman