Following a tough opening round loss to Preston Lions, Melbourne City FC’s NPL3 squad have bounced back with three resounding victories to charge back up the table and into 2nd place heading into its Round 5 clash with Box Hill United.
In Round 4, City managed to down high-flying Doveton SC on their home turf, the City boys scoring four goals for the third consecutive week whilst keeping a clean sheet up the other end.
⚽ Byrns (18'), Caputo (30'), Borges Rodrigues (76'), Gomulka (90+1').
Check out all of the goals from our senior NPL team's 0-4 away win over Doveton SC!
📰 Match report: https://t.co/b0PkgNucxq#CmonCity pic.twitter.com/7Yj3JchWRv
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 19, 2021
Despite the team missing several of its stars, including Stefan Colakovski, Marco Tilio and Matthew Sutton due to their presence being required with the A-League squad just hours after kick-off in the NPL, the young side put together a professional performance against a spirited Doveton FC outfit.
Following a well-contested opening 15 minutes, it was Taras Gomulka who created City’s opener with a brilliant volleyed through-ball from midfield that Lucas Byrns was able to nick off the toes of the intercepting defender before finishing clinically into the bottom corner.
Byrns continued to electrify throughout the opening period, whipping in a left-footed cross in the 30th minute to find the head of Max Caputo, the striker able to glance his header into the bottom corner.
Doveton recovered after the break to make a strong start with the renewed contest taking on a physical edge that saw some crunching tackles laid by either team.
However, the home side’s resistance was eventually ended by Raphael Borges Rodrigues in the 76th minute, before Taras Gomulka wrapped up the encounter with a powered finish in the 91st.
City’s upcoming opposition, Box Hill United, currently occupy 7th place after recording a 1-1-2 start to the season.
Last time out, the team drew 2-2 with bottom-of-the-league Ballarat City, affording their opposition its first point of the campaign.
Stuart Edgar leads his side with 3 goals scored, netting in each of his three games played this campaign. No City player has found the back of the net more than twice in the early stages of the campaign, although Raphael Borges Rodrigues, Colakovski, Gomulka and Caputo all have two goals to their name.
