Melbourne Victory returns to Epping Stadium for an NPL2 West clash against Box Hill United on Saturday.
Summary
Victory has played its past two matches away at Langwarrin and Murray United, suffering narrow defeats in both.
It produced a second-half fightback in Wodonga but fell short to Murray despite goals from Josh Hope, 21, and Jack Palazzolo, 19.
Palazzolo’s strike was his eighth of the season, putting him in second on the goal-scoring charts in the NPL2 West.
It also saw him match his tally from the entirety of the 2018 NPL2 West campaign.
Victory is eager to return to winning form when it welcomes Box Hill, which is eighth in the NPL2 East, to Epping Stadium.
The teams last met in August 2018, when goals from Brandon Lauton and Palazzolo saw Victory to a 2-0 win.
Head coach Gareth Naven’s pre-match thoughts
“The focus has been quite simply the importance of the contest, every time we train and every time we play. Secondly, we’ve got to move the ball quicker in moments, keep getting in good scoring positions and we’d like to finish with end product.”
This week
NPL2 West 2019 Round 14
Melbourne Victory v Box Hill United
Saturday, May 25, 2.00pm AEST
Epping Stadium, Melbourne
U20 NPL2 West 2019 Round 14
Melbourne Victory v Box Hill United
Saturday, May 25, 11.30am AEST
Epping Stadium, Melbourne
U18 NPL West 2019 Round 13
St Albans Saints v Melbourne Victory
Sunday, May 26, 2.00pm AEST
Churchill Reserve, St Albans
U15 NPL West 2019 Round 13
St Albans Saints v Melbourne Victory
Sunday, May 26, 12.00pm AEST
Churchill Reserve, St Albans
Last week
NPL2 West: Murray United 3 Victory 2 (Hope 50′, Palazzolo 62′)
U20 NPL2 West: Murray United 3 Victory 3 (Nedanovski 5′, Paneras 85′, Tountas 87′)
U18 NPL West: Bendigo City 0 Victory 9 (Duratovic 1’/22’/82′, Anastovski 9’/57′, Dafinis 10′, Moukachar 16’/77′, OG 39′)
U15 NPL West: Bendigo City 0 Victory 1 (Kapaklis 70′)
