The 2025 NPLM Round 18 Match of the Round Preview
Round 18: Port Melbourne Sharks v Melbourne Knights
Venue: JL Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne
Date/Time: Friday 6 June 2025, 8:30pm
While some eyes are focused on the NPLM frontrunners for the sumptuous matches on offer in Round 18, the arrival of winter diverts attention to the bottom of the table, as the competition’s stragglers engage in the eternal struggle to avoid the dreaded drop.
In what is the first of several pivotal relegation battles as we head into the final season break in July, second-bottom Port Melbourne Sharks take on the league’s easybeats Melbourne Knights, whose run of eight successive defeats was only interrupted by inclement weather and a postponed fixture at home to Oakleigh Cannons on Sunday.
The Sharks have enjoyed a win and a draw in four matches under recently appointed Head Coach Maxim Gaydovskiy and aside from a 4-1 humbling to Oakleigh Cannons at Jack Edwards, have marked significant improvement in their defensive game under his tutelage.
Conversely, the Knights form has deteriorated rapidly since Ivan Franjic’s departure, John Markovski without a win in his three matches since assuming control, though the former Socceroo will take heart in knowing the Sharks squad intimately given his tenure during the first dozen matches of the season.
This shapes as a classic 6 pointer for both clubs, a Sharks win potentially lifting them clear of the relegation zone, while a victory for the Knights will halt a disastrous run of form and lift them off the bottom of the table.
Head-to-Head Record
Played: 27
Port Melbourne Sharks: 8
Melbourne Knights: 15
Draws: 4
Last Time They Met
Round 5, Sunday 9 March 2025, 7:00pm @ Tompsett Stadium.
Melbourne Knights 3 (Ali 58);
Port Melbourne Sharks 0.
Referee: Jack Morgan.
Melbourne Knights: Chris Oldfield, Benjamin Carrigan, Tomas Karlovic (Stefan Brecevic 76), Steve Whyte, Ciaran Bramwell (Marc Petheriotis 76), Stephan Lawless, Fraser Dunlop (Masatou Chiba 70), Deion Nikolaidis (Alexander Hird 78), Kaine Sheppard, Jack Morton, Miguel Cunha (Anthony Duzel 78); Coach: Ivan Franjic; Cautions: Cunha 32, Dunlop 33, Carrigan 49.
Port Melbourne Sharks: Luka Romic, Marc Latsis, Owen McCloskey (Thomas Alisandratos 76), Anthony Leban, Maker Maker, Nicholas Dib, Amanhomm Khamis, Alec Becvinovski (Mitchell Trajcevski 46), Jonathan Vakirtzis (Daniel Serra 76), Joshua Markovski (Nikita Cicmil 90), Nathan Dib (Aiden Brown 86); Coach: John Markovski; Cautions: Nicholas Dib 67.
Watch the last time they me
Key Matchup: Battle of the new coaches
While it isn’t rare that a Head Coach returns to their old stomping ground in the NPLM, it’s unlikely that it happens in the same season. John Markovski departed JL Murphy Reserve after Round 12, with a mere two wins to show for his efforts. A youthful squad by any measure, Port Melbourne were considered favourites for the drop along with Melbourne Victory in most pundit’s eyes and their season has gone to script as they find themselves 13th on the League table.
Markovski can take heart in that the youth he blooded during the first half of the campaign has stuck to their guns, and the question as to their recent form rise being a classic case of new-coach bounce or genuine improvement in accumulation of match minutes is one that can never truly be answered given his departure.
His replacement at the Sharks was plucked from relative obscurity, Maxim Gaydovskiy’s only Head Coach experience in Australia coming at the lower levels of the VETO Men’s State League, where he impressed in his role at Melbourne University. He has also had stints with Preston Lions (Assistant) and Heidelberg United (U21s) so is no stranger to the NPLM.
Markovski will be relying on his experience to nab a victory over his former employers, though with barely a month to impress himself upon a struggling Knights squad, is three points away from home a bridge too far for a club without a win since March.
The 2025 NPLM Round 18 Match of the Round will be broadcast live and free on the NPL Victoria YouTube Channel.
Commentator:
Adem Saricaoglu.
NPLM Round 18 Matches
• Friday 13 June, 7:30pm: Heidelberg United vs Dandenong Thunder @ Olympic Village
• Friday 13 June, 7:45pm: Dandenong City vs Green Gully @ Frank Holohan Soccer Complex
• Friday 13 June, 8:15pm: Oakleigh Cannons vs Melbourne Victory @ Jack Edwards Reserve
• Friday 13 June, 8:15pm: Port Melbourne Sharks vs Melbourne Knights @ JL Murphy Reserve
• Saturday 14 June, 3:00pm: Avondale vs St Albans Saints @ Avenger Park
• Saturday 14 June, 3:15pm: Altona Magic vs Hume City @ Paisley Park
• Sunday 15 June, 5:00pm: South Melbourne vs Preston Lions @ Lakeside Stadium