Title-chasing Bentleigh Greens couldn’t have asked for a better run of results on Friday night.
A win at home for the second-placed outfit saw Bentleigh gain ground on ladder-leaders South Melbourne, who succumbed to a shock 1-0 defeat to strugglers Pascoe Vale, who were reduced to ten men in the opening 20 minutes of the clash.
The other key result to go their way saw Oakleigh Cannons grab a late winner through Dusan Bosnjak to deliver Heidelberg United their second loss in three games.
This shored up the reigning Premiers’ spot in the top two, as they jumped six points clear of Heidelberg, and just two points off top-spot.
Hosting Northcote City in the early kick-off of the night, the Greens delivered a second straight 5-0 NPL Victoria defeat to their opponents, who were no match for the well-oiled machine that took to the field at Kingston Heath.
An early foray forward saw Matthew Thurtell chip an effort onto the crossbar, before an unmarked Tyson Holmes broke the deadlock with a back-post header from Chris Lucas’ corner kick.
Thurtell made it two-nil with an emphatic finish from close range, Luke Pilkington crossing to Wayne Wallace, who chested down for the striker in the build up.
Bentleigh were in complete control of the contest, with Northcote struggling to work the ball into the final third, let alone create any meaningful opportunities.
Thurtell capitalised on some loose marking to wriggle free on the left side of the penalty area, sending a wicked low ball across the face, which cannoned off Nicholas Bavcar – one of Northcote’s best performers on the night – and into the net for an own goal.
It was 4-0 on 85 minutes as Lucas smashed home from 20-yards with the pick of the goals, before the diminutive forward stroked home from the penalty spot in injury time to round off the result.
The signs were all positive for the Greens, with both Jack Webster and Ross Archibald exceptional in their defensive duties, while Troy Ruthven was at his combative best, Holmes created plenty and the forward trio all in sync heading into the thick of the season.
As for South, they put in an insipid display of football as Technical Director Strati Xynas stepped into the dugout for his NPL Victoria managerial debut, in place of the absent Chris Taylor.
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In a crazy start to the fixture, Tomi Milardovic was given his marching orders for a handball on the line to deny a shot from Nick Epifano, only for the winger’s resulting spot-kick to be saved by Alex Pavlidis for Pascoe Vale.
The visitors looked the better outfit, and were worthy of their win when talisman Joseph Youssef popped up in the 63rd minute to finish at the back post, a lead that they were able to hang on to come the final whistle.
Their lead could’ve been extended, were it not for some heroic goalkeeping from Nikola Roganovic.
Unlike their keeper glovework, South let slip valuable ground on their closest rivals in the Greens, which makes their tough fixture against Green Gully next weekend all the more important.
Below the top two, Heidelberg’s slip up gives both South and Bentleigh a bit more breathing space to work with, as the third placed side fell to a 1-0 defeat to Oakleigh Cannons.
A relatively tight game saw Oakleigh enjoy the better share of chances, including the chance to take the lead via a penalty.
Goalkeeper Chris Theodoridis was sent off for the second time this season in the process, given his marching orders in controversial circumstances, as he went up with the knees to claim an aerial ball.
The resulting spot-kick was saved by debutant ‘keeper Pasquale Gioffre, who was unable to stop Dusan Bosnjak soon after as the attacking midfielder netted the only goal of the game.
Steven Topalovic also made way after receiving a second yellow in the dying embers of the match, but Oakleigh were able to just hang on for the three points, as a last gasp Kostas Kanakaris header hit the post for the Bergers to be denied a share of the spoils.
The other fixtures of the round saw Avondale FC turn a 1-0 half-time deficit into a 3-1 win over hosts Melbourne Knights, while Richmond SC grabbed an important win over fellow promoted outfit Bulleen Lions.
Of course, they did enjoy home comforts at Knights Stadium, their adopted home for the 2016 season, and their comfort on its turf seemed to help them in a resurgent second half.
For the second week in a row, the Knights grabbed an opener within the opening few minutes, this time it came through attacking midfielder Jason Hicks who was able to catch out Chris May with a well struck volley from range.
Unfortunately – again for the second week in a row – they managed to cough up that lead, as Avondale rallied to grab three unanswered in the final 20 minutes.
Omar Ammache beat out Michael O’Farrell from distance to equalise for the visitors, with Nick Symeoy smashing his side into the lead with a belter from outside the 18-yard-box.
Symeoy put the game to bed with 10 minutes to play, netting his second by slotting home from Oleksiy Khrapko’s cutback.
Just the solitary goal separated Richmond SC and Bulleen Lions, as the leagues second worst attack, met its worst defence.
In the end, it was the defence of Richmond that proved the difference as they held on to not only register their first clean sheet of the season, but also rid the demons of a 7-0 thrashing the week prior to Port Melbourne Sharks.
The contest was decided in the 76th minute, as Alex Caniglia latched onto Hamlet Armenian’s cross to gift Richmond just their third win of the NPL Victoria season.
Photo: Bentleigh Greens SC