An enthralling night of NPL action saw Pascoe Vale and Heidelberg United climb to second and third respectively while Green Gully and South Melbourne played out a pulsating 4-4 thriller.
The latter of those fixtures was arguably the game of the season so far with the hosts scoring four goals in the final 14 minutes of the contest to haul back a 3-0 deficit as South Melbourne’s early season struggles continued with two more dropped points, leaving the reigning Champions in 12th.
Chris Taylor’s side welcomed Nick Epifano back into the starting 11 following his five-game suspension with Perth Glory manager Kenny Lowe an interested onlooker at Green Gully Reserve.
The hosts started the contest on the front foot but fell behind against the run of play in the 20th minute when South marksman Milos Lujic was fouled in the penalty area before stepping up and converting from the spot, netting his third goal from the 11-metre mark this term.
The lead was doubled in the 29th minute when some nice interplay from Lujic and Epifano saw the latter finish past Rani Dowisha as Hellas headed into the break with a two-goal advantage.
Gully manager Brain Vanega brought on Jay Davies on for Wade Dekker at the start of the second half but it seemed to be in vain as Matt Millar added a third on the hour with his first of the campaign.
Sami Nour came on for Matthew Breeze while former South midfielder Stephen Hatzikostas was brought on for George Lambadaridis as the hosts searched for an unlikely comeback.
However two goals in two minutes gave the home side hope as Davies blasted his effort into the top corner before fellow substitute Nour tapped home in the 78th minute on his return to the first team.
The comeback appeared lost two minutes later when Millar’s spectacular lob from range beat the on-rushing Dowisha as South looked to have secured just their second league win of the campaign.
But it was not to be as Nick Krousoratis once more reduced the deficit in the 84th minute before Davies struck his second two minutes from time to seal the unlikeliest of comebacks.
***
Eight goals were also netted at Olympic Village however unlike the proceedings in Keilor East, the encounter between Heidelberg and the North Geelong Warriors proved to be one-sided in nature.
Scottish forward Sean Ellis scored five to give the 10-man Bergers an emphatic 8-0 victory over their sorry opponents who languish in 13th place on the competition ladder and suffered the worst defeat in the top flight since Heidelberg’s 9-0 thrashing of the Springvale White Eagles in 2011 (but the worst overall in NPL era).
Their woes began in the second minute when Ellis grabbed his first, although Reuben Way’s 11th minute red card gave North hope of getting a result against their formidable opponents.
That task was made harder on the half-hour mark when Heidelberg captain Luke Byles struck a right-footed volley past Daniel Zilic and into the back of the net to double his side’s lead at the break.
Warriors manager Micky Colina reshuffled his formation at the break by reverting to a three-man defence, having brought on forward Juso Julardzija for defender Nathan Long in the search for goals.
Former Goulburn forward Ellis had failed to find the back of the net in five previous league outings in 2017 but had a second in the 53rd following a delightful dink over the head of Zilic to make it 3-0.
Three became four two minutes later when star Bergers target man Kenny Athiu got in on the scoring with a close range volley to give the numerically disadvantage hosts with an almost unassailable lead.
The game was all over as a contest half-way through the second half when Ellis completed his hat-trick before Athiu added his second to double his goal tally in the league this term to four in six games.
Ellis grabbed a further two in the space of two minutes to set a new NPL top-flight record for the most goals in a single match with his destructive five-goal haul humiliating the lifeless Warriors.
***
Those five strikes would have had Ellis joint-top of the goalscoring charts had Davey van’t Schip not netted a brace in Pascoe Vale’s 2-0 win over the Bulleen Lions at David Barro Stadium.
The Dutchman took his season tally up to seven goals in as many games as goals in either half saw Vitale Ferrante’s men jump to second on the ladder and are yet to lose a game so far this campaign.
Bulleen had two early opportunities on goal, with Eli Luttmer forcing Alex Pavlidis into a good save before van’t Schip’s sublime touch, turn and finish handed the Rams the lead in the 17th minute.
Lions danger man Luke Gallo tested Pavlidis early in the second half while American forward Oliver White saw his header fail to trouble the shot-stopper as Aaron Healey’s side searched for a leveller.
That equaliser never came. Vale doubled their lead in the 68th minute as a Matthew Lazarides’ shot was deflected past Wyatt Chant and into the back of the net by the in-form Dutch forward.
Paco captain Joseph Youssef almost grabbed a third before the full-time whistle, while Davide Cardamone’s free-kick sailed narrowly over the bar as Bulleen failed to find a consolation strike.
The result leaves the Lions in 11th place on the table, winless in four and on equal points with the struggling South, who sit in the relegation play-off position due to an inferior goal difference.