By Andrew Bishara (@_andrewbishara)

Box Hill United made it four wins from four games with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Brunswick City on Saturday afternoon.

A brilliant 10-minute burst saw the visitors score three goals in quick succession with Kenny Athiu, Rinor Muriqi and George Howard getting their names on the scoresheet.

United dominated possession throughout the game with City looking to play on the counter.  

But it only took 20 minutes for United to find the opener with a magnificent team goal.

A series of quick one-touch passes tore open the City defence, leaving Athiu with the simple task of smashing the ball into the net.

United got its second eight minutes later, when Muriqi pounced on a loose ball in the box to drill it past City ‘keeper Mason Interlandi.

The move started when Howard broke down the flank to deliver a cross, but the ball was poorly cleared and fell right to the feet of Muriqi, who netted his fifth goal of the season.

The teams had barely settled for kick-off when United made it 3-0.

Howard was again the chief architect with a superb solo effort, smashing a low drive past Interlandi.

The second half followed the same pattern of the first with United controlling the game, but it couldn’t find that elusive fourth goal.

Athiu came close by hitting the post after a nice sweeping move, while two free-kicks by Josh Valadon went just over the crossbar.

United coach Arthur Georgiou was proud with his team’s progression in controlling games from start to finish.

“Today even though the pattern of the scoreboard was similar [to last week’s 3-0 win over Dandenong City], I was a lot happier,” Georgiou said.

“Because we achieved closer to 45 minutes of what our intended target was. The week before we achieved 30-35; today was 45.”

Georgiou said the club would use the Easter break to tune up some of the players.

“We’ve organised a practice game for Thursday. We’ve done it strategically so the boys can have the weekend off,” he said.

“[And] for some of the players who haven’t got enough game time.”

Brunswick City coach Joe De Martino praised United, but lamented his side’s lapse in concentration.

“Box Hill are a quality team. Technically and tactically they’re brilliant and when you give them that much freedom, what do you expect?” De Martino said.

“For the first 25 minutes I thought we were doing well, we were competitive, and then seven minutes of a total lapse of concentration.

“It was enough to give them all the play and three goals.”

De Martino said that the next couple of games would see where the team sits in NPL 1.

“For a young team like us, the guys know it’s a learning experience for them,” he said.

“The next couple of rounds will probably tell us exactly where we are.”  

FT: Brunswick City 0 lost to Box Hill United 3 (Kenny Athiu 23’, Rinor Muriqi 30’, George Howard 31’) at Dunstan Reserve [HT: 0-3]

Brunswick City: Mason INTERLANDI (GK), Giuseppe AIELLO, Manny KARAS (Abdullah ABDULLAH 46’), Admir KOLAKOVIC (Oktay OZTEKIN 42’), George MARKELIS, Denis SADIK, Chris SUAVO (71’ Costas THANOS), Robert SCHIAFONE, Nicholas TEREZAKIS, Michael VARKOPOULOS, Dimitri VITHOULKAS

Unused Subs: Rodjar ZENGIN, Xavier ALLEN

Yellow Cards: KARRAS 37’, SCHIAFONE 45’, VITHOULKAS 77’, TEREZAKIS 83’.

Red Cards: Nil.

Box Hill United: Alexander PAVLIDIS (GK), Josh VALADON, Josh BUSCH, Nick KOKALAKIS (Christian LAR 88’), Kenny ATHIU, Matt WATERS, Rinor MURIQI (Alex SCHROEN 58’), Samuel CATHERINE, Chris IRWIN (Damien Peters 70’), Matt COLLIER, George HOWARD

Unused Subs: Christian PAVLIDIS, Sam SHEPPARD
Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil