By Ahmed Yussuf (@ahmedyussuf10)

Moreland Zebras ended a horrid a run of three consecutive defeats with an emphatic 4-1 win over Brunswick City at De Chene Reserve on Sunday.

A brace for Nick Symeoy along with goals from both Joel Nikolic and super sub Liam Brian proved too much for Brunswick, which took consolation with Denis Sadik’s 90th-minute set piece.

Brunswick wasn’t helped early on with a defensive mix-up between Costas Thanos and goalkeeper Mason Interlandi as Symeoy pounced on City’s mistake to open the scoring.

Moreland looked resurgent after the early goal, attacking with purpose with a flurry of chances applying pressure to the Brunswick defence.

Zebras striker Joel Nikolic found himself one-on-one with Interlandi, but the Brunswick custodian stood tall to win the battle.

In the 30th minute, Nikolic was able to make up for his early miss as he made the most of Nick Symeoy’s cross into the penalty area to find the back of the net to double Moreland’s lead going into halftime.

But moments before the halftime break, Brunswick registered a rare shot on goal with Dimitri Vithoulkas forcing a save out of Moreland shot-stopper Nikola Kostadinoski.

The second half began slowly, but Brunswick registered the first chance when a Michael Varkopoulos header skewed inches wide of the goalmouth.

A comedic slip in defence from Mario Pirano gifted Sadik a sight on goal, but it was to no avail as Kostadinoski pulled off a crucial save.

The Zebras began to come back into the game as Evan Batsis’s attempt on goal forced a great save from Interlandi.

In the 78th minute, super-sub Brian pulled off a lovely shot into the bottom corner to push Moreland three goals to the good.

Less than three minutes later, Moreland found a fourth through first-half goalscorer Symeoy, who completed his brace with an acrobatic volleyed goal to seal the Zebras’ first win since Round 2.

Sadik’s wonderful curling effort from a set piece sailed into the back of the net late in proceedings, offering Brunswick some consolation in a disappointing showing.

Zebras coach Danny Gnjidic said the win was “a long time coming”.

“The boys did what they had to do today (but) it was far from a performance we’re going to hang our hat on,” Gnjidic said.

“But the result is all that matters considering what we’ve been through the last month.”

Brunswick City coach Joe De Martino said his players needed to learn the lessons from the heavy loss.

“There’s a lot of inexperience from where we come from (and) some guys have got to start waking up and start learning from their mistakes,” De Martino said.

“Each and every member in [the Brunswick] squad has got to start taking a good look at themselves.

“And say ‘do I really want to be here and do have what it takes?’”

MATCH DETAILS

Moreland Zebras 4 (Nick Symeoy 9’ 80’, Joel Nikolic 30’, Liam Brian 78’) defeated Brunswick City 1 (Denis Sadik 89’) at De Chene Reserve [HT: 2-0]

Moreland Zebras: 21. Nikola Kostadinoski, 7. Scott Robson, 16. Mile Medjedovic, 6. Angus Martin, 3. Johnny Crivelli, 5. Nick Symeoy, 12. Josh McMonagle-Ihasz (22. Robert Armellini, 78’), 13. Mario Piriano, 15. Evan Batsis, 10. Danillo Bonillo (4. Liam Brian, 66’), 9. Joel Nikolic (11. Danny Charalambous, 66’)

Unused Sub(s): 1. Francesco Greco, 18. Adam Centofanti,

Yellow Card(s): 5. Nick Symeoy 71’

Red Card(s): Nil

Brunswick City: 1. Mason Interlandi, 16. Abdallah Abdallah, 45. George Markelis (6. Oztay Oztekin, 60’), 14. Denis Sadik, 18. Rob Schianfone, 8. Nick Terezakis (19. Tom Barforosh, 65’), 22. Costas Thanos, 3. Michael Varkopoulos, 99. Dimitri Vithoulkas, 50. Xavier Allen (24. Sam Mazzolini, 34’), 10. Chris Velluto

Unused Sub(s): 27. Chris Scavo, 44. Rojdar Zengin

Yellow Card(s): 18. Rob Schianfone 82’, 14. Denis Sadik 83’, 99. Dimitri Vithoulkas 84’, 16. Abdallah Abdallah 87’

Red Card(s): Nil