By Katie Lambeski (@Katie Lambeski)

PHOTO: Mark Avellino

A relentless performance from Heidelberg United seen it power to a remarkable 8-2 win over a hapless Green Gully on Saturday afternoon at Green Gully Reserve.

A hat-trick from Andreas Govas led the rout, a brace from Kaine Sheppard, with a goal each to Necj Kolman, Jakob Williams, and Kenny Athiu earning Heidelberg a famous win.

Heidelberg got on the front foot early on and were rewarded, with a long range curling shot from the left flank from Sheppard beat Gully custodian Rani Dowisha.

Gully readjusted to have its best period of the game, and equalised just after the 20th minute mark, building on a dribbling effort from Omar Abdigafar and having his shot parried by Griffin McMaster; the ball fell into the direction of Mathew Sanders, who forced it home.

Unfortunately for Gully, this proved to be an aberration as Necj Kolman scored an easy tap-in after rounding Dowisha and rolled the ball into an empty net just moments after.

That was followed on just five minutes after by a deflected Sheppard shot that made its way into the goal.

An out-of-sorts Gully was left with all to do in the second half, but was immediately met by a visiting side that was hell-bent on pressing its advantage.

In a ten minute burst, Govas and Williams added three goals. Govas’ 60^th minute strike arguably a goal of the year contender with a viciously fast shot from near halfway.

Abdigafar managed to pull a goal back for Gully after a fine dribbling effort allowed him a tidy finish past McMaster.

But Heidelberg pressed again and forced costly turnovers high up the park, with substitute Kenny Athiu benefitting by getting one-on-one with Dowisha and placing a low shot to the right corner of the net.

There would be no relenting until the final whistle, with Kaine Sheppard being brought down in the box by Mat Reid and earning Reid a red card and Heidelberg a penalty, leaving Govas to coolly earn his hat-trick on the full-time whistle.

MATCH DETAILS:

Green Gully 2 (Sanders 24’, Abdigafar 68’) defeated by Heidelberg 8 (Govas 55’, 60’, 89’, Sheppard 7’, 30’, Kolman 26’, Williams 63’, Athiu 78’)

Green Gully SC: 23. Rani DOWISHA, 2. Mathew REID, 4. Daniel JONES, 7. Liam SCOTT, 9. Nikola MARKOVSKI, 10, Rinor MURIQI, 11. Matthew BREEZE (15. Muhammed UZUMCU 61’), 12. Mathew SANDERS, 13. Omar ABDIGAFAR, 14. Amadu KOROMA, 17. Alon BLUMGART.

Unused subs: 1. Sebastian MATTEI, 19. Daniel TRAJKOSKI, 20. Nicholas KOZDRA

Yellow cards: Jones (34’), Markovski (75’)

Red cards: Reid (88’)

Heidelberg United FC: 23. Griffin MCMASTER, 2. Jamie CUMMING, 13. Luke BYLES, 17. Steve PACE, 5. Dan VASILEVSKI (10. Jack PETRIE 72’), 20. Nejc KOLMAN, 9. Kosta KANAKARIS (8. John VOULGARIS 61’), 21. Andreas GOVAS, 11. Jakob WILLIAMS, 14. Dan HEFFERNAN (12. Kenny ATHIU 64’), 22. Kaine SHEPPARD

Unused subs: 1. Chris MAYNARD, 7. Reuben WAY