By ALEN DELIC (@AlenDelic)

The trip down Sydney Road will seem like an eternity for Brunswick City, after the visitors were annihilated 7-0 by Moreland Zebras at CB Smith on Saturday afternoon.

In a rainy derby, Brunswick was picked apart by an expertly-drilled Zebras side, with a hat trick to Joel Nikolic, a brace to James Papadimitriou, and goals to Josh McMonagle-Ihasz and James Kelly to complete the rout.

The Zebras started the brighter of the two sides, taking the lead after just five minutes.

Nikolic got his first after getting on the end of a brilliant through ball by Bradley Murray, and calmly slotting the ball under an advancing Hards to make it 1-0 to the hosts.

Moreland had a chance to double the lead after half an hour, when Nikolic held up a loose ball on the left wing, and played Sean Kelly through brilliantly, only for the attacking midfielder to scuff his shot wide.

But it didn’t take long for Kelly to atone for his error.

At the 33^rd minute, the forward got himself on the end of a beautiful long free kick from Danny Charalambous to nod past a helpless Hards to double the lead.

The lead grew to three just two minutes later, when Nikolic picked the ball up from a bad Brunswick pass, and walked through the defence before slotting under Hards again to make it 3-0.

Brunswick almost pegged one back before half time through Reha Kurul’s free kick, but Nikola Kostadinoski produced a brilliant diving save to keep Brunswick at bay.

The visitors looked off the pace.

Brunswick’s midfield was slow in transition both in attack and defence, giving Moreland every chance to extend its lead further.

And it did eight minutes into the second half, when Joshua McMonagle-Ihasz skipped past the defence and placed his shot in the top corner.

Despite being four goals down, Brunswick’s defence was still asleep.

A floating long ball from Moreland’s defence caught Brunswick’s defence unawares, falling at James Papadimitriou’s feet, with the forward curling the ball into the bottom near post to make it 5-0.

Moreland then took its foot off the pedal, focusing instead on keeping its clean sheet intact through the ever-present Kostadinoski, and his defence in front of him.

With five minutes to go, the Zebras extended their lead yet again.

A shot from McMonagle-Ihasz was acrobatically saved by Hards, but only to be parried directly into the path of Nikolic, who completed his hat trick with an expert volley.

The rout wasn’t over, with Papadimitriou getting his brace with the last kick of the game, dancing through Brunswick’s defence, and leaving Hards to pick the ball out of his net for the seventh time.

That result means its the second week straight that Moreland has put seven goals past its opponents, after last week's 7-1 win over Nunawading City.

 

MATCH DETAILS

Moreland Zebras 7 (Nikolic 5’, 35’, 86’, Kelly 32’, McMonagle-Ihasz 53’, Papadimitriou 57’, 90+3’) defeated Brunswick City 0 at CB Smith Reserve, Fawkner

Moreland Zebras: 1. Nikola KOSTADINOSKI, 2. Simon SYMEOY, 4. Steve MARTIN (16. Mile MEDJEDOVIC 66’), 5. Daniel PETROV, 6. Adam CENTOFANTI (13. Lucas RUFFINO 66’), 8. Joshua McMONAGLE-IHASZ, 9. Joel NIKOLIC, 10. Danny CHARALAMBOUS, 12. Bradley MURRAY, 14. James PAPADIMITRIOU, 19. James KELLY (11. Bale MICOVSKI 60’)

Unused substitutes: 21. Aleksandar STOJANOVSKI, 22. Ryan MURRAY

Yellow card(s): 19. Kelly 34’, 16. Medjedovic 86’

Red card(s): None

 

Brunswick City: 34. Alex HARDS, 52. Reha KURUL, 39. James NEIGHBOUR, 35. Anthony IANCHELLO, 10. Juan PORTILLO, 9. Ahmet TURER (00. Dimitri VITHOULKAS 62’), 26. Max CORNFORD, 29. Lucas AUON, 28. Facile ADEN (4. Yasin ABDULAHI 62’), 27. Abdiqafar URUSHE, 60. Bol WUROK (30. Yach BOL 78’)

Unused substitutes: 6. Matthew DIGIOVINE, 15. Jake CREA

Yellow card(s): 27’ Urushe 70’

Red card(s): None