By Tonci Prusac

It was billed as the battle for outright second spot on the ladder, but only one team showed up to Chaplin Reserve on Saturday afternoon after Bulleen Lions slaughtered a disappointing Sunshine George Cross to the tune of six goals to one.

The Bulleen avalanche started as early as the fourth minute when Takanori Nishimoto crossed a perfectly weighted ball into the middle, finding Joseph Katebian at the top of the box.

The rangy attacker twisted and turned before slotting the ball past a crowd of Sunshine players, notching up his 12th goal of the season.

The Lions scored again in the 22nd minute, when a dangerous Alex Dao hustled and bustled his way around a crowded penalty area, eventually finding a small opening and taking full advantage to double the visitors' lead.

Just three minutes later, robust striker Paul Harvey scored his team's third, getting on the end of a pinpoint cross by Katebian to slot the ball home.

Sunshine George Cross pulled back a goal in the 39th minute through Manuel Sadik, following a delightful cross from Adrian Logozzo.

Just as it appeared that Chaplin Reserve would witness a real contest, Bulleen scored again in the 43rd minute, with Davide Cardamone pouncing on a loose ball to ensure the Lions went into the sheds at the break with a commanding 4-1 lead.

After the break, the pace of the game quickened significantly as the action swung from end to end.

Nonetheless, there was only one team that really looked like scoring and the Lions did exactly that in the 63rd minute courtesy of a headed goal by defender Dean Romas after an expertly taken corner by Cardamone.

The ever dangerous Katebian put the icing on the cake in the 77th minute, when he got on the end of a delightful build-up that was started by super-sub Joshua Sabidussi.

Katebian found himself alone in the box as he cheekily back-heeled the ball into an empty net to round off the afternoon's proceedings with Bulleen running out comprehensive 6-1 winners over a disappointing George Cross.

After the game, Bulleen coach Fabrizio Soncin was understandably very pleased with his team's performance.

''Obviously, I'm a very happy man today. What can you say? The players hadn't eaten (goals) for a whole week, so they were very hungry today,” Soncin said.

“It was good, everything fell into place today and it was very pleasing to walk away with such a great all-round effort from the boys.''

Sunshine coach Tony Ciantar was disappointed and embarrassed by his team's effort.

''It was a gutless performance from the boys today. We only played for five minutes of the game and that was when we scored the goal. Simply put, there was no character shown out there today. We were lacking drive and hunger today,” Ciantar said.

Both teams will be involved in Monday night football next week, with George Cross travelling to Kingston City, while Bulleen hosts Avondale Heights in a highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash at David Barro Stadium.

MATCH DETAILS

Sunshine George Cross 1 (Sadik 39') lost to FC Bulleen Lions 6 (Katebian 4' 77', Dao 22', Harvey 25', Cardamone 43', Romas 63') at Chaplin Reserve [HT: 1-4]

SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS: Nabi Tuna (GK), Jacob Attard, Eddie Cetkin, Christopher Dib, Nejdet Sahin, Ross Walliss, Delfin Mosibe, Adrian Logozzo, Mohamed Ahmed, Manuell Sadik, Sami Nour

Subs: Anthony Cassar, Mohamed Mohamed, Shannon Lewis.

Unused subs: Serdar Pir, Jarrod Taylor (GK).

Yellow cards: nil

Red cards: nil

FC BULLEEN LIONS: Fraser McLaren (GK), Dean Romas, Samuel Borghesi, Lewis  Waddell, Alex Dao, Matteo Ballan, Takanori Nishimoto, Matt Dimech, Davide Cardamone, Paul Harvey, Joseph Katebian.

Subs: Bardhi Hysoli , Joshua Sabidussi.

Unused subs: Edison Ponari, Gian Tapia (GK)

Yellow cards: nil

Red cards: nil

Image credit: Mark Avellino