By Sean Ellicott (@SeanEllicott)

Kingston City has recorded a resounding 5-2 victory over Sunshine George Cross at Grange Reserve on Monday night.

Max Etheridge led the way with a hat-trick as Sunshine was forced to conclude the night with only nine men as Manuell Sadik and debutant goalkeeper Lucas Sanella were shown red in the closing stages of the match.

Four second-half goals saw Kingston comprehensively claim victory despite the visitors equalising twice either side of the interval.

In a night to forget, Sanella would have wished he could have had another opportunity to deal with Kingston's opener.

Etheridge’s long-range effort was poorly dealt with by Sunshine's custodian, palming the ball into the back of the net and sending the hosts up to a 1-0 lead after 14 minutes.

One positive for the visitors all night was their danger and potency from set pieces, particularly via Nejdet Sahin's deliveries.

Only 10 minutes after Kingston's opener, Sunshine found its equaliser from a corner, with Christopher Dib on hand at the back post to head in.

Moments later Kingston shot-stopper Sermin Sadikovski was forced into a brilliant save from Sadik, parrying the powerful strike away from goal and denying the visitors a lead.

Tensions however soon overflowed after Andrew Doig's crude challenge on Muhamad Chawk triggered a coming together of opposing players - Doig receiving a yellow card for his challenge.

Despite both sides fired up by the incident, it took another half an hour for the deadlock to be broken.

Capitalising on a wayward touch by full back Jacob Attard, Etheridge carried the ball into the box and fired his strike into the bottom corner, punishing the defender’s mistake as he handed Kingston the advantage.

Much like in the first half, a reply from George Cross came less than 10 minutes later.

From yet another set piece, Sahin's cross was squared in front of goal from a Kingston head, leaving Eddie Cetkin to fire the ball past Sanella from close range.

The most significant moment of the match occurred after 79 minutes however, as Sadik was shown red after receiving his second caution, one for delaying the restart while the next was awarded because of a late challenge.

With a man down, Sadik's absence was felt almost immediately as substitute John Maclean scored moments later, burying the ball into the bottom corner.

One minute later, Kingston had its fourth almost immediately after kick-off thanks to Velibor Mitrovic.

After retaking possession and quickly moving the ball forward, Mitrovic doubled the hosts’ advantage with a long-range strike past Sanella.

The night then went from bad to worse for Sunshine George Cross as Sanella received a straight red for bringing down Mitrovic inside the penalty area.

Having already used up its substitutions, Dib was forced to take his place between the posts.

Despite getting a foot on Etheridge’s penalty, the forward converted from the spot, rounding out his hat-trick and completing the 5-2 scoreline.

Kingston coach Nick Tolios described the victory as a game his side had to win.

"We needed that result,” Tolios said.

"We've lost some games that we shouldn't have - last week against Bendigo, but tonight it fell our way right near the end and when we needed to put our chances away we did."

Sunshine George Cross coach Renato Liberto said his side was punished for its mistakes.

"We dropped off in the second half,” Liberto said.

"I thought it’s not a just result, a bit hard at the end with nine men, silly sending off the first one and a couple of mistakes we made and we paid for it.”

MATCH DETAILS

Kingston City 5 (Etheridge 15' 56' 92', Maclean 80', Mitrovic 82') defeated Sunshine George Cross 2 (Dib 25', Cetkin 63') at Grange Reserve [HT 1-1].

Kingston City: 26. Sermin SADIKOVSKI (GK), 5. Kemal CURAN, 16. Nicholas STAMATIOU (6. Joshua COLOSIMO), 4. James KARVELIS, Stacy TSALKOS, 19. Andrew DOIG, 17. Deniz SABANOVSKI (10. John MACLEAN 76'), 7. Velibor MITROVIC, 11. George STAVRIDIS, 15. Gino DEFEO (14. Arthur PAPADOPOULOS 70'), 9. Max ETHERIDGE.

Unused Substitutes: 13. George MALLIARIS, 12. Stefan SOLER

Yellow Cards: Doig (35')

Red Cards: None

Sunshine George Cross: 21. Lucas SANELLA (GK), 17. Jacob ATTARD, 2. Eddie CETKIN, 5. Christopher DIB, 3. Nejdet SAHIN, 10. Adrian LOGOZZO, 18. Lewis SHANNON (15. Mohamed AHMED 88')), 16. Manuell SADIK, 8. Delfin MOSIBE, 11. Muhamad CHAWK (13. Sami NOUR 45'), 9. Nick MARINOS.

Unused Substitutes: 14. Anthony CASSAR, 1. Jarrod TAYLOR, 7. James XYDIAS.

Yellow Cards: Sadik (37').

Red Cards: Sadik (79'), Sanella (91').

Image credit: Zac Groeneveld