By David Manuca (@davidmanuca)

Sunshine George Cross has come from behind to secure a 3-2 win in an entertaining clash against Springvale White Eagles at Chaplin Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

George Cross took the lead after 21 minutes through midfielder Brandon Zaffina, but a goal four minutes before the break from Slaven Vranesevic saw the scores tied at the break.

Vranesevic put Springvale ahead just 90 seconds into the second half, but a late turnaround from Sunshine with goals from Kojo Brown and Chris Oghanna saw the home side secure the three points.

Springvale could have taken the lead in the opening two minutes of the game following some great work from Vranesevic down the left, but Vojislav Milojevic mishit his shot after being found unmarked in the centre of the box.

Slavisa Saric came even closer to opening the scoring with a header from a corner-kick that scraped the top of the crossbar.

Following a poor start to the game, Sunshine began to work its way into the contest, and Damian Rastocic went close before Chris Oghanna forced Springvale goalkeeper Faraz Zenoozi into a good save.

A poor foul from Springvale youngster Milan Jovanovic gave Sunshine a free kick in a dangerous area.

Instead of shooting towards goal, Oghanna caught the Springvale defence asleep by playing a quick ball to Brown and the forward found Zaffina in the box to slot home the opener.

Rastocic had a fantastic opportunity to make it 2-0 to Sunshine with a one-on-one with Zenoozi, but the Springvale custodian did well to deny the Sunshine midfielder.

The miss proved costly with Vranesevic smashing home an equaliser under a minute later with a powerful half-volley from the edge of the area.

It was 1-1 at the break but Springvale turned the game around with a goal under two minutes in to the second period, with Vranesevic grabbing his brace following a superb assist from Jovanovic.

From then on all the chances were being created by Springvale, with Sunshine struggling to get back into the game it was dominating up until five minutes before half-time.

Milojevic had a glorious chance to make it 3-1 on 65 minutes but was denied by the foot of Sunshine goalkeeper Robert Santilli following a brilliant move involving Vranesevic and Hamish Millar.

The White Eagles had another good opportunity two minutes later when Vranesevic played in Millar, but the forwards’ strike went straight to Santilli.

This time it was Springvale which was to pay for its missed opportunities, with Sunshine grabbing an equaliser against the run of play on 68 minutes.

Anthony Cassar played a ball through to substitute Manuell Sadik who dummied, allowing Kojo Brown to smash home from inside the box and set up a thrilling last 20 minutes.

The goal springed Sunshine into life and from then on it looked like the only side capable of scoring again.

Sadik almost got a goal for himself just two minutes later, but was denied by an incredible close-range save from Zenoozi.

The home side did not have to wait long to find a winning goal, with Oghanna smashing home a shot from just outside the area into the bottom corner of the goal on 78 minutes.

George Cross held on for the three points and now moves closer to a top-half finish in the NPL 1.

Sunshine coach Tony Ciantar believed as soon as his side drew level, there was only going to be one result.

“I thought once we started pushing the ball around we were always going to win the game,” Ciantar said.

“We’ve got great technique and all we have to do is put it together and we did.”

Springvale White Eagles coach Zlatko Mihajlovic was disappointed with the result following his side’s dominance for most of the second half.

“It was a game where we had a couple of chances to go 3-1 up and cruise,” Mihajlovic said.

“Unfortunately one of our midfielders, who was controlling the game, had to come off through injury and that changed the game.

“(With) the chances we created we could have wrapped up the game but we didn’t.”

MATCH DETAILS

Sunshine George Cross 3 (Zaffina 21’, Brown 68’, C. Oghanna 78’) defeated Springvale White Eagles 2 (Vranesevic 41’ 47’) at Chaplin Reserve [HT: 1-2]

Sunshine George Cross XI: 1. Robert SANTILLI (GK), 17. Jacob ATTARD, 5. Christopher DIB, 4. Tom REILLY, 12. Matthew OGHANNA, 6. Damian RASTOCIC (16. Samuel ANTONIADIS 75’), 7. Brandon ZAFFINA, 8. Chris OGHANNA, 14. Anthony CASSAR, 13. Kojo BROWN, 9. Bozidar LOJANICA (19. Manuell SADIK 59’).

Unused substitutes: 21. Nabi TUNA, 11. Jason DOMAZETOVSKI, 15. Christopher SUTERA.

Yellow cards: Rastocic 30’, Cassar 82’

Red cards: Nil

Springvale White Eagles XI: 30. Faraz ZENOOZI (GK), 3. Joey CALDERONE (14. Josh BOWEN 46’), 6. Slavisa SARIC, 8. Marcus HOLMES, 18. Ryan DON PAUL, 22. Milan JOVANOVIC, 17. Slaven VRANESEVIC, 10. Stojan MILOJEVIC (5. Scott MILLAR 69’), 13. Hamish MILLAR, 19. Vojislav MILOJEVIC, 21. Dejan ERAKOVIC (7. Keletso MTHEMBU 79’).

Unused substitutes: 1. Sinisa TINTOR.

Yellow cards: Jovanovic 19’, Holmes 88’

Red cards: Nil