By Lucas Pavlidis (@lucaspavlidis)

Avondale Heights has continued its incredible season and extended its lead at the top of the NPL 1 standings to nine points after a 3-1 win away to second-placed FC Bulleen Lions at David Barro Stadium on Monday night.

The top-of-the-table clash drew a strong crowd and it was Bulleen which wasted no time in letting its intentions known, immediately on the attack and looking to exploit the pace of  its winger Takanori Nishimoto.

The Lions’ early plans nearly came undone on six minutes though when Sam Borghesi’s errant pass found the feet of Avondale’s Oleksiy Khrapko, who picked out Andrew Le Page for the away side’s first effort on goal - albeit a tame one.

Burakhan Koca was the next to test Bulleen goalkeeper Fraser Maclaren, after his free kick from 25 yards was parried away and eventually cleared for a corner by Lewis Waddell.

Avondale’s resulting corner saw a shot blocked expertly by Alex Dao, who did well to stop what seemed a destined goal after Maclaren failed to react quickly to the in-swinging cross.

The home side broke the deadlock somewhat against the run of play, after Avondale missed an opportunity through Koca to take the lead.

The ball was cleared to Joseph Katebian, whose lobbed through ball bounced kindly for striker Paul Harvey to head over an oncoming Anthony Saric to make it 1-0.

Bulleen’s lead lasted a mere four minutes however as the league leader restored parity through Khrapko.

A mazy run drew a free kick after Borghesi pulled back the striker, whose set piece evaded the wall and found the bottom-right hand corner of the net to make it 1-1 – the halftime score.

Koca made amends for his early miss with a speculative effort that found the back of the net 10 minutes into the second half.

The midfielder gifted his side the lead after a run from midfield and a shot with the outside of his boot crept under Maclaren who should have saved what was a tame effort.

Bulleen appeared to be well out of the game and struggled to find the possession it had enjoyed in the opening period.

Its first chance of the second half fell to Matt Dimech, who hit a half-volley sweetly from a cleared corner from 30 yard, but it whistled wide of the post.

From the following attack, Maclaren delayed the final goal with a great save from Khrapko’s deflected shot, after seeing the ball late and parrying it over his bar.

Avondale wrapped up the three points in style through yet another free kick in the 77th minute.

Le Page drew a foul with a surging run just outside the box, and his driven effort from the free kick smashed into the inside of the right-hand upright and into the back of the net.

The game would finish with Avondale running out a 3-1 winner, and coach Anthony Barbieri was impressed with his side’s execution.

“I’m happy with the result and very happy for the boys. We looked to set up a certain way, and the boys executed pretty much what we wanted,” Barbieri said.

“To be honest I wasn’t overly concerned about what they were throwing at us. When they did score, we should have scored ourselves.

“I think we were always in control. We never looked threatened by them, and we always looked dangerous when we went forward.”

Bulleen manager Fabrizio Soncin was disappointed with his side’s effort.

“They (Avondale Heights) outmuscled us tonight. They forced us to turn over possession and interrupt a lot of our play, so we couldn’t get that flow and momentum,” Soncin said.

“Three quarters of our team are 20 years old or under, and they have to deal with that. It’s just part of the learning process for them.”

Soncin remained positive of the youth in his squad, and their ongoing development.

“We want them to play. I told them at halftime that I wanted them to play football. If it meant them (Avondale) being a bit more physical, that’s just something we needed to deal with,” he said.

Match Details

FC Bulleen Lions 1 (Harvey 33’) lost to Avondale Heights 3 (Khrapko 37’, Koca 53’, Le Page 77’) at David Barro Stadium [HT 1-1]

FC Bulleen Lions: 43. Fraser MACLAREN (GK), 2. Dean ROMAS, 4. Sam BORGHESI, 5. Lewis WADDELL, 6. Alex DAO (9. Bardhi HYSOLI 80’), 8. Matteo BALLAN, 10. Takanori NISHIMOTO, 12. Matt DIMECH, 20. Davide CARDAMONE (19. Joshua SABIDUSSI 83’), 21. Paul HARVEY (11. Gianni DE NITTIS 57’), 33. Joseph KATEBIAN

Unused substitutes: 14. Edison PONARI, 44. Gian TAPIA

Yellow cards: Waddell 36’, Harvey 55’, Cardamone 77’, Sabidussi 87’, Katebian 90’

Red cards: None

Avondale Heights: 1. Anthony SARIC (GK), 31. Michele CRAZIA, 15. Zoran PAJIC, 33. Dean CAMPBELJ, 24. Resit CULCULOGLU, 10. Burakhan KOCA, 7. Andrew LE PAGE (5. Andrew SACCHETTA 90’), 19. Jason PRINCIPATO, 34. Oleksiy KHRAPKO, 11. Bale MICOVSKI (27. Phillip LLOYD 87’), 3. Fabian GUGLIANDOLO (14. Daniel SLOVACEK 80’)

Unused substitutes: 20. John SCOLLO, 6. Josh SLOVACEK

Yellow cards: Principato 51’

Red cards: None

Image credit: Mark Avelino