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Whittlesea Ranges’ grip on top loosened after Round 23 following their defeat to title rivals North Geelong, while wins to St Albans and Moreland Zebras also keeps the pressure in the promotion race, with just four points separating the top four.
Kene Eze was the chief destroyer for North Geelong, with St Albans seeing off Melbourne City who continue to slip in the promotion chase, while the Zebras saw off a plucky Bendigo City.
Elsewhere, Sunshine George Cross and Moreland City’s recent resurgence came crashing down after 4-1 and 5-1 defeats to Ballarat while Werribee City respectively.
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North Geelong shocked the league leaders at Epping early when a pinpoint ball by Juso Julardzija allowed Kene Eze for a chipped finish past Luke Gallo in goals.
Michael Anderson was the next to help Eze to a goal, his cross leading to a sequence of play ending in the forward netting his his second to make it 2-0.
The American then sealed his hat-trick with a well-taken solo effort just after the break to ultimately wrap up proceedings and once more shake up the title race in the West.
Melbourne City proved to be little match for St Albans, losing ground in the promotion race albeit still sitting six points behind Whittlesea. However, it’s St Albans who made the biggest move to the top, sitting just one point off the league lead following a 3-1 win.
Daniel Slovacek’s cross found Rodrigo Covarrubias for a simple finish in the 25th minute, and the forward doubled his tally in the 52nd.
Matters got worse for City when Luke Gallo was sent off later in the second half, and while Austin Wong pulled one back just before the 90 minutes was back, Joey Money calmed any late nerves with an extra time goal to seal a massive three points.
Moreland Zebras travelled to Bendigo and had to work hard for their win to keep them in touch with the promotion leaders.
Goals by Joel Nikolic and Baggio Yousif – his first since Round 14 – sandwiched David Younan’s effort following a keeper a keeper parry to seal a 2-1 win and propel them to fourth by leapfrogging Melbourne City.
In Sunshine, all five goals came in the second period. Yusei Kitade tapped in for the hosts’ lead after the side saw a number of chances go by in the first half.
That’s as good as it got for the Georgies as Simon Murphy equalised in the 63rd minute, and his shot then led to Dejan Mitrovic following in the 67th minute to make it 2-1.
The Michael Trigger show then commenced as he smashed in the side’s third in the 74th minute after good build up work from Pat Karras and Nelson Salvatore on the right, before a 40-yard chip sealed the 4-1 result.
It was a similar story for Moreland City, who despite a good July results-wise, slumped to a 5-1 defeat on the road to a fired up Werribee City.
In their biggest win of the year, Ben Mammone scored his second goal in a week to get Werribee City off to a best possible start.
However, that was undone by a Trent Rixon goal for City in the 12th minute, with the scoreline remaining 1-1 as the half time break approached.
Yet a Cameron Williams goal before the break gave the Bees a 2-1 lead and was a catalyst for the floodgates being opened in the second half.
Shaun Weaver netted a brace, while Jonathan Voulgaris continued his month of goalscoring form to add the finishing touches to the rout.