Early goals from Steve Pantelidis and Andrew Barisic followed by a second half hat-trick from young striker Golgol Mebrahtu were enough to sweep United past their hosts in front of a very healthy crowd at Mallawa Drive.

After a high-tempo opening, Pantelidis set Gold Coast on their way in the fifth minute when he drilled a blistering low drive past David Chambers in the Palm Beach goal, the ball whistling into the net from 20 metres.

The Sharks were struggling to cope with the pace of the match as United moved the ball quickly and it was no surprise when they doubled their lead on 20 minutes.

Great work from Joel Porter found Andrew Barisic in the box and the big striker swivelled past his marker before finishing confidently to confirm United's dominance.

Brazilian wing-back Anderson went agonisingly close with a long-range drive, then more superb play by Porter almost resulted in a third goal when he set up Pantelidis who fired inches wide.

Miron Bleiberg rang the changes after the break, introducing some of the club's young talent. It paid dividends against the tiring Sharks as wave after wave of attacks finally produced more goals.

Golgol Mebrahtu was at the heart of the action, the youngster registering a treble as United turned the screw. His first had more than an element of luck about it as Chambers fumbled a seemingly harmless shot and watched helplessly as the ball dropped into the net.

But Mebrahtu's second was far more conclusive, a firm finish on the fly after a laser-guided through ball from midfield dynamo Steven Lustica.

Ben Halloran struck the woodwork before Mebrahtu concluded the scoring with another decisive finish, the chance engineered once again by the impressive Lustica who was bossing the midfield for Gold Coast.

2009/10 NYL leading scorer Chris Harold almost added a sixth goal with the final attack of the game, but Chambers made amends for his earlier error with a fine sprawling save.

"It was a very useful exercise for us and I'm pleased that we managed to give a lot of our players some decent game time," said Bleiberg after the match.

"The idea was to try a few different things tactically and to put some match fitness into the players, so all in all we're very happy with how it went.

"There was a very good turnout of supporters and I'm sure they will have enjoyed some of the football that was played. Credit to Palm Beach too - they were very competitive and gave us the kind of match we were looking for."

PALM BEACH SHARKS 0
GOLD COAST UNITED 5 (Pantelidis 5', Barisic 20', Mebrahtu 61', 70', 88') 
HT: 0-2