Both Oakleigh and Avondale had been earmarked as potential title challengers heading into the 2020 season, the latter vanquished grand finalists a season ago and the former – under the tutelage of former title-winning South Melbourne gaffer Chris Taylor – recruiting strongly to supplement a side that reached 2019’s semi-finals and included reigning Football Victoria Gold Medallist Joe Guest.

And it was the Cannons that fired themselves ahead in just the sixth minute when Ryan Paczkowski beat Brandon Lundy to a loose outside the penalty area and fired a left-footed effort across his body and into the bottom corner of the net.

The goal punctuated what had been a somewhat sloppy opening to the contest from The Avengers, who just a day before the fixture had been slapped with heavy sanctions by Victorian football’s governing body for offences related to violations of their licensing agreement.

Adding further pain to their opening was a straight red card handed down to Stefan Zinni in the 17th minute when his wayward high boot caught Tom Mathews in the head.

“A decision like that, I thought the send-off was a bit stiff,” Taylor said post-game.

“That kind of plays into your hands, a goal up and they go down to ten. We controlled the game after that.”

The Cannons were then able to make it 2-0 just before halftime when Guest broke down the right flank and drove in a picture-perfect cross that Joe Knowles flicked onward and into the back of the net.

Despite ten-man Avondale battling to make a game of it, Guest then put the cherry on the sundae when a long free-kick by Mathews was headed on by Harry White and turned in by the Englishman in the 71st minute.

The Avengers, to their credit, were able to salvage some late pride when a corner from Tasuku Sekiya was inadvertently turned in at the near post by defender Scott Robertson.

“I think we’ve won our first game of the season for about six or seven years, so that was the aim today,” Taylor said post-game.

“We were a bit nervous before the game, but I thought I panned out well for us.

“Bit disappointed with the goal we conceded and probably could have had a few more. But take nothing away from Avondale, they’re a good side, playing with a man down they still caused us problems.”

The visitors had been lucky not to be down 1-0 in just the second minute of play when an attempted clearance from defender Charlie Beverly collected naught but fresh air and allowed  White to swing in a close-range shot that forced an early save from Chris Oldfield.

The red card 15-minutes later, despite its somewhat dubious nature, was also an unfortunate high-point on what was a game defined by its physical nature.

Both the Cannons and Avengers threw themselves about with reckless abandon across the course of the 90 minutes, with the benches of both sides frequently rising with incredulity in response to the heavy challenges laid down by their opponents.

“I think [the physicality was] because there’s so much at stake,” Taylor said.

“It’s two of the sides that want to bet here at the end of the season and there’s bragging rights.

“We said coming in the first 20 minutes were going to be very physical and it turned out that way.

“I thought the referee, he did control it well. I thought generally his decisions were good.

“I’d have been a bit pissed if I’d have been on the end of that send-off, though, so that could have gone either way. But you take those, because in a couple of weeks that will go against us.”

Avondale Head Coach Zoran Markovski did swing a double substitution to begin the second half, throwing Yusuf Ahmed and Dillon Jakubi into the breach, and went an attack-minded back three, but it was the Cannons and their one-man advantage that produced the better football

Guest and Knowles forced back-to-back strong saves from Oldfield 52nd minute and White hit the post in the 80th.

Markovski’s side, down a man and chasing the game against a rampant Cannons, increasingly struggled to get anything going as the second half progressed – not creating much in the way of anything that would present a challenge to goalkeeper Nick Feely until Robertson’s late consolation.