Second-placed Sydney deserved their win and had the points wrapped up at the end of the first 45 minutes after taking a 3-0 lead into the break against a clearly out-of-sorts United.

Despite the loss, Gold Coast maintain a healthy five-point break at the top of the National Youth League table and still have a game in hand over their rivals.

Gold Coast got off to the worst possible start when they fell two goals behind inside the first seven minutes. United defender Koh Satake was caught dwelling on the ball by Sydney's Luke Austin and when Austin's low cross came into the box, Blake Powell was on hand for the simplest of tap-ins.

A shell-shocked Gold Coast were dealt a further blow just three minutes later when Brendan Gan made it 2-0 to the visitors. A deep, far post cross from the left wing found Gan unmarked and the talented youngster headed firmly past Tim Anderson in the United goal.

Mike Mulvey's men struggled to settle as Sydney pressed hard for every ball, but after regaining their composure United began to at last create some opportunities even if their general play fell short of their own high standards. Andrew Barisic had a goal disallowed for handball midway through the half, then was inches away from connecting with a firm low cross from Bobby Russell.

Daniel Bragg went close to halving the deficit with a rasping 20-metre drive as Gold Coast looked for a way back into the game, but just before the break Sydney confirmed their dominance with a third goal. Kofi Danning did the damage, latching on to a pin-point through ball before calmly beating Anderson with an assured finish.

Gold Coast needed an early second half goal to have any hope of clawing back Sydney's lead and on 54 minutes Tahj Minniecon delivered it. A sloppy back-pass was the invitation Minniecon needed to pounce and his pace allowed him to get to the ball first before rounding goalkeeper Dylan Mitchell and tapping into the empty net.

United's lifeline only lasted four minutes though with Danning scoring his second of the game to restore Sydney's three-goal advantage. After more slick build up play down the right-hand side, Danning confirmed the points for the Sky Blues with a close-range finish after cleverly getting in front of his marker.

Such is their character, Gold Coast battled bravely without really testing a Sydney defensive unit who had been disciplined and organised the entire game. The visitors continued to pepper the United goal with shots from distance and Kofi Danning will be disappointed that he didn't complete his hat-trick late in the game when he blazed over from just inside the box.

GOLD COAST UNITED YOUTH 1 (Minniecon 54')
SYDNEY FC YOUTH 4 (Powell 4', Gan 7', Danning 43' / 58')

HT: 0-3
Referee: Matthew Skinner