The Cannons travelled to play South at its temporary home at Bentleigh.

South was ahead after a quarter of an hour when Fernando De Moraes scored his seventh goal of the season after successfully beating Griffin McMaster in a one-on-one.

But the visitors were on level terms five minutes before the interval when John Fitzgerald found himself free to head home at the back post.

Oakleigh was ahead, again from a set piece, with Nicholas Kalmar heading home what would be the winning goal in the 54th minute.

HUME City continued to stay within touching distance of Oakleigh with a 5-1 thrashing of Bentleigh Greens.

In a heavily rain-affected first half, young Greens striker Damir Lokvancic opened the scoring after a poor defensive error in the seventh minute.

But scores were level two minutes later when striker Richard Cardozo clipped a Turhan Sumbul long throw over Clifford Henry in the Greens goal.

Both teams struggled to produce their best football for the remainder of the opening period, but the visitors were too good in the second half.

Returning attacker Zoran Petrevski put in a pass for midfielder Alfonso Opazo to beat Henry at the near post from just inside the area.

The lead was doubled in the 59th minute when Cardozo volleyed home his second after a cross from Sumbul.

The big striker then got himself on the scoresheet with 20 minutes to play as Petrevski put him behind the defence to beat Henry.

Cardozo set up the fifth with his pass releasing Sumbul to make it five in the 77th minute.

RICHMOND was also on the winner's list as the top three pulled away from the rest of the competition, a late goal helping the Eagles to a 3-2 win over Altona Magic.

The visitors started slowly and were a goal down at the break after Jurica Siljanovski placed home the opener midway through the first half.

In an entertaining second half, Michael Catalano beat Tomislav Tomich in a one-on-one to level the scores after 69 minutes.

Richmond was ahead in the 75th minute with dynamic striker Daniel Visevic finishing a fine pass from Erhan Karahan.

But Magic was on level terms 10 minutes later with Mathew Theodore finishing from just outside the area.

But the Eagles were not to be denied and Milos Lujic rounded Tomich to score the winner in stoppage time.

NORTHCOTE City made it two-straight wins with a 2-0 victory over the luckless Melbourne Knights.

In a frantic opening, the Knights were awarded a penalty in the opening exchanges.

Midfielder Liam Cannell stepped up to take the spot kick, but City keeper Chris Theodoridis-Petropoulos guessed the right way to make the save.

It was all the visitors in the opening quarter of an hour before the game took a drastic turn.

Star striker Jean-Charles Dubois received a booking after holding up the play by picking up the ball before he was sent to the sidelines to receive treatment due to blood.

A minute later, Dubois re-entered the pitch without the referee's permission and received a second yellow.

Coach Ivan Duzel was also sent from the sidelines for remonstrating with the official.

The Knights looked the better side of the opening half hour and were awarded another penalty in the 30th minute.

Cannell stepped up again but sent his second spot kick of the day into the underside of the crossbar and away from goal.

But the home side made the Knights rue their missed opportunities with defender Adriano Chiappetta heading home a cross from Nick Tzoulis in the 82nd minute.

The same man doubled the lead five minutes later when a corner from Tzoulis fell into his path after a scramble for him to hammer it home and seal the points.

SUNSHINE George Cross was held to a 1-1 draw by Dandenong Thunder on Monday night.

Young gun Evan Christodoulou scored for the second time in as many games with a fine 71st minute strike in what was proving to be a lacklustre affair.

But the improving Thunder equalised 10 minutes later through Veton Korcarevski to go home with a point.

HEIDELBERG United scored with the last kick of the game to steal a 1-1 draw at Green Gully.

A cross from Andy Vargas fell for Jonathan Munoz to score his first goal of the season from just inside the area in the 21st minute.

But the sub-standard contest began to be dominated by the visitors in the second half as they gained midfield control.

The Cavaliers had a shot cleared off the line late in the game before the Bergers scored their late equaliser.

The quiet Osagie Ederaro played a ball across the area to substitute Kurt Crnic who shot from just inside the box to score the equaliser with the last kick of the game.

Ladder

1 - Oakleigh Cannons                   +6        20 pts

2 - Hume City                                   +6        19 pts

3 - Richmond                                   +5        19 pts

4 - South Melbourne                      +3        15 pts

5 - Sunshine George Cross          -1         15 pts

 

6 - Bentleigh Greens*                    -2         14 pts

7 - Northcote City                            +4        13 pts

8 - Dandenong Thunder               -9         11 pts

9 - Green Gully                                -2         10 pts

10 - Melbourne Knights                 -1         8 pts

 

11 - Altona Magic                            -4         7 pts

12 - Heidelberg United*                 -5         4 pts

*denotes a game in hand

 

Goals

7 - Fernando De Moraes (South Melbourne)

6 - Kevin Townson (Melbourne Knights), Trent Rixon (Northcote City), Daniel Visevic (Richmond)

5 - Gianni De Nittis (South Melbourne), Jerry Karpeh (Oakleigh Cannons), Jesse Krncevic (Richmond), Damir Lokvancic (Bentleigh Greens), Richard Cardozo (Hume City)