After beating top of the table Richmond last week, United beat the Cannons to stretch its unbeaten run to seven on Monday night.

It was Heidelberg's first win on the road this season.

Recruit George Slefendorfas scored the only goal of the game after a defensive lapse on 18 minutes to make Heidelberg a realistic finals chance.

DANDENONG Thunder continued its impressive run with a 3-2 victory over South Melbourne.

Impressive Thunder striker Jamie Reed opened the scoring on seven minutes, firing into the roof of the net after a defensive error.

Minutes later, Reed turned provider, as he squared a ball for Scott Bulloch to double the lead.

The game took a turn just before the break when Thunder midfielder Luke Sherbon was sent off for a sliding challenge on Daniel Vasilevski.

South pulled one back on the hour mark when a poor goal kick from Stuart Webster fell to the feet of Kyle Joryeff, who applied the finish.

The visitors were level soon after when defender Steven O'Dor scored the equalizer in a goalmouth scramble.

But O'Dor turned villain, deemed to have handled in the area as Reed stepped up to retain the lead for the Thunder from the spot.

South captain Ramazan Tavsancioglu was sent off late in the game.

MELBOURNE Knights scored a late goal to secure a 1-1 draw at top of the table Richmond.

In wet conditions, it took until the second half for the Eagles to open the scoring through captain Dimitri Tsiaras.

Mitchell Bissinger put in a cross from the right hand side and the captain finished easily with a header.

The Knights found the equalizer on 70 minutes when a shot from Jacob Colosimo took a deflection to leave Stjepan Gal helpless in the Richmond goal.

GREEN Gully has capitalized on another slack defensive display from Altona Magic to record a solid 4-1 win.

The Cavaliers opened the scoring on 20 minutes, when striker Jason Hayne crossed perfectly for Joshua Groenewald to finish.

It was a defensive error that allowed Hayne to gain possession and finish well to double the lead.

The game turned before the break with Magic pulling one back and Gully reduced to 10 men.

Magic's John Thornley prodded home on 40 minutes before Cavaliers skipper Jeffrey Fleming was sent off for a rash challenge.

But Altona was unable to find a goal after the break, reduced to 10 men as well when Sime Kovacevic received a second yellow with 20 minutes to play.

It was 3-1 when Graham Hockless struck a free kick into the corner of the net.

An unusual and unfortunate incident occurred moments later, with the match referee colliding with Gully midfielder Andy Vargas.

The official was forced to hospital, with a linesman taking over proceedings for the remainder of the contest.

The lively Groenewald made it four when he capitalized on a fumble from Magic shot stopper Andrew Sfectopoulos.

HUME City ended a five-game winless run with a 2-1 win over Sunshine George Cross on Monday night.

It took only six minutes for City to find the net, with Phillip Riccobene crossing for striker Richard Cardozo to score.

Provider turned scorer on 31 minutes when Riccobene doubled the lead from a scramble.

The Georgies pulled one back on 74 minutes through Barry Devlin, but it was not enough, leaving them stranded in the relegation zone.

NORTHCOTE City's trip to Bentleigh Greens did not go ahead, postponed due to a waterlogged pitch on Friday night.

Ladder (after 16 rounds)

1 - Richmond                                   +4        29 pts

2 - Oakleigh Cannons                   +5        27 pts

3 - Hume City                                   +5        25 pts

4 - Green Gully                                +4        23 pts

5 - Dandenong Thunder               -4         21 pts

 

6 - Northcote City*                           +5        20 pts

7 - Heidelberg United*                   0          18 pts

8 - Bentleigh Greens**                   -7         18 pts

9 - South Melbourne*                     +5        16 pts

10 - Melbourne Knights                 -2         16 pts

 

11 - Sunshine George Cross        -13      15 pts

12 - Altona Magic*                          -2         13 pts

*denotes one game in hand

**denotes two games in hand

 

Goals

11 - Trent Rixon (Northcote City)

10 - Kevin Townson (Melbourne Knights)

9 - Fernando De Moraes (South Melbourne)

8 - Jerry Karpeh (Oakleigh Cannons)

7 - Daniel Visevic (Richmond)

6 - Michael Curcija (Oakleigh Cannons), Jesse Krncevic (Richmond), Koce Delev (Altona Magic), Jean-Charles Dubois (Melbourne Knights), Kyle Joryeff (South Melbourne/Sunshine George Cross), Richard Cardozo (Hume City)