Two Anthony Magnacca goals either side of half time half given the Georgies a win against title aspirant Oakleigh Cannons. The win seemed unlikely after the side fell behind to an early Esali Masi goal but dogged determintaion and a great work ethic sees the side climb out of the relegation zone.

SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS 2 ( MAGNACCA 28', 65 )

 OAKLEIGH CANNONS 1 ( MASI 6' )

LINE UP: JOHN, AZZOPARDI, NAPOLI, TSOUMERKAS, TALEVSKI, CINI, MAGNACCA, TRPCEVSKI (MARKOVSKI 66'), DELIC, GILMOUR, ESPOSITO . SUBS NOT USED: GAUCI-SEDDON, RUSSELL, FIORENZA, KALMAR.

There was one major change from last weeks derby draw against Green Gully, with Alfonso Opazo withdrawing from the squad altogether through injury. This allowed the welcome return of Vasko Trpcevski into the starting eleven and an equally welcoming elevation from the Under 21s to the bench of Adam Gauci-Seddon.

Coach John Markovski started with the unorthodox pairing of experience and youth in Michael Esposito and Trpcevski with Magnacca just behind the front two.

Indeed Esposito and Trpcevski proved the perfect foil for a masterful display by Anthony Magnacca.

The game got off to a horror start for the Georgies when after six minutes a misguided strike by Nilo was fortunately turned into the back of the Georgies' net by the league's leading marksman Esala Masi as he stooped low to turn the ball past Martin John. Magnacca justified his summer transfer to the Georgies in a splendid display of intelligent football to be in the right place at the right time, drifting close to the back post in both his goals on 28 and 65 minutes. The first coming in open play from the right after a great run and deep ball by Esposito, and the second from a superbly taken set piece, which effectively was as close to a corner kick.

The first half and indeed the whole match seemed doomed until the 28th minute when Magnacca equalized, however, one could sense that going into the half time break at 1-1 there was the hope of a second goal in the second half at the home teams "scoring end" towards the east of the ground.

Memories of the dramatic round 3 fixture when Oakleigh overcame a two nil defecit deep in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw came flooding back for the Cross fans late in the second half, when after Magnacca gave the team a precious lead, the Cannons surged forward in search of an equaliser themselves. The stoppage time added, which seemed to last forever, also added a sense of de ja vu to proceedings.

However, unlike that occasion back in March, the Cross defended well in a disciplined display led by a resurgent Lee Tsoumerkas, and counterattacked in numbers at a flat and often outnumbered Oakleigh defence. Esposito had no less than three golden opportunities to kill the match off with a third and decisive goal, but Cannons goalkeeper Turnbull kept the visitors alive in the match.

The final whistle was met with overwhelming joy from the Georgies fans and players alike who shared the spoils of what has to be the greatest win of the season so far, and one of the best in the last three seasons of Premier League football, considering the pedigree and aspirations of the opposition in Oakleigh.

YELLOW CARDS: GILMOUR 35', MARKOVSKI 83', DELIC 87'