Bentleigh Greens have sent an ominous warning to the rest of the NPL competition with an easy 6-1 win over Richmond at Kingston Heath on Friday Night.
Striker Chris Lucas was the star of the show as he dispatched four past Richmond keeper Christian Rossi in what was a man-of-the-match performance. Defender Ross Archibald scored his first from the club, while midfielder Tyson Holmes added his second in as many games to complete the rout.
Lucas got the ball rolling just four minutes into the match with a very cool finish on his left before latching onto Ryan Paczkowski’s pass to register his second fifteen minutes later.
It was an action packed first half which saw a few flying challenges as well as heaps of chances, predominantly for the home side.
Unlikely goal-scorer Archibald made it 3-0 from a corner, before Richmond pulled one back courtesy of Jake Barker-Daish’s penalty.
Lucas then sealed his hat-trick with another brilliant finish, this time on his preferred right foot. The Queenslander then converted from the spot to score his fourth seven minutes before time.
Midfielder Tyson Holmes completed the rout, scoring his second of the season as the Greens ran out comfortable winners.
Friday night also saw a debut from winger Danny Dixon off the bench, coming over from Perth.
Starting XI | Ryan SCOTT; Josh BRINDELL-SOUTH, Ross ARCHIBALD, Jack WEBSTER, Luke PILKINGTON; Wayne WALLACE, Troy RUTHVEN, Tyson HOLMES; Liam MCCORMICK, Chris LUCAS, Ryan PACZKOWSKI
SUBS: Kane PIERCE, Dion KIRK, Danny CHARALAMBOUS, Danny DIXON, Nathan TIDMARSH
Next for Bentleigh is a mouth-watering clash with Hume City at ABD Stadium on Saturday night with kick-off at 7:00pm. Both sides come into this match undefeated sitting at two and three on the table.