THE high-flying Sunshine George Cross team is still the State League One ladder leader after an easy 2-0 win against an undermanned St Albans Saints side at Chaplin Reserve in round eight on Saturday.
The Georgies were also undermanned, with injured defenders Thomas Johnston and Ilia Tsoumerkas missing, as well the suspended Steven Underwood, who was red carded last week.
Sunshine took control from the first whistle with neat, crisp passing, but found it difficult getting behind the tightly packed Saints defence.
Winger George Papadopoulos provided the first real opening of the game after 24 minutes when he sent over a perfect centre to the far post.
Paul Wilson saw his goal-bound header tipped over the bar by the agile Saints goalkeeper Damir Salcin.
Tall defender and man of the match Wayne Wallace was a pillar of strength in the Georgies backline, clearing everything that came his way.
The Georgies broke the deadlock three minutes before the break when a Vasko Trpcevski corner was headed home like a bullet by Wallace.
The cushion of a second goal arrived after 64 minutes when Peter Koutsoupias brilliantly turned his opponent in the penalty area to set up Wilson with a close-range shot at goal.
Unfortunately for Wilson the ball struck a Saints defender, but the deflection fell nicely for Steve Manceski, who tucked the ball away from two metres.
The Georgies continued to dominate but were unable to add to the scoreline despite several good goal scoring opportunities.
In the under 21s, the Georgies drew 2-2 against the Saints with goals coming from Matias Sanchez and Jake Grech.
