Avondale claimed their third win in a row with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Eastern Lions at a windy Avenger Park on Saturday.
A first-half brace from Liam Boland powered the Avengers past the Lions, with the home side controlling the game from the outset.
Boland opened the scoring in the 14th minute, smashing the ball home after a lovely cross from Dillon Jakupi and a neat head-down from Joey Katebian.
The 2019 Golden Boot winner had his second goal of the afternoon just 10 minutes later, blasting his strike past the keeper after some more lovely build-up play.
The Lions’ best and only real chance of the game came right on the stroke of half time when they were awarded a penalty, but the ensuing spot kick crashed into the crossbar.
Avondale continued their dominance in the second half, but couldn’t convert their supremacy into goals. Katebian, Stefan Valentini and Yusuf Ahmed all had great chances on goal, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Boland meanwhile came inches away from bringing up his hat trick in spectacular style. His acrobatic bicycle kick was on target, but Eastern’s keeper made a diving fingertip save to keep the ball out.
In the end though the two first-half goals were more than enough, with the Lions struggling to create any major goal scoring chances.
The win was Avondale’s third clean sheet in a row and the three points sees them jump into outright second on the table, one point behind league leaders South Melbourne.