Maribyrnong Greens extended their lead at the top of the Men’s State League 4 West to three points after a 2-1 win over Truganina Hornets in which they were given a scare by a fantastic fastbreak goal from the Hornets attack.

The win means Maribyrnong are just 18 points away from League title glory and it moves them three points clear of nearest rivals Bell Park, five ahead of Point Cook and six better than Melbourne City, who play Maribyrnong this week.

With the chasing pack closing the gap at the top of the table earlier in the day and Maribyrnong having a late start with some Saturday Night Football.

Maribyrnong looked to make a fast start and nearly had the lead inside early into the game as a few chances from forward partnership Nicolas Tzelepis and Hajrudin Paratusic saw some chances go begging.

The Greens were dominating possession and it looked only a matter of time before they ended the stalemate, and fortune favoured the away side, and in freezing conditions at Arndell Reserve, the deadlock was finally broken by Hajrudin Paratusic who scored a calm and composed finish to put the league leaders up 1-0 going into halftime.

The second half continued the same way, a complete possession style game which say Maribyrnong dominate through the middle of the park and The Hornets proved to have no answer to the away side.

Maribyrnong went up 2-0 midway through the second half, after a resulting corner was hoofed away by the Truganina defence only to be caught on buy Furkan Aydeyer who lurking outside the penalty area tried his luck from distance and the long range effort was deflected into the Truganina net to put Maribyrnong up 2-0.

Damir Basic’s side would have thought they were well on the way to all three points but the away support and players were stunned with a fabulous goal from the Hornets attack.

The Truganina forward picked up the ball inside his own half, looked up and continued a run into the Greens box with Semir Ekic awaiting an effort from the striker, the shot was too hot to handle and was smashed into the top corner giving Truganina a lifeline.

It was a huge blow to Maribyrnong but they showed the character of potential champions to continue to hassle the opponents and holding the ball up well.

The win was a huge statement for the table toppers which saw them extend their undefeated streak to 3 on the bounce, with form like this and continued play, there is no reason that Maribyrnong can be crowned champions come September.