South Melbourne are back on the national stage after easing past Frankston Pines 6-1 on Wednesday night to qualify for the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32.
At South’s Lakeside home ground, the PS4 NPL outfit were too strong for the brave State League 1 outfit.
In one of several opportunities in an impressive opening, Pines had the ball in the back of the net in the 13th minute, however the goal was disallowed for offside.
South Melbourne had the chance to take the lead on the half hour, when Nick Epifano was brought down in the box.
However, the usually reliable Milos Lujic had his penalty saved by Pines goalkeeper Kris McEvoy.
It mattered little however, with Leigh Minopoulos capitalising on a defensive mix-up to fire the home side ahead three minutes later.
Roles were reversed on the stroke of half-time, when Lujic won a penalty which Nick Epifano stepped up to take. The in-form winger calmly slotted home to make the score 2-0.
After a quiet opening to the second half, South scored three goals in the space of five minutes as Frankston chased the game.
Lujic nodded home from Epifano’s cross in the 73rd minute, before Andy Kecojevic scored after a failed defensive clearance. Lujic added a second a couple of minutes later.
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Iqi Jawadi completed the rout with five minutes to play, scoring his fifth of the season after a fantastic solo run.
Brad Blumenthal scored a consolation goal in injury time for Frankston, who were impressive in their run to this stage of the FFA Cup.
For all the latest Westfield FFA Cup fixtures and results head to www.theffacup.com.au
