It was far from the Greens' best performance in the first half, but they limited Diamonds to very few chances.

The ball was camped in United's attacking half for the first half an hour and Sam Mason broke the deadlock when he headed home from a corner in the 16th minute.

Diamonds began to work their way into the match midway through the half and came close to finding an equaliser as Yasin Sumaili had a shot cleared off the line after 35 minutes.

United thought it had a second five minutes out from break when Gauthier Robin headed a James Carr cross into the back of the net, but it was ruled offside and the score remained 1-0.

The Greens clicked into gear in the second stanza with three goals in the first 10 minutes, two from Sam Brosolo and one for Robin, which allowed them to play the game on their terms.

Brosolo got on the end of a fantastic build up in the 71^st minute to make it 5-0 as the Greens safely negotiated the final moments and kept another clean sheet.

United coach Matt Campbell was pleased with the way his side stuck to the task.

"We reset at half-time and as is the way with this group, when you challenge them a little bit they normally respond," he said.

"Three pretty quick goals in the second half got the game out of Diamonds' reach and allowed us to play the way we wanted to."

ALSO IN SPORT:

Diamonds' coach Daniel Griffin rated United the best opponent they've faced this season.

"The first half I thought we went with them, but the second half we weren't at the races. They're a class outfit and it showed," he said.

"A lot of the goals they scored were simple goals, but were unstoppable from a defensive perspective."

Wangaratta stayed equal on points with United after a 5-2 win against St Pats at Alexandra Park.

Boomers kept its title chances alive with a hard-fought 3-1 win against Myrtleford at Savoy Park.

The win propelled them to third on the table.

Albury Hotspurs and Cobram played out a nil-all draw at Aloysius Park.

Twin City defeated Melrose 6-0 at Kelly Park to move up one spot to seventh.

Albury City had the bye, but still remain within reach.

The senior men's ladder after 14 rounds is: Albury United 34, Wangaratta 34, Boomers 29, Myrtleford 28, Albury City 27, Albury Hotspurs 22, Twin City Wanderers 17, Wodonga Diamonds 15, Cobram 14, St Pats 12, Melrose 5.

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