Dekker double lifts Green Gully

Sami Nour subbed on for Green Gully in the second half. Picture Steven Tucker

Three is the magic number for Green Gully in the National Premier League.

The Cavaliers made it three wins on the trot when they beat North Geelong Warriors 3-1 at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday night to move up to third on the ladder.

A Wade Dekker double put Green Gully well on its way to the three points.

Dekker, a former Melbourne City youth player who has scored at A-League level, fired in two goals in the first 13 minutes of the match to have the Cavaliers up 2-0.

North Geelong halved the deficit in the 57th minute when Kene Eze cheekily lobbed Cavalier goalkeeper Rani Dowisha.

But the Warriors’ hopes were dashed 14 minutes later when Nick Krousoratis tapped home the Cavaliers’ insurance goal from an assist from Alex Caniglia.

Green Gully is entrenched in the top six and has an FFA Cup sixth-round encounter with Avondale to look forward to on May 3 at Knights Stadium.

In the meantime, the Cavaliers will be hoping to make it four league wins in a row when they host Melbourne Knights in a local derby at Green Gully Reserve on Saturday from 6pm.

The Knights go into the match as underdogs after a harrowing 6-0 loss to Oakleigh Cannons at Knights Stadium on Friday night.

It was always going to be a tough assignment for the Knights after they went down to 10 men following goalkeeper Fraser Chalmers’ dismissal for a last man tackle when the score was 0-0.

Chalmers’ second red card of the season will consign the Knights first choice goalkeeper to a stint on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, St Albans Saints went down 2-1 to Bulleen Lions.

Matthew Cundari gave St Albans the lead after just two minutes, but the Saints conceded a goal in both halves to sink to their eighth loss in 10 games.

The Saints have a must-win clash against bottom side North Geelong Warriors at Elcho Park on Saturday.