Bendigo City moved into third place on the State League Five ladder after scoring its fourth win in a row.
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Bendigo City thumped Spring Hills 4-0 in an effort coach Greg Thomas described as close to a complete performance.
Prior to Saturday's game Spring Hills sat mid-table and was seen as a potential rival for a promotion berth.
Bendigo City put the home side to the sword with two goals in both halves.
"We put in our best performance since I've been back at the club,'' Thomas said.
"To score four goals and keep a clean sheet was really pleasing."
First-season striker Ethan Hunter led the way for Bendigo City with his first hat-trick for the club.
"Ethan was probably the best player for us,'' Thomas said.
"He held the ball up well, brought other people into the game and got on the scoresheet for the first time this season.
"To get three goals was just reward for him."
Thomas said some individual brilliance from Hunter set the tone for City in the first half.
"Ethan got the ball at about the halfway line, beat a couple of opponents and hit it from 20 yards into the far corner of the net, which was a fantastic finish,'' Thomas said.
"That got the ball rolling for us. All of our goals were good team goals."
Lachlan Kelly and Declan Kelly were superb in defence for Bendigo City as Spring Hills struggled to create many meaningful chances.
"They had one chance early in the game and another half chance, which we dealt with,'' Thomas said.
"(Keeper) Lachlan Priest didn't really have to make a save all game.
"To be honest, we could have scored seven or eight goals ourselves. We hit the post a couple of times and their keeper made a couple of good saves.
"We'll take the four goals and move on to next week."
Bendigo City sits in third spot and is only two points off second place.
Just six points separate second and eighth on the table, so ladder positions can change quickly such is the tight nature of the competition.
"We just have to keep winning games ourselves, that's all we're focusing on," Thomas said.
Bendigo City is on the road again this week when it plays seventh-placed ETA Buffalo Club of Victoria on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Bendigo City juniors
The highlight was the under-16s 5-2 win over Werribee City.
Ethan Pope and Kai Thomas scored two goals each for Bendigo City.
The under-14s lost 2-1 to Altona Magic. After falling 2-0 down in the first half, Haniel Chirozva scored for Bendigo City to get the home side back in the game.
The under-15s went down 3-0 to Werribee City, while the under-16s lost 2-1 to Werribee City.
Will Chalkey was the goal scorer for Bendigo City.
