Belconnen United kept their top four hopes alive with a 5-2 victory over the Riverina Rhinos at McKellar Park on Saturday night.

The win sees United end the round in fourth spot on the competition ladder with 24 points, two behind Tuggeranong United in third after their win over Monaro, while Tigers FC are fifth with 22 but have two games in hand.

The Rhinos made it clear from the get go that their plan was to sit back and hit on the counter attack, meaning the hosts dictated possession.

After a number of chances early the hosts finally broke their opponent’s defensive line in the 33^rd minute as they were awarded a penalty for a tackle from Rhinos shot stopper Caleb Bionbo.

Dustin Wells stepped up to convert from the spot to deservedly put Belconnen ahead with just under 10 minutes to go in the half.

They came firing out of the blocks for the second half and put their foot down with two goals inside the opening 10 minutes. 

Sam Whithear scored the side’s second goal in the 48^th minute with a looping header over the keeper, before midfielder Adrian Macor added the third after capitalising on the Rhinos failing to clear their lines and rifling an effort into the back of the net.

Gabriel Abdala’s men showed no signs of giving in and that was backed as Joe Preece fizzed an effort inside Funn Jurak’s near post in the 56^th minute after a good run from Jone Ralulu.

There was a sense of nervousness around the ground eight minutes later as Preece broke forward and fired across Jurak for his second goal to cut the deficit to a goal, but the Rhinos’ captain was forced into an early exit as he went down in pain as the ball crossed the goal line.

Jason Ugrinic and youngster Lucas Mauragis entered the contest with seven minutes left to play to spark the side and Ugrinic delivered. 

Having just come back from a six-week holiday, Ugrinic picked up the ball outside the area before driving his shot into the corner of the goal to give his team some breathing space as the match wound down, and Dustin Wells added his second in the 90^th minute to seal the score line. 

Riverina will wrap up their campaign in Griffith next Saturday when they welcome Woden-Weston to EW Moore Oval, while United have a huge clash against Tigers in Cooma.