Parramatta Power all but secured the place their quality football deserves in the National Soccer League play-offs at Parramatta Stadium on February 15 when they handed the Football Kingz their heaviest-ever defeat, 7-0, much to the delight of 2343 natives.      It was wholesale slaughter and men against boys material, as the home side overpowered abject opposition. Indeed, so bad were the Kingz that it's fair to say the seven-goal hiding flattered them, as this could easily have been double figures.      Incredibly, goalkeeper Michael Utting could hardly be faulted - it was his efforts which kept the score down to single figures. As for those in front of him …      By the same token, Parramatta were imperious, none more so than John Buonavoglia and Kosta Salapasidis. Between them, they potted five of the goals, and were involved in numerous other opportunities which were only narrowly astray.      And yet things started brightly for the visitors. After the recalled Pablo Cardozo had unleashed a range-finder which fizzed past Utting's left-hand post, following the combination play of Matt Thompson, Buonavoglia and Ahmad Elrich on the right, the Kingz spurned a glorious chance when Mark Burton shot straight at Liam Reddy, upon being picked out by Patricio Almendra's eighth minute free-kick.      Within a minute, the deadlock had been broken, Cardozo chipping the ball over a flat-footed Kingz defence for Salapasidis to surge onto. His first-time low cross was a virtual invitation for Thompson to score, and from six yards out, Utting stood little chance.      The Kingz were reeling, and Power could have doubled their advantage twice in the next two minutes. James Pritchett was caught ball-watching as Brendan Renaud rampaged down the left behind him, and he whipped in a deep cross to Elrich. His header down was met on the volley by Thompson, whose attempt only just missed the target.      Seconds later, Elrich - the scourge of the Kingz when Parramatta handed them their previous heaviest defeat, 7-1 in Auckland eleven months ago - was away down the right once more, and swept into the penalty area. He pulled the ball back across goal … and no-one in a yellow shirt was coming through from midfield to provide the finishing touch.      Not to worry, as far as Parramatta were concerned, for the way things were shaping up, the next goal wasn't a question of if, but when. Come the 22nd minute, it came. Again, the Kingz defence was found wanting, as Cardozo played a short corner to Renaud. His cross picked out the smallest man on the pitch, and by the time the visiting defenders had woken up to the fact that play had resumed, Buonavoglia was celebrating his first goal of the game.      This was enough for Kingz coach Ken Dugdale, who immediately introduced Hiroshi Miyazawa in an attempt to shore up a clearly outgunned rearguard, the injured Mark Burton the player to make way, the playmaker having copped a right clattering from debutant defender Paul O'Grady early in the match.      The change made little difference - Parramatta had their tails up, the chance to give their goal difference a serious boost for the second time in four games already a realistic objective.      A handling offence in his penalty area by Mauro Donoso, as he held off the challenge of Buonavoglia, was missed by the officials, while Alvin Ceccoli was next to join in the fun, setting off on a charge forth from deep before linking with Cardozo, prior to lashing a low cross-shot across the face of goal in the 25th minute.      There was no let-up for the visitors, Donoso again finding himself under pressure just after the half-hour mark, this time from Salapasidis. The defender's clearance was pounced on by the impressive Wayne O'Sullivan, who worked a one-two with Thompson before angling in a cross for Salapasidis. Miyazawa's intervention denied Power this time round.      The Japanese defender blocked a Cardozo shot six minutes before half-time, after Thompson and Salapasidis had combined on the right, with Renaud's effort from the rebound flying past Utting's goalposts.      Three minutes later, another Thompson throw-in this time found Elrich, whose cleverly flighted cross somehow found a gap between the incoming Salapasidis and Utting which didn't seem to exist - how neither player got a touch on the ball defied logic!      The pair continued their duel seconds later, Salapasidis the beneficiary this time of route one football, as Reddy launched a raking clearance forward. From the tightest of angles, the striker angled a shot across the diving figure of Utting and just past the far post, with Buonavoglia just a yard short of being in position to steer the ball home.      Ceccoli's thirty-yard screamer, which flashed inches over the crossbar, rounded off the first spell, Parramatta heading to the dressing rooms two goals to the good, the Kingz doing so knowing full well that coach Dugdale would not mince words in his half-time team-talk.      Sadly for the Kingz mentor, no amount of cajoling, coaxing or coaching on his part could account for his team's second half defensive showing - it was even more feeble than that seen in the first forty-five minutes, were that possible. Granted, the visitors showed their willingness to attack, with shots from Pritchett, Harry Ngata and Mark Beldham being capably dealt with by Reddy,

as were crosses from Jeremy Christie and, in the last minute, Andy Vlahos. But the theory of attack being the best form of defence only holds true if your defence is a rock-solid, well-drilled combination to start with. And as defending can hardly be described as the strong suit of the Football Kingz in their four-year existence …  The third goal was an absolutely magnificent strike - you'll go a long way to see better! O'Sullivan released Buonavoglia down the right with a lofted through ball which allowed the striker to turn past Donoso and charge into the penalty area. What followed was a moment of pure magic - a quite stupendous volleyed strike from just inside the left-hand corner of the eighteen-yard box which flashed across the diving Utting and in by the far post … it was the sort of technically flawless goal which, had the likes of Michael Owen or Gianfranco Zola been the player responsible, would have its praises sung for weeks on end, and rightly so. This effort is similarly deserving. That sumptuous piece de resistance came in the 48th minute. A fourth goal, far inferior in quality but counting for just as much, came five minutes later, Renaud the provider from the left wing this time. His teasing cross picked out Salapasidis on the stretch beyond the tracking Pritchett, and the striker drew a stunning save from Utting. It speaks volumes for the Kingz defence that, almost to a man, they stood and watched as Salapasidis quickly got to his feet and lashed the rebound into the roof of the net before Utting had a chance to recover. 4-0 became 5-0 four minutes later. Cardozo picked out Buonavoglia on the left, and he drew the defence before slipping a delightful low cross behind the incoming Thompson straight into the stride of Salapasidis. The Kingz rearguard was caught completely off-balance, and the striker duly picked his spot. Prior to this goal, Kingz coach Dugdale cried 'Enough!', and put on his remaining replacements - one got the impression that, if the rules allowed, there would have been more than three substitutions made by the visitors in this match! The newcomers failed to stem the yellow-and-blue tide, however, as Parramatta continued to pour forward from all over the park in the quest for yet more goals. Salapasidis clipped a close-range shot over the crossbar after being picked out by Brad Maloney on the hour, while the galloping figure of O'Sullivan let fly five minutes later, his shot whizzing across the diving Utting and just past the far post, following Ceccoli's raking ball forward. For the Kingz, the ultimate indignity was to come in the 69th minute. Parramatta gained a direct free-kick some twenty-five yards out from goal at this point, and called on goalkeeper Reddy to come upfield and have a go at getting on the scoresheet! His shot flew high, wide and handsome, but the incident served to emphasise just how superior Parramatta were in this match - such things are just not done in normal circumstances, with professional courtesy holding sway. But so inferior were the Kingz in this encounter that these weren't normal circumstances … Two minutes after Reddy's excursion forward, goal number six was registered, the Kingz getting caught on the counter-attack. Inevitably, Buonavoglia was involved - an outstanding performance! - as he evaded the challenge of Con Anthopoulos and burst into the penalty area, where he lured Utting out of goal. The striker laid the ball back into the path of Cardozo, who tapped in his 115th NSL career goal. Five minutes later, O'Grady released Buonavoglia down the left, and he cut inside past four opponents before unleashing a twenty-yard grasscutter which sizzled past Utting's left-hand post. Cardozo went closer still seconds later, the playmaker being picked out by a delicate Buonavoglia pass. This time, the post was struck. Ten minutes from time, the seventh bell tolled for the Kingz, with Cardozo producing some nifty play to dispossess Almendra, before turning and sweeping an authoritative, inch-perfect pass right into the stride of Salapasidis, who swept home his hat-trick strike with the minimum of fuss - 7-0. Further goals threatened, with Utting producing an outstanding save to thwart Salapasidis four minutes later, as the visiting defence again admired their opponents' handiwork. Soon after, Peter Zorbas directed a free header over the crossbar, while a thumping Maloney volley flew inches past Utting's left-hand upright, Salapasidis only just failing to get the touch which would surely have brought about an eighth goal for the Power. But seven was their lot, and only a miracle will now prevent Nick Theodorakopoulos' impressive team from making the play-offs - as one of the league's most attractive attacking combinations, they deserve to go far in same. As for the Kingz, you would hardly have known that this match offered them a last chance to make said play-offs this season. But a third seven-goal drubbing inside fourteen months, and a ninth hiding by five goals or more in their four-year history, pinpoints the true root of their problems, ones which they can now start preparing to rectify in time for the 2003-4 campaign. Parramatta:     Reddy; Beauchamp, Ceccoli (booked, 28), O'Grady; Elrich, Thompson (Maloney, 58), O'Sullivan (booked, 29) (Zorbas, 78), Cardozo, Renaud (Brown, 62); Salapasidis, Buonavoglia Kingz:          Utting; Perry (Christie, 56), Anthopoulos, Donoso (booked, 86); Pritchett (Beldham, 56), Jackson, de Gregorio, Vlahos; Almendra, Ngata, Burton (Miyazawa, 23) Referee:     Simon Micallef