Anastasiadis played a full-strength team in the first half, and in the second gave his younger players the chance to play against a more experienced opposition.

"In the first half the senior team performed so well. At half-time I said to them it's a mental thing. It's not in your legs - it's in your head. We certainly take confidence from this for our next six games.

"I thought it was good. If we perform like that week in, week out we'll go a long way."

Anastasiadis said the Heart looked on track with its preparation for its first A-League season.

"They're all right. They're obviously still in pre-season mode and have two or three quality players to come into the team."

In an open, attacking affair, Heart's Gerald Sibon scored the first of a hat-trick after guiding home a Jason Hoffman strike, before the Cannons struck back through a brilliantly worked move finished by Ljuban Palinic.

The contest reached a new level after the interval after Sibon curled a stunning long-ranged free kick into the bottom right-hand corner at the 55th minute mark, before securing his hat-trick four minutes later.

Oakleigh's Bill Gasparinatos rounded off the second-stanza goal spree with an impressive strike in the dying minutes.

Melbourne Heart head coach John van't Schip was pleased with the win but said the team still needed significant work before the first-round match against the Central Coast Mariners.

"I was satisfied with the performance and thankful that Oakleigh hosted us and played the match in a positive, attacking spirit," he said.

"It was a good opportunity for the boys to try out some of the things we've been working on, but we will analyse it again to see if they are on track for the upcoming season."