EASTERN opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Hongkong First Division with a 4-0 victory over Ernest Borel at Mongkok Stadium last night. Two goals from man-of-the-match Tim O'Shea and one each from Paul Nixon and Ross Greer earned Eastern their seventh successive victory to take them on to 21 points, six ahead of second-placed Michelotti, who have played a game more. Eastern have yet to let in a goal in 101/2 hours of league action and they have now conceded only one goal in 11 league and Camelpaint Challenge Shield games. Nixon took his goals tally for the season to nine and now stands four behind fellow striker Dale Tempest, the league's leading scorer with 13. Nixon got the ball rolling last night when he headed in O'Shea's left-wing cross in the 21st minute and then set up Greer's goal with a low cross from the right to make it 2-0 at the break. O'Shea, playing just in front of his four-man defence and dictating the flow of the Eastern attacks, added the third with a textbook header from a corner in the 58th minute and completed the scoring when he hooked in a low cross from right-winger Lee Kin-wo five minutes from the end. But Nixon said the victory was not as easy as the scoreline suggested. ''The first half was very even and I find it hard to believe that Borel are in the bottom four,'' said Nixon. ''They were very tight in the first half but opened up in the second half because their heads dropped a bit. ''We always find it very hard playing against Borel because they are a tough-tackling side and we were very lucky to go in at half-time 2-0 up. ''When your confidence is sky-high like ours is you feel you can beat anyone and we started knocking the ball about in the second half. The pitch was quite hard and bobbly but we seem to be coping well and everything is going right.'' But Nixon warned there was still a long way to go, with three of the four trophies still up for grabs. ''We have to be careful not to get in a rut because it only takes two bad results to change things,'' he added. ''Two defeats and you could be out of the cup and suddenly with some pressure on in the league. It is always very tight but the team is playing with a lot of aggression.'' Nixon said the versatility within the team was making them such a force. ''We can mix it up by playing long balls or short balls because we have a lot of height, particularly at set-pieces.'' While Eastern go from strength to strength, Borel's troubles mount. They have now lost their last five league and cup games and have scored only once in their last four league outings. And last night they missed two glorious chances to put the first league goal past Eastern this season. Two minutes after Nixon's opener, Ng Kam-hung found himself in a one-on-one situation with Eastern goalkeeper Iain Hesford. When his weak shot hit Hesford's left post and bounced out, Au Wai-lun looked certain to slot in the rebound but amazingly jabbed his shot over the bar from six yards out. Nine minutes into the second half, the hard-working Keith Thompson created another chance for Ng but this time he put his effort over the bar. Borel are desperately trying to sign a couple of new overseas players to begin their defence of the Viceroy Cup and FA Cup and have targeted the former Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers and Brentford player, Tony Finnigan, as a possible recruit in midfield. Up front, the prolific Trevor Senior, formerly with Reading, Watford and Middlesbrough but now playing non-league, and Paul Culpin, previously with Coventry City, Peterborough United, Northampton Town and Hereford United, are both on a shortlist of players available.