FOOTBALL WEST STATE LEAGUE
PREMIER DIVISION


MATCH OF THE WEEK


PERTH (1) VS FLOREAT ATHENA (4)


Floreat Athena continued their march to the league title by disposing of fellow challengers Perth in a 4-1 hiding in the Football West Match of the Week at Dorrien Gardens on Saturday.


Michael Roki’s side showed exactly why they are sitting on top of the Football West State Premier League with a double from new signing Garin Collins and singles to Josip Magdic and Jerry Karpeh.


It was another horror day for Perth, coming off their cup loss against Stirling the week before and Graham Normanton was again seeing red as Barry Wood was sent off late in the second half for two needless yellow cards for dissent.

It took Floreat only seven minutes to open the scoring; Josip Magdic used his pace to beat Peter Lord on the byline before cutting the ball back to the penalty spot where Garin Collins was on hand to smash the volley home from 12 yards.


Perth thought they had equalized only minutes later after enterprising work from Barry Wood stole the ball from Ante Kovacevic, the striker seeing Vas Vujacic off his line, used the outside of his right boot to chip the ball over and off the crossbar with the Floreat keeper stranded.


The equalizer did come for Perth on 18 minutes though after a Howarth corner was flicked on at the near post by Naglieri where Andreas Oliviera was lurking at the back to tuck home from close range.


Naglieri then found himself with a chance to put Perth ahead only minutes later but his shot from inside the area rolled wide of the upright.


Floreat hit back! and regained the lead on 24 minutes after Trent Kay slipped and lost possession wide on the Athena right, Collins finding space to curl an inviting ball over. Goal machine Jerry Karpeh, who was being tightly marked by Michael Icanovski, slipped in the area but Josip Magdic was on hand to storm onto the bouncing ball and lash it over Deeg and off the cross bar from the edge of the area.


Stunned by the Floreat goal, Perth knew their season was on the line as they searched for the equalizer as the first half drew to a close.


Naglieri rounded the keeper on 37 minutes however his touch was heavy and the one time Glory man could only find the side netting from an almost impossible angle after a neat one-two with Oliviera on the edge of the box.


Perth came out determined to fight their way back into the match in the second half and defender Trent Kay had his side’s first chance but he could only direct his header wide of the post after Floreat failed to properly clear a corner.

A delicate Naglieri touch then played Wood into the box but Vujacic was alert to the danger and raced off his line to block, the ball again spilling to Naglieri whose powerful shot from inside the area was somehow deflected clear by a combination of keeper and defender to preserve the Athena lead.


Karpeh should have extended his sides lead further on 56 minutes after he capitalized on a slip by Icanovski but with just Deeg to beat, rolled his shot past the back post.


The noisy Floreat fans didn’t have to wait long for the goal however, after poor communication between Puca and Icanovski allowed Karpeh to run to the byline and pull back for Collins to bounce a shot across Deeg and into the net, with the Perth keeper appearing to think the shot was headed wide.


Five minutes later and the game was all but over, a quick Floreat counter attack finding Collins wide left who advanced down! the byline and played across the box where Karpeh was waiting on the back post to tap home unmarked from four yards.


With 10 minutes remaining the day got even worse for Perth as Barry Wood was issued two yellow cards in the space of 10 seconds for dissent following a foul near the corner flag.


Perth’s Michael Ord had a late goal ruled out for offside to make it a day to forget for the blues.


Floreat coach Michael Roki saw his side come away with a comprehensive win against a fellow league challenging side.


“Perth is a good side, everyone on the park worked extremely hard to get the result today and I think that is the reason we won the game” said Roki.


Roki was also delighted with new signing Garin Collins who was involved in all four of Floreat’s goals, scoring two and providing the assists for the others.


“He was an ace in the pack for us today, we thought he would be a bit of a w! ild card and be a bit a bit difficult to handle for the Perth defence and he certainly was, scoring two and setting up two, he was a real handful for them” he said.


Roki was quick to douse any suggestions the league is done and dusted however, claiming that his side need to take it week by week and put the points on the board.


“There are still plenty of games to be played, and points to be lost, and that’s the challenge. You just take it week by week and work for the three points again next time and make sure we don’t drop something and let someone else in because that’s how it works and nothings finished until the points are on the board” he said.


Perth coach Graham Normanton has seen his side lose twice in two weeks at home to concede any hopes the Dorrien Gardens side had of winning some silverware in 2007.


“I don’t think it was a 4-1 ga! me by any stretch of the imagination, but you give teams who have got strikers who can score goals opportunities to score and they will score them and all four of their goals were immediately preceded by a mistake that we made. Within three or four seconds of us making the mistake it was in the back of the net and you can’t do that against teams like Floreat” said the Perth coach.


Normanton will again have to reshuffle his side for next weeks clash against second placed Cockburn after Barry Wood was needlessly sent off for dissent.


“Undisciplined and that just leaves me a player short for next week, two players short with Franco from last week, and we are short at a time of the season when you need everybody” he said.


Football West Match Reporter: Ben Fitzpatrick



ARMADALE (1) VS WESTERN KNIGHTS (0)


Armadale has recorded their most memorable win of the season, upsetting finals contenders Western Knights 1-0! in front of a passionate home crowd at Alfred Skeet Reserve.


A Shannon Dally goal four minutes from full time handed the home side all three points and in the process dented the Knight’s push for a finals appearance, in what was a relatively dull but even contest.


After a run of impressive showings and no reward, Billy Russell’s boys were looking for credibility in the form of a win and they came out firing in the opening stages of the first half.


Prized recruit Neil Gawley again showed his silky skills and will be a hot prospect when the transfer window opens at the end of the season.


The visitors settled into the match as the half elapsed but it was the home side with the first clear chance of the afternoon when a ball bounced delightfully for Darren Kingston in the penalty area, however, he dragged his effort wide of the target.


With five minutes rem! aining in the opening 45, Knights defender Jon Mathers shafted a wonde rful chance to open the scoring when he blasted a volley over from point blank range after a great ball from Stuart Montgomery.


Billy Russell was dealt a blow before the 2nd half got underway with two of his attackers Jason Goodwin and the impressive Gawley both forced to the bench with injuries.


The Knights took control in the 2nd half with young midfielder Andrija Jukic lively down the centre, and they were unlucky not to pinch a goal with Michael Johnson’s deflected effort bouncing centimetres wide of the goal.


Armadale were defending desperately and as time ticked on, the tempo of the match lifted with both teams adopting a free flowing style to break through on the score sheet.


Tall forward Darren Kingston, who worked tirelessly all day, had a great chance to put Armadale in front with eight minutes remaining however he shot tamely into the arms of Knights keeper Kevin Miller.

Kingston’s presence was influential and he played a part as Armadale took the lead in the 86th minute when he ran hard onto a deft chip from Dusan Macura, forcing the goalkeeper into error and the ball spilled out to Dally, who finished into the empty net to hand Armadale their 4th win of the season.


They will take plenty of confidence into next week’s clash with ECU Joondalup, where they will look to take another scalp while the Knights will need to re-group ahead of a must win match against Wanneroo City.


Football West Match Reporter: Beau Crompton



ECU JOONDALUP (3) VS INGLEWOOD UNITED (3)


An injury time equalizer from striker Daniel Neiderberger has handed Inglewood a share of the spoils in an entertaining 3-3 draw at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup today.


In one of the most exciting matches of the season, five goals in! 21 first half minutes had the crowd on the edge of their seats the wh ole time.


The game started in fast, flowing fashion and within minutes, Neiderberger and ECU striker Marc Anthony had come close to opening the scoring for their respective sides.


The local fans were excited by the skills and the hardness of John Higgins, who was playing his first home match at Joondalup since returning from the Western Knights.


On the quarter hour, ECU skipper Ian McMurray gave his side the lead when a diagonal ball across the area found the big striker in space and his wonderful one touch finish gave Oliver Taseski no chance.


It took just three minutes for the equalizer though with Shaun Kilkelly heading home from close range, before Inglewood had the lead on 24 minutes when a fantastic free kick from Michael Bacyzinski found a gap in the ECU wall to make it 2-1.


Just after the half hour mark, Kilkelly was on the score sheet again; this time at the! other when Higgins’ shot rocketed off the upright and into the unfortunate Kilkelly who could only watch the ball deflect into his own net.


Two minutes later, ECU had the lead, as Tommy Amphlett was able to add him name to the score sheet in the mayhem.


After the break, normal business resumed after the goal fest of the opening 45 minutes, with players looking more circumspect as the match wore on.


As both teams started to tire, the gaps started to open up and Inglewood were unlucky not to have an equalizer on 73 minutes, only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside.


The pressure was mounting with Neiderberger and substitute Kevin Griffiths coming close.


It looked as if it would not be Inglewood’s day until the 91st minute when Neiderberger was set free on the counter and was able to finish past the goalkeeper to the delight of his teammates.


Next week, Inglewood has a tough trip to league lea ders Floreat Athena, while ECU are away to Armadale.


Football West Reporter: Raymond Bohan



Ladder as at round 15, 04 Aug 2007
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Agn Diff Points
Floreat Athena 15 12 3 0 50 16 34 39
Cockburn City 15 10 2 3 31 18 13 32
Perth S.C. 15 9 3 3 45 15 30 30
Stirling Lions 15 8 4 3 25 20 5 28
Western Knights 15 7 3 5 39 25 14 24
ECU Joondalup 15 6 6 3 26 19 7 24
Inglewood United 15 6 2 7 26 32 -6 20
Fremantle Spirit 15 3 5 7 15 24 -9 14
Armadale 15 3 4 8 15 27 -12 13
Swan I.C. 15 3 3 9 25 46 -21 12
Sorrento F.C. 15 3 2 10 27 39 -12 11
Wanneroo City 15 1 1 13 15 58 -43 4


FIRST DIVISION


B! ALCATTA (2) VS MORLEY WINDMILLS (3)

Morley Windmills bounced back into form this afternoon with a 3-2 away victory against Balcatta at Graham Burkett Reserve.


Morley took an early lead through Scott McIlroy when his powerful free-kick from 25 yards sailed into the net past a motionless ‘keeper, with the Balcatta defenders left confused after the linesman had raised his flag, only for the referee to overrule the decision.


John Nicolaou was just inches away from levelling the score in the 18th minute when a free-kick taken by Tony Cumace found him on ten yards.

The striker made good contact with ball but could only head it onto the crossbar.

Seita Hamamoto had a good chance to put Morley further in front in the 30th minute after Remo McCann cut back to the unmarked forward but his shot on the volley from eight yards went horribly over.


Anthony Tountounzis leveled the! score at 1-1 in the 39th minute when he shot from a difficult angle b ut did enough to beat Windmills goalkeeper Chris Ramsey.


The home side took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Nicolaou, when he was first to meet a cross from the left wing and poked home.


Nine minutes after half-time, Nicolaou came close to putting Balcatta further in front following Cumace’s long range free-kick. Nicolaou met the ball on eight yards but headed just over, much to the relief of Ramsey.


Hamamoto made Balcatta pay for that missed opportunity as he tied the score in the 63rd minute. After being played in-behind he was forced into a tough position but still managed to beat the Balcatta ‘keeper from 10 yards.


Five minutes later Paul Dundo almost put Morley in front with a shot from 25 yards, but Balcatta were saved by the woodwork as the ball bounced off the crossbar.


The visitors earned a penalty eight minutes from full-time when an! attacker was brought down by the goalkeeper inside the box. Striker Scott McIlroy stepped up to take the spot-kick and took it brilliantly, scoring in the top right corner, leaving the Balcatta ‘keeper with no chance to secure a 3-2 victory for Morley.


Football West Match Reporter: Jacob Kagi


Ladder as at round 15, 04 Aug 2007
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Agn Diff Points
Mandurah City 15 12 1 2 38 15 23 37
Ashfield 15 10 2 3 37 16 21 32
Canning City 15 9 4 2 35 17 18 31
South West Phoenix 15 8 3 4 39 26 13 27
Morley-Windmills 15 9 0 6 33 27 6 27
Dianella White Eagle 15 7 2 6 46 31 15 23
Balcatta 15 5 3 7 26 40 -14 18
Bayswater City 15 5 2 8 27 30 -3 17
Forrestfield Utd 15 5 2 8 28 44 -16 17
Queens Park 15 ! 4 3 8 22 44 -22 15
Gosnells City 15 2 4 9 20 32 -12 10
Rockingham City 15 0 2 13 15 44 -29 2