MATCH OF THE WEEK
Western Knights vs. Floreat Athena
Western Knights and Floreat Athena shared the points in a ten goal thriller during Round 11 of the Football West State Premier League at Nash Field this afternoon. Trailing 5-1 with only 13 minutes remaining, the Knights produced a comeback of Lazarus proportions to put four past the bewildered Vas Vujacic to blow the title race wide open.
The first half was the Jerry Karpeh show, the enigmatic forward netting a 39 minute hat-trick to put Athena firmly in the driving seat. The first came after only three minutes on the clock, Josip Magdic was the inspiration, beating his marker down the right flank with his low centre finding Karpeh who with his back to goal flicked the ball up and fired into the net on the turn.
On 16 minutes the trickery of Karpeh beat two markers on the byline and his delicate cross into the centre found Miki Vujacic however he couldn’t keep his first time volley down and it went sailing over the cross bar. The Knights failed to heed the warning and only one minute later Karpeh had his second, heading in from close range following great interplay between Branimir Mikulic and Magdic on the right touchline. Karpeh recorded his hat-trick and eleventh of the campaign on 39 minutes after being played through by Mikulic, Karpeh avoiding a tight off side call that referee Klaver overruled to slot past the advancing Kevin Miller, making his debut in goals for the Knights. Dangerous Knights midfielder Andrija Jukic had his sides’ best chance on the stroke of half time but saw his powerful effort brilliantly tipped away by Vujacic from 16 yards.
The Knights came out for the second period in determined fashion to get back into the match but lacked the class in the final third to hurt Athena. The goal did finally come on 59 minutes after Daniel Trim pumped the ball back into the box where Anthony Skorich judged it best and volleyed past Vujacic to give his side a glimmer of hope. That hope appeared to be extinguished on 66 minutes after a long throw from substitute James Isaiah found Mikulic on the near post who flicked his header in with consummate ease.
Only four minutes later and the game should have been over after Miki Vujacic smashed home from close range following a repeat of the Isaiah and Mikulic long throw routine which again caught the Knights defence napping. Floreat coach Michael Roki took the opportunity to rest stars Jerry Karpeh and Bajo Savic as he looked to the subs bench with his side cruising. The Knights however had other ideas and pulled a goal back with only 13 minutes remaining on the clock. A John Thornley goal bound header was tipped over by Vujacic and from the resulting corner a goal mouth scramble saw Skorich net from close range.
Two minutes later Floreat won a penalty after a deflected shot from Isaiah found Adam Bachiller who was brought down in the area by Andrew Jennings. Julian Madaschi stepped up but saw his low effort brilliantly tipped away by debutant Miller. Within minutes the Knights supporters were thinking ‘what if’ after a swift counter attack found Stuart Montgomery lurking out wide on the right. With the Floreat defence stretched Montgomery advanced to the right edge of the area and smashed a speculative effort over Vujacic and into the far corner of the net.
With the Knights pushing men forward they pulled another back on 89 minutes after the excellent Daniel Trim dribbled past his marker into the box and crossed low into the centre, the ball falling nicely for Jennings to smash home through a crowded penalty area. The small crowd was now on the edge of their seats willing the home side on and in the third minute of injury time the miracle was completed after the Knights produced one of the goals of the game. With the ball in the centre of the park Skorich sprayed out wide to Jukic whose cross to the top of the box was brilliantly flicked on by Montgomery to Jennings who fired low across the keeper and into the net to spark scene of jubilation on the field and in the stands. Referee Klaver blew full time on a game that those present will remember for a long time.
Knights coach Ronnie Campbell was delighted to see his side come away with a point in what could be one of the games of the season. “Obviously we are happy to get a point out of the game, we were outclassed for the first half, three nil down and it could’ve been more but I thought the boys showed tremendous character in the second half, which we won 5-2. Michael (Roki, Floreat coach) will be very disappointed with the result no doubt,” said Campbell.
“We’re struggling at the moment, we are lacking defenders, we’re down on confidence but I think that result will give us a lot of hope for the rest of the season,” he said.
Campbell was also delighted with the return of young gun John Thornley after 18 months of injury nightmare. “That was a big plus today John Thornley, first game for probably nearly two years; he lasted 90 minutes and did well, obviously not match fit but very pleased to see him back on the park. I rate him very highly, I think he’s good enough to play overseas, a fantastic young player,” said Campbell.
It was a husky voiced Michael Roki who was disappointed to see his side throw away two points after leading 5-1 with only 13 minutes left on the clock. “Really disappointed, the game was all over as far as I was concerned, a very disappointing last 20 to 25 minutes to cop that many goals in a short period of time, it’s not good enough from my point of view,” said Roki.
“Everything a red shirt touched seemed to be in the back of the net, first half it didn’t look like that at all we defended tightly and didn’t give them an opportunity to get a goal, but no excuses we need to be better than that,” he said.
The Athena side also has concerns over star midfielder Josip Magdic who hobbled off with a knee injury 20 minutes into the second half. “We’ll get him straight down to the hospital to get checked out, obviously he’s a quality player and we’ll get that leg scanned. We don’t know at this stage, he just copped a twist to the knee, it may be nothing, it maybe something more severe but we will know on Monday,” he said.
Football West Match Reporter - Ben Fitzpatrick
ECU Joondalup (1) vs. Sorrento (0)
ECU Joondalup maintained their unbeaten home record with a hard fought 1-0 win over local rivals Sorrento at ECU today. The goal came just before the interval from man of the match Ryan McDarby, whose performance up front caused constant problems for the Sorrento defence.
The game started in a frantic fashion with both sides going after each other in one of the more physical matches seen this season. Both keepers were made to work hard in the first half with ECU keeper Aleks Vrteski looking very much in form.
ECU eventually started to find the expected dominance against the second from bottom Sorrento and strikers McDarby and Darren Quinncroft looking dangerous with good service coming from Tommy Amphlett on the right. Sorrento’s best chance for the half came from a free kick on the halfway through with Gary Lynn’s effort cannoning into the upright from 30 metres.
The goal came in the 44th minute, poor marking from a corner left McDarby unmarked and able to hammer home the goal from 6 yards.
After the break, ECU came out looking to hammer home the advantage with McDarby almost making it two with a delightful lob shot over the keeper finding the crossbar. The changes came early for Sorrento, as they looked to finish over the top of ECU with Scott Neville in particular showing promise. Chances dried up a bit for both sides, as the warm weather and the frantic tempo started to show and fresh legs were called upon from both sides. Sorrento kept coming closer to equalizing late in the match, with Vrteski’s clean sheet almost ruined on 85 minutes, with a goal line scramble coming off the outside of the post, however ECU held on for three valuable points.
Football West Match Reporter - Raymond Bohan
Wanneroo City (0) vs. Perth SC (5)
Today at Kingsway Reserve Perth SC had a comfortable 5-0 victory over a poor Wanneroo side. This keeps the pressure on League leaders Floreat who were involved in a ten goal thriller at Nash Field.
It took Perth just 14 minutes to take the lead when Wanneroo keeper Olow dropped an in swinging Howarth corner and the ball fell to Oliviera who slotted the ball home for the only goal of a fairly lifeless first half.
The second half was just 12 minutes old when Perth doubled their lead; Puca finished spectacularly following a great piece of play by substitute Naglieri. Just two minutes later and the match was as good as over when yet another Perth substitute (Faria) fired home a great volley after excellent approach work by Oliviera.
Barely two minutes had passed before Wanneroo had their best chance of the match when Craig Cheeseman spotting Deeg off his line tried to beat the Perth keeper from 30 metres, but somehow the custodian managed to get a finger tip to the shot and the ball thundered into the crossbar and was cleared. To add insult to injury shortly following this, it was 4 -nil to Perth as Faria got his second following another great piece of approach play by Danskin and Wood.
In the 68th minute the scoring was completed when Barry Wood got the goal his selfless work all afternoon deserved after he was on the end of a sweeping move following a 40 metre slide rule pass by Naglieri found Danskin who played the ball into the big striker.
To totally destroy Wanneroo’s day Craig Bowman got himself a red card for abusive language with just 2 minutes to go.
Next weekend things will be more difficult for Perth when they play Stirling Lions on Sunday, while it is all bad news for Wanneroo as they have to travel to E&D Litis Stadium to face League leaders Floreat.
Match Report courtesy of Eamon Duffy (Lets Talk Football)
FOOTBALL WEST STATE LEAGUE
Division One
Saturday, 30 June 2007
MATCH OF THE WEEK
Morley Windmills (4) vs. Dianella White Eagles (1)
An impressive Morley-Windmills side defeated Dianella White Eagles 4-1 at Wotton Reserve in the Football West State First Division on Saturday, June 30. The victory was due in large part to Farrell Hedges, who secured a hat-trick in his man of the match performance.
Morley struck quickly just four minutes into the game through new signing Seita Hamamoto, who stabbed home from eight yards after Scott McIlory’s corner was not properly cleared by the Dianella defenders, allowing Hamamoto the chance. The first-half was a defensive minded contest with good chances rare. However Remo McCann almost doubled Morley’s advantage in the 37th minute when he hit a fierce and curling shot from beyond 25 yards, only to see it brilliantly saved by Dianella goalkeeper Pedro Pavez. Dianella’s best opportunity in the opening stanza came through Paul Hickey, who shot in similar fashion to McCann seven minutes earlier, but saw his shot sail narrowly wide.
After the break the visitors had the first good opportunity through Dragan Njegic, but he saw his 20 yard effort well saved by Chris Ramsey. Windmills scored a well deserved second in the 58th minute through Hedges, who was assisted by Hamamoto who headed across the face of goal to Hedges who tapped in from point-blank range. Hedges scored his second and Morley’s third six minutes later when he turned and shot from the edge of the penalty area and beat Pavez with a rolling shot that the Dianella ‘keeper was slow to get down to.
Dianella salvaged some pride in the 67th minute through former Morley striker Ray Rose, redirected David Moschilla’s cross into the net from inside the six-yard box. Hedges completed his hat-trick 15 minutes from full-time by sneaking unmarked and knocking home a cross coming from the left-wing from 12 yards, finishing a sensational 4-1 victory in favour of Morley.
Morley-Windmills coach Brad Hassell was delighted with the comprehensive victory. “The result was well earned. We created quite a few chances and today we put those chances away thankfully,” he said.
“We’re still in with a chance for the title now, but so are four or five other clubs, so it will be a close race.”
Football West Match Reporter - Jacob Kagi
Western Knights vs. Floreat Athena
Western Knights and Floreat Athena shared the points in a ten goal thriller during Round 11 of the Football West State Premier League at Nash Field this afternoon. Trailing 5-1 with only 13 minutes remaining, the Knights produced a comeback of Lazarus proportions to put four past the bewildered Vas Vujacic to blow the title race wide open.
The first half was the Jerry Karpeh show, the enigmatic forward netting a 39 minute hat-trick to put Athena firmly in the driving seat. The first came after only three minutes on the clock, Josip Magdic was the inspiration, beating his marker down the right flank with his low centre finding Karpeh who with his back to goal flicked the ball up and fired into the net on the turn.
On 16 minutes the trickery of Karpeh beat two markers on the byline and his delicate cross into the centre found Miki Vujacic however he couldn’t keep his first time volley down and it went sailing over the cross bar. The Knights failed to heed the warning and only one minute later Karpeh had his second, heading in from close range following great interplay between Branimir Mikulic and Magdic on the right touchline. Karpeh recorded his hat-trick and eleventh of the campaign on 39 minutes after being played through by Mikulic, Karpeh avoiding a tight off side call that referee Klaver overruled to slot past the advancing Kevin Miller, making his debut in goals for the Knights. Dangerous Knights midfielder Andrija Jukic had his sides’ best chance on the stroke of half time but saw his powerful effort brilliantly tipped away by Vujacic from 16 yards.
The Knights came out for the second period in determined fashion to get back into the match but lacked the class in the final third to hurt Athena. The goal did finally come on 59 minutes after Daniel Trim pumped the ball back into the box where Anthony Skorich judged it best and volleyed past Vujacic to give his side a glimmer of hope. That hope appeared to be extinguished on 66 minutes after a long throw from substitute James Isaiah found Mikulic on the near post who flicked his header in with consummate ease.
Only four minutes later and the game should have been over after Miki Vujacic smashed home from close range following a repeat of the Isaiah and Mikulic long throw routine which again caught the Knights defence napping. Floreat coach Michael Roki took the opportunity to rest stars Jerry Karpeh and Bajo Savic as he looked to the subs bench with his side cruising. The Knights however had other ideas and pulled a goal back with only 13 minutes remaining on the clock. A John Thornley goal bound header was tipped over by Vujacic and from the resulting corner a goal mouth scramble saw Skorich net from close range.
Two minutes later Floreat won a penalty after a deflected shot from Isaiah found Adam Bachiller who was brought down in the area by Andrew Jennings. Julian Madaschi stepped up but saw his low effort brilliantly tipped away by debutant Miller. Within minutes the Knights supporters were thinking ‘what if’ after a swift counter attack found Stuart Montgomery lurking out wide on the right. With the Floreat defence stretched Montgomery advanced to the right edge of the area and smashed a speculative effort over Vujacic and into the far corner of the net.
With the Knights pushing men forward they pulled another back on 89 minutes after the excellent Daniel Trim dribbled past his marker into the box and crossed low into the centre, the ball falling nicely for Jennings to smash home through a crowded penalty area. The small crowd was now on the edge of their seats willing the home side on and in the third minute of injury time the miracle was completed after the Knights produced one of the goals of the game. With the ball in the centre of the park Skorich sprayed out wide to Jukic whose cross to the top of the box was brilliantly flicked on by Montgomery to Jennings who fired low across the keeper and into the net to spark scene of jubilation on the field and in the stands. Referee Klaver blew full time on a game that those present will remember for a long time.
Knights coach Ronnie Campbell was delighted to see his side come away with a point in what could be one of the games of the season. “Obviously we are happy to get a point out of the game, we were outclassed for the first half, three nil down and it could’ve been more but I thought the boys showed tremendous character in the second half, which we won 5-2. Michael (Roki, Floreat coach) will be very disappointed with the result no doubt,” said Campbell.
“We’re struggling at the moment, we are lacking defenders, we’re down on confidence but I think that result will give us a lot of hope for the rest of the season,” he said.
Campbell was also delighted with the return of young gun John Thornley after 18 months of injury nightmare. “That was a big plus today John Thornley, first game for probably nearly two years; he lasted 90 minutes and did well, obviously not match fit but very pleased to see him back on the park. I rate him very highly, I think he’s good enough to play overseas, a fantastic young player,” said Campbell.
It was a husky voiced Michael Roki who was disappointed to see his side throw away two points after leading 5-1 with only 13 minutes left on the clock. “Really disappointed, the game was all over as far as I was concerned, a very disappointing last 20 to 25 minutes to cop that many goals in a short period of time, it’s not good enough from my point of view,” said Roki.
“Everything a red shirt touched seemed to be in the back of the net, first half it didn’t look like that at all we defended tightly and didn’t give them an opportunity to get a goal, but no excuses we need to be better than that,” he said.
The Athena side also has concerns over star midfielder Josip Magdic who hobbled off with a knee injury 20 minutes into the second half. “We’ll get him straight down to the hospital to get checked out, obviously he’s a quality player and we’ll get that leg scanned. We don’t know at this stage, he just copped a twist to the knee, it may be nothing, it maybe something more severe but we will know on Monday,” he said.
Football West Match Reporter - Ben Fitzpatrick
ECU Joondalup (1) vs. Sorrento (0)
ECU Joondalup maintained their unbeaten home record with a hard fought 1-0 win over local rivals Sorrento at ECU today. The goal came just before the interval from man of the match Ryan McDarby, whose performance up front caused constant problems for the Sorrento defence.
The game started in a frantic fashion with both sides going after each other in one of the more physical matches seen this season. Both keepers were made to work hard in the first half with ECU keeper Aleks Vrteski looking very much in form.
ECU eventually started to find the expected dominance against the second from bottom Sorrento and strikers McDarby and Darren Quinncroft looking dangerous with good service coming from Tommy Amphlett on the right. Sorrento’s best chance for the half came from a free kick on the halfway through with Gary Lynn’s effort cannoning into the upright from 30 metres.
The goal came in the 44th minute, poor marking from a corner left McDarby unmarked and able to hammer home the goal from 6 yards.
After the break, ECU came out looking to hammer home the advantage with McDarby almost making it two with a delightful lob shot over the keeper finding the crossbar. The changes came early for Sorrento, as they looked to finish over the top of ECU with Scott Neville in particular showing promise. Chances dried up a bit for both sides, as the warm weather and the frantic tempo started to show and fresh legs were called upon from both sides. Sorrento kept coming closer to equalizing late in the match, with Vrteski’s clean sheet almost ruined on 85 minutes, with a goal line scramble coming off the outside of the post, however ECU held on for three valuable points.
Football West Match Reporter - Raymond Bohan
Wanneroo City (0) vs. Perth SC (5)
Today at Kingsway Reserve Perth SC had a comfortable 5-0 victory over a poor Wanneroo side. This keeps the pressure on League leaders Floreat who were involved in a ten goal thriller at Nash Field.
It took Perth just 14 minutes to take the lead when Wanneroo keeper Olow dropped an in swinging Howarth corner and the ball fell to Oliviera who slotted the ball home for the only goal of a fairly lifeless first half.
The second half was just 12 minutes old when Perth doubled their lead; Puca finished spectacularly following a great piece of play by substitute Naglieri. Just two minutes later and the match was as good as over when yet another Perth substitute (Faria) fired home a great volley after excellent approach work by Oliviera.
Barely two minutes had passed before Wanneroo had their best chance of the match when Craig Cheeseman spotting Deeg off his line tried to beat the Perth keeper from 30 metres, but somehow the custodian managed to get a finger tip to the shot and the ball thundered into the crossbar and was cleared. To add insult to injury shortly following this, it was 4 -nil to Perth as Faria got his second following another great piece of approach play by Danskin and Wood.
In the 68th minute the scoring was completed when Barry Wood got the goal his selfless work all afternoon deserved after he was on the end of a sweeping move following a 40 metre slide rule pass by Naglieri found Danskin who played the ball into the big striker.
To totally destroy Wanneroo’s day Craig Bowman got himself a red card for abusive language with just 2 minutes to go.
Next weekend things will be more difficult for Perth when they play Stirling Lions on Sunday, while it is all bad news for Wanneroo as they have to travel to E&D Litis Stadium to face League leaders Floreat.
Match Report courtesy of Eamon Duffy (Lets Talk Football)
FOOTBALL WEST STATE LEAGUE
Division One
Saturday, 30 June 2007
MATCH OF THE WEEK
Morley Windmills (4) vs. Dianella White Eagles (1)
An impressive Morley-Windmills side defeated Dianella White Eagles 4-1 at Wotton Reserve in the Football West State First Division on Saturday, June 30. The victory was due in large part to Farrell Hedges, who secured a hat-trick in his man of the match performance.
Morley struck quickly just four minutes into the game through new signing Seita Hamamoto, who stabbed home from eight yards after Scott McIlory’s corner was not properly cleared by the Dianella defenders, allowing Hamamoto the chance. The first-half was a defensive minded contest with good chances rare. However Remo McCann almost doubled Morley’s advantage in the 37th minute when he hit a fierce and curling shot from beyond 25 yards, only to see it brilliantly saved by Dianella goalkeeper Pedro Pavez. Dianella’s best opportunity in the opening stanza came through Paul Hickey, who shot in similar fashion to McCann seven minutes earlier, but saw his shot sail narrowly wide.
After the break the visitors had the first good opportunity through Dragan Njegic, but he saw his 20 yard effort well saved by Chris Ramsey. Windmills scored a well deserved second in the 58th minute through Hedges, who was assisted by Hamamoto who headed across the face of goal to Hedges who tapped in from point-blank range. Hedges scored his second and Morley’s third six minutes later when he turned and shot from the edge of the penalty area and beat Pavez with a rolling shot that the Dianella ‘keeper was slow to get down to.
Dianella salvaged some pride in the 67th minute through former Morley striker Ray Rose, redirected David Moschilla’s cross into the net from inside the six-yard box. Hedges completed his hat-trick 15 minutes from full-time by sneaking unmarked and knocking home a cross coming from the left-wing from 12 yards, finishing a sensational 4-1 victory in favour of Morley.
Morley-Windmills coach Brad Hassell was delighted with the comprehensive victory. “The result was well earned. We created quite a few chances and today we put those chances away thankfully,” he said.
“We’re still in with a chance for the title now, but so are four or five other clubs, so it will be a close race.”
Football West Match Reporter - Jacob Kagi
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