Knights Remain Unbeaten

With seven rounds gone, clear blocs are starting to emerge on the table, and to everyone’s surprise it’s pre-season champs Floreat Athena who are propping up the table without a win.


Floreat Athena 2 (Callum O’Connell 25’, Phil Arnold 89’)
NTC 0
@ Litis Stadium

Floreat Athena finally found some form and chalked up a win in the Premier League – unfortunately, it was in the one fixture that isn’t for points. 

The young side threatened early, with Blamo Quaqua smashing the ball into the upright, but thanks to good work from Phil Arnold and Dave Houston it was Floreat who took the lead on 25 minutes, as Callum O’Connell hit home from point-blank range.

Floreat player-manager Ante Kovacevic strode forward with purpose towards the end of the match, and he very nearly scored from 35 yards out. 

Moments later though Floreat took all zero points on offer courtesy of a Phil Arnold volley. 

Athena will be wanting to improve soon though, sitting on the bottom of the ladder with just two points from five competitive games.
 

Mandurah City 1
Bayswater City 1
@ Hyundai Stadium


Balcatta 4 (Mo Atak 32’, 75’, Ashley Rosindale 39’, 79’)
Inglewood United 1 (Paul Dugdale 18’)
@ Grindleford Reserve

The superbly-named Mo Atak was on the rampage at Grindleford on Saturday as Balcatta romped to a 4-1 win over Inglewood. 

It wasn’t looking likely in the 18th minute though as Ndumba Makeche fed Paul Dugdale who shot into the far corner to open the scoring. 

But Balcatta were to strike back just after the half hour mark, in somewhat bizarre circumstances. 

After some good byplay between Atak and Steve Burton, the former unleashed a fierce shot that struck the crossbar and bounced back into play. 

After a long deliberation between the referee and his assistant, a goal was eventually awarded, much to the consternation of the Inglewood players.

Just before the break Balcatta shot to the lead; an excellent run from Ashley Rosindale saw him weave between two defenders before chipping in a curling shot that beat Oliver Taseski at the far post. 

Both teams proceeded to get second half penalties – and both goalies saved the resulting shots. 

But it would be Balcatta taking the points on the day as first Atak headed home his second, before being matched by Rosindale eleven minutes from the final whistle.


Sorrento 1 (Todd Harnwell 86’)
Stirling Lions 0
@ Percy Doyle Reserve

It was Harnwell the hero on Saturday at Sorrento – but the plaudits weren’t going the way of former Glory star Jamie, but to his brother Todd. 

The game opened in a rather forgettable fashion, but both sides soon found their feet. Sorrento custodian Curtis Aspden was called into action with a great double save from Jamie De Abreu and Roberto Lujan. 

Stirling's best chance however came on 70 minutes when De Abreu was again the action, having been released by a super through ball from Ludovic Boi, but he dragged his effort narrowly wide of the post. 

It didn't look like the deadlock was going to be broken with Sorrento the next to come desperately close to opening the scoring when Foster's header crashed against the bar and Mirco's follow up was saved by a grateful Cory Hugo. 

However, there was to be one final chance for the hosts and it was expertly taken by Todd Harnwell who broke the offside trap to latch onto Adam Luca's clipped ball before finishing with aplomb.


Western Knights 4 (Stuart Montgomery 2’, pen. 64’, Glen Thomas 70’, Paul Cooke 88’)
Cockburn City 1 (Johnny Mirco 8’)
@ Nash Field

Not to be outdone by Balcatta, Western Knights also chalked up a 4-1 win at Nash Field. Stu Montgomery opened proceedings in just the second minute with an absolute beaut – quite possibly goal of the season, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwQG5Cf3nz0

Simon Versaico nearly made it 2-0 just moments later, but instead it was Cockburn’s John Mirco who took a quick free to take advantage of an out of position Knights goalie and level the scores. 

The game continued to be an even contest in the second half until referee Michael Nugus awarded the home side a penalty in the 64th minute for handball by Cockburn captain Adrian Webster. 

Montgomery stepped up to take the penalty, and though Aleksic guessed the right way the spot kick was far too good, sneaking inside the left hand upright.

The Knights went further ahead in the 70th minute when hesitation from the normally solid Jon Devite allowed substitute Callum Roberts to steal the ball from him before rolling it across the goal for Thomas to side-foot home. 

Cockburn refused to throw in the towel with both Webster and Jason Godfrey seeing decent efforts go wide of the mark in the final ten minutes. 

But it wasn't to be the visitor's day and the Knights rounded out their victory in the 88th minute. 

James Morgan managed to fool the Cockburn defence with a dummy before latching onto the ball, carrying it to the touchline and rolling it across the face for substitute Cooke to slide in and tap home.

Perth SC 1 (Jason Dos Santos 46’)
ECU Joondalup 0
@ BGC Stadium

A goal from Perth SC midfielder Jason Dos Santos secured all three points as the home side beat ECU Joondalup 1-0 to move into third spot on the All Flags Premier Division table. 

A great ball over the top by Antonio Naglieri sent Dos Santos clear; the ECU defence were looking for the offside flag that never came, and the midfielder kept his nerve, rounded Andy Banks and fired home into an empty net.

ECU had chances to level in the second half, but they couldn't find the target, and their day ended on a sour note with skipper Dale McCulloch sent off in the final minute.[Soft Break]


Ladder after round 7

Round Eight Fixture
Inglewood United v Stirling Lions
Armadale SC v National Training Centre
Cockburn City v Balcatta SC
ECU Joondalup v Mandurah City
Bayswater City v Sorrento FC
Floreat Athena v Perth SC
Bye: Western Knights