Goals: 0:1 Rydeen Botha; 0:2 Andy O'Neill; 0:3 Damien Todorovic

Ashfield remain in second place after accounting for Queens Park 3-0 at Coker Park. The flow of goals began early for the visitors as Rydeen Botha headed in at close-range after some stylish lead-up play from Andy O’Neill. After this the game became a scrappy affair with Queens Park desperately hanging on as Ashfield sought to increase their advantage. The closest the home team came to registering a goal of their own was a couple of half chances that were stubbed out by a resolute defence lead by Zac Jones. The margin became two goals late in the half when Igor Novakovic’s shot was parried into the path of Andy O’Neill who converted from six yards with a composed opportunistic finish. Ashfield took the game by the scruff of the neck after the break and only brave goalkeeping and the frame of the goal prevented the margin from really blowing out. Damien Todorovic secured victory for the visitors by firing past an exposed ‘keeper after being played through by Jason Van Rooy. Late in the game Queens Park enjoyed a brief spell of dominance which produced a couple of openings but ‘keeper Kenny Ftynogiannis ended the day with a clean sheet.

Goals: 1:0 Paul Van Dongen (26.); 1:1 John Nicolaou (Penalty, 80.); 2:1 Paul Van Dongen (85.); 3:1 Simon Versacio (87.)

A couple of late goals got Canning City over the line 3-1 against Balcatta at John Connell Reserve. The home team posed the greater threat from the outset as Dave Mickler struck the goal frame after just 6 minutes, and shortly after an offside flag cancelled out a Mickler header that found the net. Paul Van Dongen eventually opened the scoring in the 26th minute by driving past Tony Aleksovski from 12-metres from a Jix Loong cross. Balcatta held out Canning until the half time break without further change to the score-line. The second period saw Balcatta venture into their attacking half more often only to be let down by poor finishing. The visitors’ persistence was rewarded with ten minutes to go when awarded a penalty for a handball decision against Loong and from the spot John Nicolaou made no mistake. Five minutes later Mick Van Dongen crossed from deep on the right to Mickler who worked the ball across the 18-yard box for Paul Van Dongen to cleverly dispatch his shot past Aleksovski. The result was oput beyond doubt in the 87th minute when Garth Lecky’s ball into the penalty area was spilled by Aleksovski and was left helpless as Simon Versiaco drilled in a slow shot.

Goals: 0:1 Ian Maguire

Goals: 1:0 Jake Loreto; 2:0 Jake Loreto

Rockingham travelled down to local rivals Mandurah today with one thing on their mind, avoiding the drop into Sunday amateur football, but, with Mandurah sitting top of the league and needing a win to maintain their 7 point advantage the locals also had much to play for on the day. Mandurah started the better of the two sides and were very unlucky not to have an early penalty as Andy Brown cut inside from the right and was felled by a rather agricultural Rockingham challenge. Perhaps if the incident had not been so early in the game the referee may have awarded the penalty instead of waving play on. Mandurah did get their early goal though as a well worked corner from Bright was headed on by Hesketh who found the diminutive Jake Loreto lurking in the Rockingham penalty box. Loreto's looping header evaded the entire Rockingham defence to give the Dolphins an early lead. Mandurah had much the better of the pressure for the remainder of the first half however a succession of poor finishes left them only 1-0 up at the main break.

With so much at stake the crowd expected better in the second half however the game fell into much the same pattern as the first half with Mandurah having much of the pressure and Rockingham looking dangerous on the break. Michael Bobridge was proving a handful for the Rockingham defence although only he will ever know how he managed to 'sky' the ball over the bar from all of 2 metres as he was given a gilt edged chance to secure the points for Mandurah. Jordy Rhodes created Mandurah's best chance of the second half as his blistering shot cannoned off the crossbar to fall into the path of Jake Loreto who was awake to the opportunity. Loreto's header from the rebound was directed straight into the open net and Mandurah had the points in the bag. Rockingham's crowd were in fine voice throughout with rousing renditions of the Monty Python classic 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life'. Unfortunately that is what the club must do after failing to secure sufficient points to avoid relegation with three games remaining.

Mandurah on the other hand must now secure 3 points from their remaining three fixtures to guarantee promotion to the Premier League.

Match report courtesy of Mandurah City

Goals: 0:1 Gary Mayers (2.); 0:2 Steve Suttie (38.); 0:3 Steve Suttie (68.); 1:3 Paul Dundo (76.); 1:4 David Murphy (90.)

South West Phoenix continued their strong run of form with a 4-1 away victory over Morley Windmills at Wotton Reserve in the Football West State First Division. South West opened the scoring within two minutes through veteran striker Gary Mayers. Fellow striker Steve Suttie was played in-behind but forced deep into the corner where he crossed to Mayers who tapped in from six yards after Morley ‘keeper Chris Ramsey tried to get to the cross but couldn’t reach it. The visitors looked like the superior side throughout the first half but Morley almost leveled the scores in the 37th minute. Seita Hamamoto did well to get to the by-line where he squared the ball to Scott McIlroy, but the ball didn’t sit up for the lively winger and his weak shot was saved by Ryan Montgomery. Just one minute later Phoenix made the home side pay as they doubled their lead. Ramsey couldn’t hold the initial shot from a South West attacker, allowing Suttie to knock in with the Windmills shot-stopper out of position.

In very similar fashion to their chance in the first half, Hamamoto and McIlory linked up well together but were unable to find the net in the 65th minute. Hamamoto got to the by-line once again and squared to McIlroy who was steaming in and tried to curve his shot from the edge of the box into the top corner, but saw it sail over. Just like in the first half the Bunbury-based-side bounced back in quick succession, virtually securing the win three minutes later as Suttie scored his second. The hard working striker had the ball played to him on a tough angle and could only manage a shot that should have been an easy save for Ramsey, only for the former Sorrento ‘keeper to let it sneak in at the near post. Morley got one back in the 76th minute through Paul Dundo. A ball crossed in from the right wing wasn’t properly cleared by the Phoenix defenders and Dundo took full advantage, tapping home from inside eight yards. South West restored their three goal lead in the 90th minute as midfielder David Murphy got himself on the score-sheet. Suttie crossed from the left wing to the open Murphy who calmly knocked in from six yards, securing a 4-1 victory for South West Phoenix.

Football West Match Reporter - Jacob Kagi.