Goals: 1:0 Andreas Oliveira (1.); 1:1 Todd Harnwell (42.); 2:1 Andreas Oliveira (54.)

Perth S.C. moved back into third place by defeating Sorrento 2-1 in a highly entertaining tussle at Dorrien Gardens. The game was only minutes old when Andreas Oliveira slipped the ball through the defence for Brendan Ross who remained cool as he slotted neatly past goalkeeper Neil Young. A rasping shot from the top edge of the 18-yard box by Gary Lynn crashed into the upright as Sorrento looked to restore parity. Robbie Puca made sure there was little respite for the visiting defence and from his position wide on the left laid the ball at the feet of Ross who shrugged off his marker only for Young to make the save. Not long after Chris Boyle surged down the left and picked out an unmarked Todd Harnwell who shot wide from the 15-metres. The Gulls waited just a few more minutes before drawing level when Jared Love's cross wasn't properly dealt with by Trent Kay and Harnwell slipped the ball in from 5-metres. The second half was a little less fluent but contained just as many chances as both teams went for the win. The deciding goal arrived in the 70th minute when Puca darted down the left and laid the ball back for Antonio Naglieri whose cross evaded the head of Stuart Banks and fell to Oliveira who skilfully angled his shot inside the post. Matt Danskin fired into the side netting after being played in behind the defence by Naglieri as Perth sought a third of the afternoon. Steve McDonald was pushed into attack as Sorrento chased the game but there would be few openings as Perth's backline of Michael Icanovski, Kay and Gianfranco Circati responded swiftly to any danger.

Goals: 0:1 Branimir Mikulic (9.); 0:2 John Migas (25.); 1:2 Craig Young (84.); 2:2 Steve Baines (86.)

ECU Joondalup stung Floreat Athena with two goals in the last 10 minutes to preserve their unbeaten home record in Round 17 of the Football West State Premier League. With the leaders slipping up, Cockburn City had a golden opportunity to make up some ground on Athena but were beaten 3-0 by Inglewood to all but hand the title to the Blue and Whites. As is now customary, Floreat took an early lead thanks to a Branomir Mikulic strike from 12 yards after a flicked header from Josip Magdic fell nicely to the big winger in the box following a long throw. Within minutes ECU fashioned their first half chance with a Tommy Amphlett cross falling to Ian McMurray on the edge of the area but his first time effort was well over the bar with Alex Dunn, in for the suspended Vas Vujacic, nowhere in sight. Both sides were playing the game at a high intensity and McMurray again found himself in sight of goal, running onto a raking through ball from Amphlett to touch past the advancing Dunn however the ball ran away from the ECU captain and he could only slice his shot horribly wide.

The hosts were made to pay minutes later, as John Migas curled in an unstoppable left foot free kick from 25 yards after a needless foul by David Able on Jerry Karpeh outside the ECU box.

Karpeh was being well watched by the ECU defense but found space to shoot low at Andy Petterson following a lightning quick counter attack including Joisp Magdic and former ECU player Garin Collins.Magdic again was the provider five minutes later with an inch perfect cross onto the head of Karpeh whose effort was over the bar from six yards.McMurray was ECU’s main threat upfront and some opportunism saw the big striker attempt a long range effort over the head of Dunn, but saw his shot drop agonizingly wide of the upright.Only a minute later and an inviting Martyn Ashworth centre was headed just past the upright by McMurray as the half time whistle blew.

ECU coach Willie McNally introduced Mark Lee at the break as the hosts looked to wrest the midfield control from Athena and put some pressure on the leaders. The quiet Marc Anthony found the roof of the net with a speculative reverse curling shot from outside the area on 50 minutes as ECU searched for a way back into the match.McMurray went close again after Amphlett turned Mikulic on the edge of the area and sent the ball into the box. McMurray touched the ball past Dunn but his shot from the byline cannoned off an Athena defender camped on the line before rebounding off the recovering keeper and away to safety.

Enterprising work from Karpeh gave the leagues top scorer sight on goal on 68 minutes but he lashed his effort wide of the post from the edge of the area.At the other end, Dunn had to be alert to tip over a Higgins cross that was headed for the top corner on 35 minutes as ECU committed men to the attack. From the resulting corner, the ball fell to Howard Fondyke whose effort was deflected to McMurray who in turn tried to turn the ball towards goal, a mass of Athena bodies on the line scrambling the ball away.With six minutes of regular time to go, ECU snatched a goal back to liven up the contest after Young turned onto a Fondyke through ball in the box, beating the offside trap and slotting into the far corner under Dunn.

Two minutes later and ECU found an equalizer to bring back Floreat memories of the infamous 5-5 draw against Western Knights earlier this season, where they threw away a three goal lead.

Magdic lost possession on the right edge of the Athena box where Mark Lee was lurking, his quick pass inside rolled across the top of the area to substitute Steve Baines who curled a first time left foot shot over Dunn and under the bar to spark scenes of jubilation amongst the ECU players.Floreat were stunned and Karpeh looked to regain the lead for his side with a neat shimmy on the edge of the ECU box but a brave block denied his goal bound shot.There was still time for ECU to try and snatch a dramatic winner, Higgins dribbling past two Athena defenders into the area but his left foot toe poke curled inches wide of the upright to leave both sides with a point from a hard fought contest.Floreat coach Michael Roki was disappointed to see his side drop two points after conceding two late goals, despite Cockburn’s slip up at Inglewood.“Joondalup are well renowned for not giving up until the final whistle, they found a break through and a late goal from a turnover. We were under a little bit of pressure but at the end of the day over the 90 minutes I thought we played ok” said Roki. “We thought we might have been able to snatch something today, we were in the right position being 2-0 up and it wasn’t good to see us turn that over”.

“Three points would have seen us close to wrapping things up (after Cockburn’s loss) and that would have been ideal, but one point we’ll take that” he said.Willie McNally saw his side maintain their unbeaten home record which now stretches to nine league matches in 2007.“I thought the first half they were definitely on top, half time we made a couple of changes and I thought second half we did really well” said McNally.“That’s the story of our season, we create chance upon chance but just haven’t taken them but at the end of the day we took a point from this so we are quite happy”.“If you look at the league table, you’ll find we have drawn a lot of games we should have won and that has cost us big time” he said.As for many mid table teams, McNally is already focused on what improvements to make for season 2008 in order to challenge the leaders.“This is our first season (McNally and assistant Gerry McEwan) and we know now what we need to improve, we’ve got names and we are looking at people and we’ll see what happens. There’s a few younger players coming through and we think we are on the right track” said McNally.

Match Reporter: Ben Fitzpatrick

Goals: 0:1 Thomas Shepheard (2.); 1:1 Kevin Henderson (23.); 1:2 Damien Catalano (35.); 1:3 Damien Scali (Penalty, 70.)

The Stirling Lions were handed a football lesson in their round 17 Football West Premier league clash, when a determined Swan IC overpowered them in a 4-1 belting at Macedonia Park on Saturday. The Lions blew a chance to close in on 2nd spot on a weekend where upsets were the order of the day. Stirling were without key midfielder Steve Porter and dashing Dannie Richman due to illness and a sister's wedding, leaving coach Mike Lyons with the task of re-organising last week's winning squad. Swan on the other hand bounced out looking nothing like a struggling side and had their first goal on the board when striker Tom Shepheard found himself one on one with Lions keeper Phil Straker and calmly slotted in from close range. Swan's midfielder David Perich was proving a handful as was diminutive striker Damien Catalano and a string of passes put Perich in range of goal, but the Swan faithful groaned as his shot went over the bar with the goal at his mercy. The Swans were in control and well led by Aaron Cole and Dom Ando in defence putting all the pressure on the Lions goal aided by a strong northerly breeze.

The Lions then had a purple patch when a well executed corner from Keith Brown found the head of Kevin Henderson who powered home the equaliser giving Swan keeper Daniel Agudelo no chance in the 26th minute. The Lions seized the initiative and a brilliant exchange of passes from Leo Harman and Andy Brown set up Ludo Boi to hit his rasping shot inches wide of the post. Swan rebounded soon after when a defensive mix up in the Lions defence allowed Catalano to turn in the box and blast his shot past Lions custodian Straker giving Swan a well earned lead. The Swannies were flying high and emphasised their will to win when Catalano turned provider sending a perfect through ball to man of the match Perich who put away the 3rd just before half time.

The Lions looked a shadow of the team that played so well in the last fortnight with Darko Ilomanoski and Andy Brown the only consistent performers on the day while the Swans played total team football. Michael Pugliese found himself free to shoot on goal but the Lions defender sprayed his shot wide in the 60th minute summing up the sort of day the Lions were having. Lions keeper Straker was adjudged to have brought down Catalano in the box with ref Troy Miller pointing to the penalty spot. Damien Scali cooly stepped up and put the fourth and final nail in the Lions coffin. Stirling desperately threw on fresh legs in the closing minutes with Dean Evans and Phil Arnold’s goal bound headers being cleared off the line in the dying minutes.

Match report courtesy of Stirling Lions

Goals: 1:0 Kevin Griffiths (Penalty, 20.); 2:0 Albert Osei-Tutu (58.); 3:0 Albert Osei-Tutu (72.)

Inglewood United handed out a lesson in finishing to inflict a 3-0 defeat on Cockburn City at Clipsal Stadium. Not a lot went right for Cockburn who dominated the game for lengthy periods but failed to convert chances into goals. Swift movement of the ball allowed Cockburn to asserted their authority early, however, it wasn't until the 16th minute that Adam Surjan called Oliver Taseski into action. Inglewood's first venture into the 18-yard box three minutes later resulted in a penalty for Alan Dunlop's sloppy challenge on Kevin Griffiths who, after dusting himself off, converted to give the home team an undeserved lead. This only further fired up Cockburn and Giovanni De Bartolo was denied the equaliser by a stunning reflex save from Taseski. Liam Lilly should have done better than head weakly at the 'keeper from Dom De Felice's deep corner, and a fierce strike by Surjan was prevented from finding the bottom corner by Danny Kovacevic. Inglewood sparked late in the half and Shane Nunes scrambled a Griffiths' shot off the line seven minutes from the break. Dean Wallace squandered a golden opportunity on the hour by heading high unchallenged with just the 'keeper to beat. It was a miss that would haunt the visitors as two minutes later Albert Osei-Tutu latched on to Dean Apelgren's pass and charged past his marker to angle across Dunlop and inside the far post. Cockburn's day worsened on 71 minutes when referee Matt Cheesman left all bewildered after issuing Johnny Mirco two yellow cards within moments of eachother. Inglewood capitalised and three minutes later Osei-Tutu brilliantly turned Mario De Felice and tucked in his second of the afternoon from 9-metres. Shortly after Michael Baczynski released Osei-Tutu who jinxed his way past the 'keeper but was denied a hat-trick by Nunes' superb blocking tackle and a goal line clearance by Paul Natale. Cockburn's day was best summed up by a late glancing header from Michael Mirco which he angled just past the post.

Goals: 0:1 David Pryce (77.)

A late goal to David Price has seen the Western Knights steal a 1-0 victory at the WA Spanish Club today. The goal, which came in the 79th minute, was one of the only real chances of the match for the Knights, while the Spirit, who have struggled in front of goal all season, again were wasteful. The Spirit went on the attack from the outset, and dominated what was an otherwise forgettable first half. Within the first five minutes, both Jason Barrera and Vas Kalagoracos missing guilt edged opportunities to put marc Wingell’s side ahead. The half was one in which minimal chances were created, mostly falling to the Spirit, Adrian McBride forcing a terrific save from Kevin Millar on 22 minutes. The best chance of the half for the Knights fell to Jon Mathers, who, after playing a one-two around the Spirit defence, was only able to shoot wide of the target. The half time substitute from Wingell, the introduction of Callum Roberts for Kalagoracos, who had been ineffective, almost paid instant dividends, coming close on several occasions, and generally livening up the attack. McBride came closest to breaking the deadlock again on 71 minutes, curling the ball agonisingly wide of the upright. In the final 15 minutes the Knights lifted, as all good sides do, and were able to find what was to be the winner, Price firing from 25 yards into the corner to make it 1-0. After conceding the goal, the Spirit also never looked likely to equalising, and the game finished with the Knights taking their ninth win of the season to move to 30 points.

Match Reporter: Jacob Kagi

Goals: 0:1 Adam Galvin (Penalty, 89.)

The Reds secured their position in the top flight of WA soccer for next season after a courageous 1-0 victory against Wanneroo City on Saturday in round 17 of the Football West Premier League. A week after their worst result of the season, a 0-6 loss to ECU Joondalup, Billy Russell’s side were hit by injuries and suspensions, with nine first team players either injured or suspended for the trip north, but they turned in a solid all-round team performance. The Scotsman, Russell, brought in a number of youngsters to make their league debuts with 16-year-old Trent Bushby slotting into the back four with 18-year-old Jerry Maguire joining Michael Bushby up front, and 17-year-old keeper Alex Preece, the young trio all had come through the Reds successful youth development programme.

With a victory needed to make sure of survival this season the Reds started strongly from the kick off, and found themselves with the early run of play. The debutant striker Maguire went close twice early but he couldn’t beat Jordan Conti in the Roos goal. Then Ben Howe (left) tried his luck, but fired wide but from then on the home side began to dominate. The Reds back four were put under tremendous pressure, but with the experience pair of Daryl Platten and Scott Paterson working overtime they kept the Roos at bay. But the Reds had young keeper Preece to thank with a number of fine saves. But the Reds went close before the break, Michael Bushby (right) and Howe both shooting narrowly wide.

There was another blow at half time with Irish import Neil Gawley being replaced by another youngster Jee van Krishnan and Razali Mohamad replacing Jerry Maguire up front. The hosts came out after the break with all guns blazing, knowing nothing more than a victory would do for them, and they wasted two golden opportunities, with Craig Bowman and Morgan Dendle firing wide. It was all one way traffic as the Reds were pegged back in their own half and if it wasn’t for resilient defending from another youngster Trent Bushby and Adam Galvin the Reds would have been behind.

In the final stances the Roos pushed forward in search of the elusive winner as the Reds started to tire, but they hung on with New Zealand import Shannan Dally outstanding, and just as it looked like it would end 0-0 the Reds struck. In a rare forward push in the 90 th minute, Michael Bushby was sent clear by a long kick from keeper Preece, and was brought down by Jordan Conti in the box and referee Steve Mouldon pointed to the spot. Adam Galvin kept his nerve to score from the spot, much to the delight of the travelling supporters and it was enough to earn the three points, and seemingly sending Wanneroo City into division one next season. t was a great victory under the circumstances and Coach Russell was happy for his young side. He said: “I’m delighted with the victory we worked our socks off today and I couldn’t have asked more from the lads. “I was really pleased for young keeper Alex Preece he made some crucial saves for us and I was pleased for Trent Bushby, both are young and both were making their debuts for the senior side. But it was a great team performance, which we can hopefully build on.”

Match report courtesy of Armadale