Report by Peter Simcox

Floreat celebrate Dean Evans' goal which put them 3-0 up. Photo by Peter Simcox

The NPLWA Men’s title race is set for a final day thriller with three teams in contention to become 2020 champions.

Floreat Athena will head into the last round in the driving seat, two points clear of ECU Joondalup and Cockburn City.

Athena took over top spot with a resounding 3-0 win at Gwelup Croatia on Saturday, while ECU went second on goal difference following a 3-1 victory at previous leaders Cockburn.

Floreat finish with a home game against Cockburn on Saturday, while ECU host Sorrento. Which means:

• Floreat will be champions if they beat Cockburn, regardless of the ECU-Sorrento result. A draw will also be enough for Athena if ECU fail to defeat Sorrento
  
  
• ECU will be champions if they beat Sorrento and Floreat fail to defeat Cockburn, unless Cockburn beat Floreat by at least six goals more than ECU beat Sorrento
  
  
• Cockburn will be champions if they beat Floreat and ECU fail to beat Sorrento. The most unlikely scenario is that Cockburn take the title with a win of at least six goals more than ECU over Sorrento

LADDER

Hopefully that is easy enough to follow. The easiest thing to remember is that Floreat are now one win away from winning the league after a superb all-round team performance away to Gwelup in Round Four.  

Vas Vujacic’s side were ahead after only five minutes, with Gwelup defender Adam Fields scoring an own goal, before a stunning strike from Andrew Palmer and a sublime free-kick from skipper Dean Evans after half-time secured the win. The result knocked Gwelup out of the title race.

Floreat made the perfect start when Gwelup failed to clear a corner and Evans’ cross into the box was turned into his own net by the unfortunate Fields.   

Gwelup looked for a quick response but former Floreat midfielder Jon Stynes headed over the top, before Sean McManus’ shot on the run was deflected wide. But try as they might they couldn’t find a way past a tight Floreat defence well marshalled by Dennis Galan.  

Floreat started the second half like the first and doubled their lead eight minutes in with a tremendous team goal. Gwelup gave the ball away in the middle of the park and Phil Arnold slipped the ball though for Liam Murray. He laid it back to Palmer, whose shot from the edge of the box flew into the net, giving Connor Campbell no chance.   

Gwelup were struggling in the final third, although half-time substitute Hasani Sinclair went close on the hour when he headed straight at Jason Saldaris. The American striker, who scored two in Gwelup’s 3-0 win over Floreat in Round Five, went close again five minutes later, losing his marker from a set-piece but he headed inches wide of the target.  

Taki Nicolaidis’ side weren’t going down without a fight and Saldaris got down well to push McManus’ shot around the post. But with the game opening up, Floreat had their chances too. Evans’ corner picked out Nicholas Ambrogio, whose effort flashed the wrong side of the post.

But on 82 minutes Floreat sealed the points. Ciaran Salinger brought down Murray on the edge of the penalty area  and Evans stepped up to curl the resulting free-kick into the net.  

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Cockburn led the field before Saturday but they now have it all to do after Danny Hodgson's hat-trick gave ECU Joondalup a 3-1 win over City at Dalmatinac Park.

Cockburn were previously unbeaten at home this season but ECU Joondalup started well with leading scorer Hodgson curling wide inside five minutes.

At the other end, Sebastian Da Silva's strike landed in the grateful arms of Johnny Perkins before the youngster slashed wide of the goalkeeper's upright soon after.

The first half ended goalless, but the visitors only needed four minutes to take the lead in the second half, as a beautifully crafted move involving Callum Timmins and Harry Evans ended with Hodgson dinking home coolly for his first of the afternoon.

It was 2-0 four minutes later when the Englishman went to ground under the challenge of Cockburn skipper Euan Grant in the penalty area before sliding his spot-kick calmly past Radonich.

Hodgson's nine-minute treble was completed on 58 minutes when Ethan Brooks countered down the right and crossed for the striker to join Cameron Teece on 15 league goals this campaign.

It was a knockout spell from ECU Joondalup and their leading marksman as Kenny Lowe's side claimed a second win over Cockburn this season to give themselves a sniff of the league title ahead of a derby clash with Sorrento.

There was still time for Jesse Lazzaro to score his ninth goal of the season late on, but Cockburn's first loss in the competition's second phase dropped them to third on goal difference and leaves them needing to win at leaders Floreat next weekend to have a chance.

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The other game in the upper tier also featured a hat-trick as Angel Andres Rivera's treble helped Armadale defeat Sorrento 5-3 to end the Gulls’ title hopes.

This was Armadale’s first win since the competition split after three straight losses and showed how much John O’Reilly’s side had missed their marksman because of injury.

Armadale got off to a rapid-fire start as Andres Rivera ran unchallenged and scored beyond Joel Driscoll from 18 yards.

Sorrento needed three points to keep their title hopes alive and pulled level when their leading scorer Cameron Teece curled brilliantly around Cyril Sharrock for 1-1.

But two goals in the space of a minute from Chad Nilson moved the hosts into a commanding position. The winger could not miss with his first goal from a yard out, but his second strike was a brilliantly arrowed finish across Driscoll and into the far corner.

Remarkably, Armadale added a third goal in space of four minutes when Andres Rivera was released by Sebastian Stenqvist and fired home to make it 4-1 after just 24 minutes.

Alex Morgan was unable to hook in for the visitors before the break, but the forward was involved when the Gulls pulled one back on 57 minutes as his flick-on was chested and finished nicely by Amir Ajan.

It was 4-3 on the hour mark as Teece fired home another superbly taken finish to move to 15 goals for the season and end the day level with ECU’s Danny Hodgson in the Golden Boot race.

Jakub Prajza and Scott Witschge both forced Sharrock into saves as the Gulls tried to force an equaliser, but Armadale defended stoically and their star man Andres Rivera sealed the points late on.

The Spanish striker was fed again by Stenqvist as he raced away and made it 5-3 to extinguish the Gulls league title hopes, and the visitors’ frustrations were compounded four minutes into added time when Clark Keltie was shown a red card.

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In the bottom half of the split, defending champions Perth Soccer Club are well set for a place in the end of season finals following a come-from-behind 4-1 win over Bayswater City at Frank Drago Reserve.

The Azzurri know a win in next weekend's final league game against Perth Glory will secure their spot as the best of the rest.

The afternoon did not start well for Perth with Bayswater claiming the opener on six minutes when Gordon Smith finished Daryl Nicol's cross for his first goal of the season.

Perth hit back 10 minutes later when Gustavo Catarcione slipped Yagoub Mustafa down the right and the former Perth Glory youngster found the net, with the final touch coming off David Stokoe.

Jayden Gorman and Paul Zimarino were unable to test Jackson Lee as heavy rain poured down in the first half, but the visitors did take the lead in spectacular fashion on 39 minutes when Catarcione scored with a wonderfully executed overhead kick which left Lee flat-footed.

Bayswater needed three points to keep their Cup hopes alive but rarely threatened Ryan Montgomery's goal after the restart.

Instead, the hosts’ defence got in to an almighty tangle while trying to play their way out of defence and last year's Golden Boot winner Michael Domfeh capitalised to slot in from a tight angle.

That goal came on 83 minutes and it was 4-1 four minutes later when Gorman turned home Aleks Jovic's cross to put Perth in pole position and end their rivals’ remaining hope of silverware in 2020.

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Inglewood United missed the chance to move level with Perth SC at the top of the bottom six as they were held 2-2 by Rockingham City at Lark Hill.

The visitors took the lead twice against the league's bottom side but let it slip on both occasions.

They now must beat Bayswater next Saturday and require a favour from third-place Glory against the Azzurri to pinch top spot.

The game sprung into life after 38 minutes when Steve Sokol was fouled in the box by Harry Bolan and Inglewood's top scorer stepped up to score for a third straight game.

Rockingham were determined to give their fans something to cheer in their final home game of 2020 though, and they levelled from a set-piece before the break when Michael Farmer prodded in his second of the campaign.

But Sokol's eighth of the season restored Inglewood's advantage three minutes into the second period, when he drove towards the edge of the area and picked out the bottom corner.

The hosts continued to show encouraging signs for 2021 as they pushed numbers forward in search of an equaliser with Evan Ludgate blazing a good opportunity high and wide.

And an equaliser did arrive on 72 minutes for the 2018 State League Division One winners as Lydon Hodgkiss stood up a cross to the back post with Joseph Moss picking out Declan Collins to score a second of the season.

Sokol should have had the weekend's third hat-trick when twice through on goal in the final 10 minutes, but a winner would not be found as last year's grand finalists slipped two points behind Perth.

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Perth Glory lost their place at the summit of the bottom tier following a 3-0 reverse at Balcatta.

Glory now have to defeat last season's double winners Perth at Dorrien Gardens and hope their result betters Inglewood's at Bayswater if they are to make a second finals series in three years.

Balcatta are out of contention for the post-season cup but their second win since the split should give them momentum going into the season's final game against Rockingham.

Giordano Colli's free-kick was beaten away by Riley Stephenson in the trying conditions at Grindleford Reserve, where the hosts stuck three times in the opening half.

The first goal came on 25 minutes as top scorer Adam Zimarino's strike from the edge of the area took a slight deflection off Mason Tatafu and flew past a helpless Sam Reilly.

Four minutes later it was 2-0 when Anthony Topini's free-kick from wide on the left drifted all the way in for his first goal of 2020.

Balcatta then added a third a minute before the interval as Michael Zimarino raced clear to finish from Topini's well-weighted pass.

In the second half, Stephenson made an excellent save to deny Charlie Leech, while at the other end Adam Zimarino forced Reilly into action from 18 yards.

Teams and match details