All square between ECU and Armadale

Report by Colin Outhwaite

New Armadale coach Paul Price said a 2-2 draw away at ECU Joondalup in their PS4 National Premier Leagues WA clash was a promising start.

Danny Hodgson’s penalty and Caleb Dixon’s unstoppable strike cancelled out goals from Tommy Amphlett and 15-year-old Bayley Montgomery either side of half time.

Price, who started at Armadale on Thursday, said there were a lot of positives to take away from the game despite not getting the three points.

“Armadale have rarely come from behind at all in the past two seasons but we did that twice in one game,” he said.

“ECU are a tough team to play away, but we kept going and I think we probably deserved to win.”

Price also said there’s no extra pressure on the shoulders of his Armadale side, despite the introduction of relegation.

“The players don’t have to think about that,” Price said.

“We’ve got two points in two games now so we have to build on that and take every game as we come to them.

“There’s only one way for us to go at the moment and that’s up because we can’t go any further down.”

Amphlett scored first for ECU in the 22nd minute, lobbing keeper Dylan Wilson who rushed out to intercept a ball behind the defence.

But Hodgson replied nine minutes later when he was brought down in the box by opposite number Ryan Lowry. Goalkeeper Jamie Serra guessed right for the resulting penalty, but couldn’t stop the follow-up.

Neither side looked likely to break the deadlock after half time, but substitutions on the hour mark inspired a late surge of activity.

ECU father-son substitutes Stuart and Bayley Montgomery made immediate impacts, as the latter controlled in the box from Lowry’s pass to put the home side ahead.

But straight after the restart Dixon blasted one into the top corner from range to cut short the ECU celebrations and bring the game level.

Dixon then could have won the game when he caught the ECU defence napping, but he held onto the ball too long before getting a shot off.

ECU coach Dale McCulloch was unhappy with his side’s inability to retain their leads.

“I thought the game was there to be won. We went up twice but we couldn’t defend it,” he said.

“It wasn’t the way we conceded the goals, it was the way we backed off once we got in front.”

ECU Joondalup 2 (AMPHLETT 22min, Bayley MONTGOMERY 72)
Armadale SC 2
(HODGSON 31, DIXON 73)
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Venue:
ECU Joondalup Football Stadium
Kick-off: 3:00
Referee: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referees: Pedro Vasquez, Simon Hicks

ECU Joondalup: 1. Jamie SERRA (gk), 2. Ryan LOWRY, 3. Jon HIGGINS (c) (9. Guy McDONALD 28), 4. Charlie COMYN-PLATT, 5. Carl RODGERS, 6. Jon STYNES (18. Stuart MONTGOMERY 68), 7. Paul MILLER, 8. Joe SMITH, 10. Andy HIGGINS (17. Bayley MONTGOMERY 63), 12. Josh TUCKER, 13. Tommy AMPHLETT
Substitutes not used: 20. Ash MAYNARD- BREWER (rgk), 11. Rowdy YATES
Yellow cards: COMYN-PLATT 56, McDONALD 90
Red cards: Nil

Armadale SC: 1. Dylan WILSON (gk), 2. Danny HODGSON, 5. Sam LOVELESS, 7. Faustino MACHOCHI, 8. Caleb DIXON, 9. Darren FRANCIS, 11. Jackson BEALEY, 12. Jamal YUSOF (17. Raveshlan KUPPUSAMY 77), 13. Peter LORD (6. Jake SARDELIC 60), 14. Mitch CASTRILLI, 19. Reece DAVIES (c)
Substitutes not used: 20. Thomas CHUDY (rgk), 3. Sam KHANKHALILI, 10. Nick CRERAND
Yellow Cards: MACHOCHI 27
Red Cards: Nil




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