Report by Jayden Lihou

Armadale climbed off the bottom of the table with a resolute 2-1 victory over Cockburn City at Dalmatinac Park on Saturday.

The win was Armadale’s second in a row and moved them two points clear of last-placed Subiaco, who lost 5-0 to Bayswater City.

Armadale coach Paul Price was delighted with the win and his side’s defensive performance.

“We played extremely well defensively today and did well to catch them on the break, and I thought we thoroughly deserved the win,” Price said.

“This win takes us off the bottom, which is a massive thing for us, and we’ve also got a better goal difference than Subiaco… we’ve also got a game in hand on them as well.

“So if we keep on playing with today’s commitment and professionalism then we will definitely avoid relegation.”

The away side were first to threaten when a lobbed pass found Michael Domfeh inside the box and his shot was touched out for a corner by Cockburn keeper Luke Radonich.

Domfeh was at it again in the just three minutes later when Anthony Skorich split the defence to put him one-on-one.

The forward made his way into the box and calmly slotted the ball past Radonich to put his side up 1-0 in the 21st minute.

The lead was doubled in the 39th minute when the referee awarded Armadale a penalty after a handball from Cockburn defender Euen Grant.

Ellis Healing stepped up and showed compose to score his side’s second.

Armadale opted for a more defensive approach in the second half and Cockburn were forced to fashion efforts from range.

The first came in the 69th minute when David Araya’s shot was prevented from finding the bottom corner thanks to a diving save from Armadale keeper Alec Radonich.

Cockburn were denied from distance again when a good shot Cameron Edwards was saved once more.

The home fans had something to cheer in the 93rd minute when Harry O’Brien scored a consolation.

O’Brien was alone in the penalty area when a long ball found him before he controlled the ball and finished in the bottom corner.

Cockburn coach Scott Miller said Armadale deserved the win.

“We were not at the races today; we gave away a couple of silly goals and Armadale beat us fair and square,” he said.

“We had all the possession, but I thought Armadale set up really well defensively and had a good game plan which they executed a lot better than our own.”

Cockburn City 1 (O’Brien 90+3min)
Armadale 2 (Domfeh 21min, Healing 39)
Saturday, 30 July 2016
Venue: Dalmatinac Park
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Adam Fielding
Assistants: Eamon McDonnell, Max Hallas

Cockburn City: GK. Luke RADONICH, 3. Joshua KUSER, 4. Euen GRANT (C), 6. Ruben TRISTAO, 8. Cameron EDWARDS, 9. Angel ADAMS, 10. David ARAYA, 11. Harry O’BRIEN, 12. Aiden DE LUZ, 13. Blake ADAMS (7. Ali GHOLAMI 46’), 15. Liam MURRAY (2. Nathan DE ABREU 62’)
Substitutes not used: 17. Jesse LAZZARO, 23. Ben RADONICH
Yellow cards: Adams 35’
Red cards: Nil

Armadale: GK. Alec RADONICH, 2. Alex CASTIELLO, 3. Jake SARDELIC, 4. Jesse FULLER (C), 6. Michael DOMFEH (13. Jackson BEALEY 60’), 8. Ismael BANGURA (10. Papa KPATAR 31’), 9. Darren FRANCIS, 11. Anthony SKORICH (5. David ANNALL 74’), 12. Dannie RICHMAN, 14. Dylan WHITE, 17. Ellis HEALING
Substitutes not used: 1. Michael CRAGGS, 13. Jackson BEALEY, 16. Hassan KARIM
Yellow cards: Skorich 35’
Red cards: Nil