Goals: 1:0 Marc Anthony (44.)

ECU Joondalup won the local Northern Derby by the narrowest of margins over the Sorrento Gulls. Joondalup retain their unbeaten home record for the Football West Premier season. All spectators and players knew it was a derby as the match was tight, tough, but fair and was well controlled by match official, Steve Muldoon.

The exciting action was there from the beginning as Joondalup kicked off and as both sides went clash for clash keeping both Custodians busy. Only two cautions, one for each team was the match count and rightly so as both sets of players were keen to get and keep possession, but didn’t go to extremes. The team in navy blue had the first caution when Steve Blackmore caught the official’s eye in the 20th minute. The Gulls first and only caution was on 40 minutes as James Morgan came to the attention of the match official and saw the yellow for persistent offending.

On 33 minutes a Gulls free kick was so close to opening the scoring. Gary Lynn’s left footed strike cannoned off the bottom of the left post with Alek Vrteski beaten. Three minutes later, the Gulls were again holding their heads as Lewis Flatt fired high over when it seemed that he must score. Then in a swift counter attack the home team went ahead on 44 minutes. A move down the left saw Mark Lee beat the offside trap and he crossed to Marc Anthony who from outside the area thumped his volley past Anthony Cochrane.

Seven minutes into the new half, Jason Trpevski at right full back for the Gulls had to be replaced with Scott Neville as the broken nose suffered in a first half accidental clash of heads, proved too much. The action went back to end to end, but without clear opportunities being created. The Gulls were guilty of trying to be over elaborate near and inside the area on more than one occasion. With 5 minutes remaining the Gulls moved lofty defender Steve McDonald to their forward line, but the equaliser nearly came from ground level. Good lead up work by Neville and Morgan with an interchange of passes before Vrteski pushed Morgan’s shot against the right post and out for a corner. The Gulls strived for something late, but after two minutes of stoppage time it was Joondalup holding firm.

Joondalup (4-3-3): Vrteski, Ashworthy, A Jones, Baynes, Lee, Blackmore, Donlevy, Anthony, Collins, D Quinncroft (Fondyke 67), Amphlet (Mirco). Subs not used: Young, McDarby. Cautioned: Blackmore.

Sorrento (4-4-2): Cochrane, Trpevski (Neville 52), McDonald, Banks, Lynn, Flatt, Martin (Yorke 85), Morgan, Boyle, Gurovski (Worthy 56), Love. Subs not used: Ross, Doyle. Cautioned: Morgan.

Referee: Steve Muldoon

Match report courtesy of Sorrento

Goals: 1:0 Ben Howe (5.); 2:0 Darren Kingston (10.); 2:1 Daniel Neiderberger; 2:2 Dean Apelgren (32.); 2:3 Greg Sharland (42.); 3:3 Neil Gawley (57.); 3:4 Daniel Neiderberger (80.)

Inglewood United took out maximum points when they downed Armadale 4-3 in a pulsating encounter at Alfred Skeet Oval. The home team came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders to take a deserved early lead through Ben Howe who expertly chipped goalkeeper Oliver Taseski from the edge of the 18-yard box. Inglewood’s day worsened on 10 minutes when Ryan Pearson stole possession from Sardi Jokanovic and made his way into the area before squaring to Darren Kingston who made no mistake from close-range. The home crowd were in fine voice as they urged the Reds to add a third to their tally. However, it was Inglewood that would next find the net as Greg Sharland’s angled strike was too hot for Cyril Sharrock to handle and in the blink of an eye Daniel Neiderberger had tucked in the loose ball from a few metres. By this stage the visitors had control of the game with experienced duo Bobby Despotovski and Kevin Griffiths dictating terms in the middle of the park, and Alex Stamatiadis and Jason Colli leading the charge down the flanks. The sides were brought level in the 32nd minute when Dean Apelgren unleashed a thunderbolt from 15-metres that gave Sharrock no chance. Inglewood’s dominance was further rewarded shortly before the break when Daniel Kovacevic sent the ball down the right to Danny Stoitis whose back post cross was powerfully headed in by Sharland. Twelve minutes into the second half Armadale found an equaliser through Neal Gawley who marked his home debut with a fine strike from 20-metres. Griffiths provided the ammunition for the deciding goal on 80 minutes by delivering the ball into the area where Neiderberger headed in from 5-metres. The home side thought they’d snatch a late point when Pearson headed the ball in, however, referee Joe Fusari disallowed the effort for the strikers push on Kovacevic.

Goals: 0:1 Kevin Henderson (Penalty, 89.)

A late penalty converted by captain Kevin Henderson was enough to secure Stirling Lions maximum points against a brave and tenacious Fremantle Spirit line-up at the WA Spanish Club. Quickest out of the blocks were Stirling who controlled play through the central pairing of Keith Brown and Steve Porter. The first real opening came after 25 minutes when David Dugdale's low shot was held by Steve Grant. Stirling pressed threatened again a minute later via an in-swinging Steve Porter corner which Fremantle captain Dale Wingell cleared from off the goal line. A classy exchange between Porter and Dugdale provided Andy Brown with a clear shot on goal only for the big striker to sky his shot from point-blank range. A speedy break lead to an opening for Fremantle as Wingell released Jason Barrera whose passage to goal was blocked by a diving Phil Straker. The scrappy nature of the game continued into the second half with both sides battling strong winds and a shifting surface. An innocuous tackle by Andy Brown on Mark Darby lead to the referee issuing the Stirling attacker a red card on 70 minutes, much to the dismay of the visiting supporters. A brilliant piercing run by teenager Callum Roberts took him past a tiring defence and one-on-one with Straker whose superb save kept Stirling in the hunt. The addition of Daniel Micevski and Tom Jones swung the game in the visitors favour and through a series of free-kicks and corners the pressure slowly mounted on the home team. With 89 minutes gone Stirling were awarded a penalty for a seemingly innocent challenge on Dugdale, and up stepped Henderson to drill in the games' only goal.

Goals: 0:1 Josh Kamasz (32.); 1:1 Damien Catalano (56.); 1:2 Josh Kamasz (68.); 1:3 Josh Kamasz (78.); 1:4 Joseph Brunetto (90.)

Josh Kamasz struck three times to lead Cockburn City to a 4-1 win over Swan I.C. at the Swan Italian Club. The home supporters were given plenty of early encouragement as Justin Hugo forced a good save from Dino Pacella, and Rory Mouttet who placed disappointingly high of the crossbar from close-range. Cockburn weren't without their opportunities and Kamasz should have done better than to send his header straight at Corey Hugo on the half hour. However, that matter little as two minutes later Johnny Mirco sent in a deep cross from the left which Kamasz tucked into the net at the back post. The margin was very nearly doubled shortly after when Kamasz flicked Shane Nunes' throw-in on to Johnny Mirco who fired wide. Swan were reduced to ten men with Justin Hugo issued his marching orders by referee Steven Gregory following an off the ball incident with Dom De Felice. The situation worsened for the hosts three minutes into the second half when Carlos Echeverria was sent off for a seemingly innocent tackle. But Swan weren't about to give up and in the 56th minute were brought back into the game as Brendan Knox flicked on a corner to Damien Catalano who converted in a goal mouth scramble. With the advantage of two additional players, Cockburn soon gained control and in the 68th minute Kamasz had his second of the day after great approach work from Johnny Mirco. Kamasz completed his hat-trick ten minutes later with a clinical finish past the goalkeeper. Joseph Brunetto came on for Kamasz shortly after and in the final minute made his presence known by netting from close-range after Swan failed to sufficiently deal with a corner.

Goals: 0:1 Andreas Oliveira (14.); 0:2 Robbie Puca (57.); 0:3 Gary Faria (59.); 0:4 Gary Faria (63.); 0:5 Barry Wood (68.)

Today at Kingsway Reserve Perth SC had a comfortable 5-0 victory over a poor Wanneroo side. This keeps the pressure on League leaders Floreat who were involved in a ten goal thriller at Nash Field.

It took Perth just 14 minutes to take the lead when Wanneroo keeper Olow dropped an in swinging Howarth corner and the ball fell to Oliviera who slotted the ball home for the only goal of a fairly lifeless first half.

The second half was just 12 minutes old when Perth doubled their lead; Puca finished spectacularly following a great piece of play by substitute Naglieri. Just two minutes later and the match was as good as over then yet another Perth substitute (Faria) fired home a great volley after excellent approach work by Oliviera.

Barely two minutes had passed before Wanneroo had their best chance of the match when Craig Cheeseman spotting Deeg off his line tried to beat the Perth keeper from 30 metres, but somehow the custodian managed to get a finger tip to the shot and the ball thundered into the crossbar and was cleared. To add insult to injury shortly following this, it was 4 -nil to Perth as Faria got his second following another great piece of approach play by Danskin and Wood.

In the 68th minute the scoring was completed when Barry Wood got the goal his selfless work all afternoon deserved after he was on the end of a sweeping move following a 40 metre slide rule pass by Naglieri found Danskin who played the ball into the big striker.

To totally destroy Wanneroo’s day Craig Bowman got himself a red card for abusive language with just 2 minutes to go.

Goals: 0:1 Boima Karpeh (3.); 0:2 Boima Karpeh (17.); 0:3 Boima Karpeh (39.); 1:3 Anthony Skorich (59.); 1:4 Branimir Mikulic (66.); 1:5 Miki Vujacic (70.); 2:5 Anthony Skorich (77.); 3:5 Stuart Montgomery (83.); 4:5 Andrew Jennings (89.); 5:5 Andrew Jennings (90+3.)

Western Knights and Floreat Athena shared the points in a ten goal thriller during Round 11 of the Football West State Premier League at Nash Field this afternoon. Trailing 5-1 with only 13 minutes remaining, the Knights produced a comeback of Lazarus proportions to put four past the bewildered Vas Vujacic to blow the title race wide open.

The first half was the Jerry Karpeh show, the enigmatic forward netting a 39 minute hat-trick to put Athena firmly in the driving seat. The first came after only three minutes on the clock, Josip Magdic was the inspiration, beating his marker down the right flank with his low centre finding Karpeh who with his back to goal flicked the ball up and fired into the net on the turn.

On 16 minutes the trickery of Karpeh beat two markers on the byline and his delicate cross into the centre found Miki Vujacic however he couldn’t keep his first time volley down and it went sailing over the cross bar. The Knights failed to heed the warning and only one minute later Karpeh had his second, heading in from close range following great interplay between Branimir Mikulic and Magdic on the right touchline. Karpeh recorded his hat-trick and eleventh of the campaign on 39 minutes after being played through by Mikulic, Karpeh avoiding a tight off side call that referee Klaver overruled to slot past the advancing Kevin Miller, making his debut in goals for the Knights. Dangerous Knights midfielder Andrija Jukic had his sides’ best chance on the stroke of half time but saw his powerful effort brilliantly tipped away by Vujacic from 16 yards.

The Knights came out for the second period in determined fashion to get back into the match but lacked the class in the final third to hurt Athena. The goal did finally come on 59 minutes after Daniel Trim pumped the ball back into the box where Anthony Skorich judged it best and volleyed past Vujacic to give his side a glimmer of hope. That hope appeared to be extinguished on 66 minutes after a long throw from substitute James Isaiah found Mikulic on the near post who flicked his header in with consummate ease.

Only four minutes later and the game should have been over after Miki Vujacic smashed home from close range following a repeat of the Isaiah and Mikulic long throw routine which again caught the Knights defence napping. Floreat coach Michael Roki took the opportunity to rest stars Jerry Karpeh and Bajo Savic as he looked to the subs bench with his side cruising. The Knights however had other ideas and pulled a goal back with only 13 minutes remaining on the clock. A John Thornley goal bound header was tipped over by Vujacic and from the resulting corner a goal mouth scramble saw Skorich net from close range.

Two minutes later Floreat won a penalty after a deflected shot from Isaiah found Adam Bachiller who was brought down in the area by Andrew Jennings. Julian Madaschi stepped up but saw his low effort brilliantly tipped away by debutant Miller. Within minutes the Knights supporters were thinking ‘what if’ after a swift counter attack found Stuart Montgomery lurking out wide on the right. With the Floreat defence stretched Montgomery advanced to the right edge of the area and smashed a speculative effort over Vujacic and into the far corner of the net.

With the Knights pushing men forward they pulled another back on 89 minutes after the excellent Daniel Trim dribbled past his marker into the box and crossed low into the centre, the ball falling nicely for Jennings to smash home through a crowded penalty area. The small crowd was now on the edge of their seats willing the home side on and in the third minute of injury time the miracle was completed after the Knights produced one of the goals of the game. With the ball in the centre of the park Skorich sprayed out wide to Jukic whose cross to the top of the box was brilliantly flicked on by Montgomery to Jennings who fired low across the keeper and into the net to spark scene of jubilation on the field and in the stands. Referee Klaver blew full time on a game that those present will remember for a long time.

Knights coach Ronnie Campbell was delighted to see his side come away with a point in what could be one of the games of the season. "Obviously we are happy to get a point out of the game, we were outclassed for the first half, three nil down and it could’ve been more but I thought the boys showed tremendous character in the second half, which we won 5-2. Michael (Roki, Floreat coach) will be very disappointed with the result no doubt," said Campbell.

"We’re struggling at the moment, we are lacking defenders, we’re down on confidence but I think that result will give us a lot of hope for the rest of the season," he said.

Campbell was also delighted with the return of young gun John Thornley after 18 months of injury nightmare. "That was a big plus today John Thornley, first game for probably nearly two years; he lasted 90 minutes and did well, obviously not match fit but very pleased to see him back on the park. I rate him very highly, I think he’s good enough to play overseas, a fantastic young player," said Campbell.

It was a husky voiced Michael Roki who was disappointed to see his side throw away two points after leading 5-1 with only 13 minutes left on the clock. "Really disappointed, the game was all over as far as I was concerned, a very disappointing last 20 to 25 minutes to cop that many goals in a short period of time, it’s not good enough from my point of view," said Roki.

"Everything a red shirt touched seemed to be in the back of the net, first half it didn’t look like that at all we defended tightly and didn’t give them an opportunity to get a goal, but no excuses we need to be better than that," he said.

The Athena side also has concerns over star midfielder Josip Magdic who hobbled off with a knee injury 20 minutes into the second half. "We’ll get him straight down to the hospital to get checked out, obviously he’s a quality player and we’ll get that leg scanned. We don’t know at this stage, he just copped a twist to the knee, it may be nothing, it maybe something more severe but we will know on Monday," he said.

Football West Match Reporter - Ben Fitzpatrick