Goals: 1:0 Graham Herd (8.); 2:0 Graham Herd (10.); 2:1 Josip Magdic (14.); 2:2 Garin Collins (38.); 2:3 Josip Magdic (56.); 2:4 Josip Magdic (68.); 3:4 Daryl Platten (71.); 3:5 Rafael Insurralde (87.)

A stunning hat-trick from former Perth Glory’s Josip Magdic gave Floreat Athena a 5-3 victory against Armadale in Friday nights round 22 Football West Premier League clash at Alfred Skeet Oval. The victory earning Athena the distinction of going through the whole season undefeated, and players, coaches and supporters celebrated after the final whistle. But it was a hesitant start from the Champions, and Scott Devine’s free kick from the edge of the box curled inches wide for the hosts. Armadale soon had the lead, Jason Goodwin’s run and cross from the right found Graham Herd 25-yards out and his shot flew past Alex Dunn and into the net on eight minutes. It got better for the home side and two minutes later it was 2-0, Goodwin again sent a long ball down the left to Herd, and his speculative cross shot beat Dunn and found the top of the net. The home fans were in full voice as a shock looked on the cards, but Athena Coach Michael Roki adjusted his formation and four minutes later they were back in the game. Miki Vujacic’s cross from the right fell to Magdic on the edge of the box and his volley flew past Cyril Sharrock to reduce the margin. Athena pressed forward looking for the equaliser, Branimir Mikulic headed wide and Garin Collins shot sailed over the bar. But the home side should have increased their lead on the half hour, Shannon Dally sent Goodwin clear one on one with keeper Dunn, the youngster narrowed the angle well and blocked the strikers shot.

Then Rafael Insurralde found Magdic on the edge of the box, his shot on the turn went inches past the post. It was end to end football and Armadale’s Daryl Platten saw his free kick crash off the post on 34 minutes as the home side pressed, but two minutes later it was 2-2. Mikulic was the provider his inch perfect cross into the box caused panic in the Armadale defence and Collins nipped in to head past Sharrock.

The visitors began the second half well, Adam Bachiller cross was acrobatically met by Magdic, his overhead kick going wide. Then moments later Insurralde found Magdic again but Sharrock saved low. But their pressure finally told on 55 minutes, the Armadale defence failed to clear a cross and it popped up for Magdic who bravely headed past Sharrock. It looked like Athena would run away with the game, and it was 4-2 on 77 minutes with the goal of the match. Magdic picked the ball up on the half way line and ran at the Armadale defence; his pace took him clear of the final defender Marlon Ramirez before unleashing a stunning strike from the edge of the box which gave Sharrock no chance. But Armadale had other ideas and they reduced the margin three minutes later Stephen Skilandis played Platten in down the right and he cut inside James Isaia before firing past Dunn. Both sides pressed late Dally low shot was saved by Dunn for Armadale, but the points were sewn up on 85 minutes with another great individual goal. Insurralde was found by Mikulic down the right; he cut inside the box and fired high into the net to score.

Athena Coach Roki was delighted his side had gone undefeated all season. He said: “It started off a bit scary in the first ten minutes tonight and we were 2-0 down. But the boys showed great character tonight, as they have all season, and they played their way out of trouble which I was delighted with. Josip was great tonight, he should be playing A-League, he showed some class touches in midfield tonight, may be it’s a matter of time but we hope he gets there one day.” Armadale Coach Billy Russell was delighted with his team’s performance despite the loss. “I thought the boys gave it all they could tonight, but we were playing against a class side. We had a couple of chances in the first half to finish the game off but we didn’t take them and they are a good side and are always going to create chances and they finished them off,” said Russell.

Football West Match Reporter - Peter Simcox

Goals: 0:1 Leo Harman (25.); 1:1 Howard Fondyke (45.); 1:2 Andy Brown (72.)

Stirling Lions became the first team this season to take away all three points from the University Ground after disposing of ECU Joondalup 2-1 with goals from Leo Harman and Andy Brown sealing the win.

It took only seven minutes for the first chance of the match; big central defender Kevin Henderson heading over from close range after a long throw bounced in the area and over the head of ECU captain Ian McMurray. Stirling were the brighter side and fashioned another opportunity four minutes later after a Ludo Boi shot was blocked and fell kindly for Matt Italiano in the area, however his low side footed shot bobbled wide of the upright. McMurray had to be alert to head away an Andy Brown flick on from under the cross bar with the ECU striker spending more time defending in his own box than attacking the Stirling goal as the Lions dominated proceedings. Brown took matters into his own hands on 18 minutes after a neat set up allowed the big man to smash a volley towards goal that whistled past the post. The goal finally came for Stirling on 24 minutes after Andy Brown blasted a low centre into the six yard area, the ball first falling to Boi whose shot was blocked but fell nicely for Leo Harman to control and slot home from eight yards.

Harman could have scored one of the seasons top goals 10 minutes later after having his back to goal 30 yards out, the striker audaciously flicked the ball up over his head and past the defender however could only find the keepers arms in what was a disappointing finish. ECU had a penalty shout for handball waved away by the referee while at the other end a Keith Brown free kick was parried away by Andy Petterson.

ECU snatched a goal against the run of play with the last kick of the first half, a raking cross field ball from Tommy Amphlett found Howard Fondyke who lobbed the advancing keeper and saw the ball nestle in the net. The second half started off in a similar vane to the first with Stirling pressing forward and looking the more dangerous side. Phil Arnold blazed an effort over the bar before a Keith Brown volley flew inches on the wrong side of the post. Brown was having a fine game and it was his dangerous corner that almost saw Stirling regain the lead but somehow the ball was stopped on the line and eventually cleared from the goal mouth scramble. But just as ECU began to pressure the Lions regrouped; Andy Brown after he glanced on a long Steve Heskith throw and found the back of the net to seal all three points for the Lions who can now look forward to their Soccer Pools Cup match against Cockburn City on Saturday, 13 October at E&D Litis Stadium.

Football West Match Reporter - Ben Fitzpatrick

Goals: 0:1 Albert Osei-Tutu (14.); 1:1 Morgan Dendle (15.); 1:2 Albert Osei-Tutu (71.); 1:3 Albert Osei-Tutu (73.); 1:4 Michael Baczynski (87.)

Goals: 1:0 Dejan Djukanovic (40.)

Swan I.C. ended their campaign on a positive with Dejan Djukanovic securing a 1-0 win against Sorrento at the Swan Italian Club. There was no shortage of early chances as both teams came out with only one thing on their mind. A quick Damien Catalano free-kick caught Sorrento napping at the back but David Perich placed wide, and two minutes later Scott Neville cut in from the left but his low shot was kept out by Cory Hugo. A driving run by Lewis Flat forced a fine save from Hugo, and the end to end nature continued with a long range strike by Damien Scali that was saved by Neil Young. Sorrento were creating by greater chances as Jason Trpevski headed narrowly wide from a Glen Thomas corner, while Jared Love’s first time shot was superbly blocked by Hugo. The breakthrough arrived six minutes from half-time when Hugo’s long ball was helped on by Tom Shepheard for Djukanovic to fire past Young. Shepheard should have doubled the hosts lead by headed wide at close range from a Brendan Knox corner. Sorrento were fast out of the blocks after the break as Thomas threaded the ball through to Love whose low shot had Hugo at full-stretch. Djuknaovic could have wrapped up the game in the 67th minute when found by Shepheard but his shot from 8-metres was instinctively saved by Young. Much of the Gulls attacking play stemmed from Thomas who, in the 76th minute, sent Boyle through for Hugo to spoil the opportunity. Neville thought he’d brought the team by finding the net a minute later but referee Troy Miller disallowed the youngsters’ effort for offside. With four minutes remaining Swan brought veteran defender Trevor Hatton off the bench for his final appearance in the clubs’ famous black and white stripes.

Goals: 0:1 Johnny Mirco (3.); 0:2 Giovanni Di Bartolo (8.); 1:2 Stuart Montgomery (42.); 2:2 Scott Bushby (62.)

Western Knights and Cockburn City saw out the regular season with a tense 2-2 draw at Nash Field. The visitors started like a house on fire and within 2 minutes had snatched the lead via a fantastic move in which Marko Aleksic switched play to the right where Johnny Mirco darted past three opponents before angling his shot between the goalkeeper and his near post. Just three more minutes elapsed when Adam Surjan sprinted down the right to play a low ball into a crowded 6-yard box where Giovanni De Bartolo somehow put the ball in the back of the net. Cockburn were unfortunate not to add a few more to their tally as they completely dominated the home team with some terrific exchanges and off the ball movement. It wasn’t until the 23rd minute that the Knights truly threatened through Paul Cooke whose cross was headed into the crossbar by Stuart Montgomery at close range. A foul on Andrija Jukic seven minutes later produced a home free-kick just outside the 18-yard box from where Montgomery drilled past the defensive wall and into the net to register the Knights 1,000th goal in top flight football. All of the momentum was with the Knights after the break as they continually pushed the visitors onto the defensive. Their persistence paid off in the 71st minute when Scott Bushby was allowed to advance out of midfield and unleash a blistering shot from 20-metres which gave debutant goalkeeper Dejan Aleksic no chance. A combination of resilient defending and a fantastic display by Aleksic prevented the Knights from increasing their margin. Montgomery was provided a great chance to steal a late winner when put through with only the ‘keeper to beat right but Aleskic rose to the occasion by blocking the initial shot as well as the strikers’ follow-up.

Goals: 0:1 Costa Socratous (56.); 1:1 Dale Wingell (Penalty, 69.); 2:1 Callum Roberts (82.)

Fremantle Spirit celebrated the end of a successful season by toppling high-flying Perth S.C. 2-1 in Sunday’s fixture at the WA Spanish Club. The game started pretty much as expected with Perth on top early and asserting much of the pressure. Matt Danskin and Todd Howarth caused the hosts more than a few problems with their pace down the flanks to keep the Fremantle defence on high alert. Brendan Ross was unlucky not to put Perth ahead with a spectacular bicycle kick which bounced to safety off the crossbar. It wasn’t until midway through the half that Fremantle hit their straps and began to carve out some chances of their own. In the best opening of the period, Callum Roberts out-paced the defence and made his way around goalkeeper Gareth Deeg but could only find the side netting from a narrow angle. There as a great deal of enterprise shown by both teams following the turn around but resilient defending kept genuine shots to a minimum. The deadlock was eventually broken when Todd Howarth’s cross was poorly dealt with by the home defence and Costas Socratous’ low shot was too hot for Steve Grant to handle. Disaster struck Perth only a few minutes later as Trent Kay was red carded for bringing Roberts down inside the 18-yard box, and Dale Wingell kept his cool to convert from the penalty spot and bring the teams level. Roberts was rewarded for an afternoon of hard graft by sneaking a low shot under Deeg with only ten minutes left on the clock. Perth threw everything into earning themselves a late point but it was Fremantle that went closest to adding to their tally through Jason Pottier whose shot was parried by Deeg onto the bar before bouncing away to safety.