Report by Bianca Niederberger

After a slow start, Perth geared up to dominate ECU Joondalup 4-0 at ECU Joondalup Football Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Mark Pritchard and Aden Da Luz each scored a brace in a contest which saw Perth outplay and outmaneuver the hosts in all areas of the game.

The first 25 minutes didn’t give away any signs of what was to come, as both teams battled for possession and neither asserted any real control over the game.

Perth coach Taki Nicolaidis said although it was never easy to face ECU at home, it was one of his team’s better performances this season. 

“We would have liked to have scored earlier on in the game than what we did today but it was good to get two goals before half time and then come out and consolidate our efforts in the second half,” he said.

“It was a complete 90 minute performance today, we kept possession and controlled the game – we never really looked to be under pressure.”

ECU did well to contain the Perth forwards for the most part, with Ryan Townsend and Charlie Comyn-Platt doing whatever they could to suppress Perth’s Ashley Rosindale and Friday Zico.

It was just the slightest fumble from Ryan Lowry on the wing in the 29th minute which allowed eager opportunist Zico to pounce. He won the ball and flicked it onto Rosindale who then turned and released a selfless and quick thinking ball into the path of Pritchard. With keeper Andy Banks distracted by Rosindale, Pritchard ran into the open goal to find the breakthrough for Perth.

Pritchard was gifted another by Rosindale 10 minutes later, when the nimble striker carried the ball all the way down the wing before cutting it back to Pritchard at the top of the box. He picked out the left corner and drilled it home, this combination now proving to further frustrate Banks.

Craig Simpson led his team from the back line and along with sidekicks Luka Njegich and Josh Wilkins, formed an impenetrable barrier for ECU.

Perth keeper Alex Dunn had an easy day at the office, with only a handful of balls making it anywhere near the net. 

With a big change required by ECU to make an impact on the game, they came out firing in the second half as captain Jon Higgins and Jake Benson-Cooper tried in vain to get their team on the board.

The task for the hosts looked insurmountable when Da Luz executed an excellent ball from 15 yards which snuck past several of his opponents and Banks and into the right hand corner of the net.

Perth had really started to dominate the game by now and ECU had no answers. It was simply salt to the wound when Da Luz struck again just before the full time whistle after a cross from Andreas Theodosiades found him on his own directly in front of goal.

“We defended really well today and just waited for our opportunities,” said Nicolaidis.

“We have to keep improving, keep our standards high and keep pushing and hopefully we’ll start to close that gap between us and Bayswater.”

ECU Joondalup 0
Perth 4 (Pritchard 29’, 38’, Da Luz 64’,88’)
Saturday 3rd May, 2014
ECU Arena
Attendance: approx. 220
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Tim Mihevc
Assistant Referees: Elliot Cirkovic, Zach Piccicacco

ECU Joondalup: 1. Andy BANKS, 2.Ryan LOWRY, 3. Jon HIGGINS, 4. Charlie COMYN-PLATT, 5. Ryan TOWNSEND, 6. Jon STYNES (11. Lee JONES 27’), 7. Dave CAINE, 8. Joe SMITH, 10. Danny DIXON,  13. Tommy AMPHLETT, 14. Jake BENSON-COOPER (12. Jack McMASTER 54’)

Substitutes not used: 9. David FOSTER, 15. Genaveo HUMAN, 20. Ramiro LESCANO
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Perth: 1. Alex DUNN, 2. Josh WILKINS, 4. Craig SIMPSON, 3. Luka NJEGICH, 20. James MAROCCHI, 15. Mark DONINGER, 6. Clarke KELTIE (22. Thomas SOUTHGATE 79’), 8. Aden DA LUZ, 14. Mark PRITCHARD, 9. Friday ZICO (19. Andreas THEODOSIADES 75’), 10. Ashley ROSINDALE (16. Nicholas AMBROGIO 72’)

Substitutes not used: C. BECSI, Domenic SAVOLDELLI
Yellow cards: Clarke KELTIE 74’
Red cards: Nil