Report by Colin Outhwaite

Stirling Lions warmed up for Tuesday’s Westfield FFA Cup clash with Hyundai A-League champions Brisbane Roar with a last-gasp victory away to ECU Joondalup.

The Lions looked to be heading for a draw before David Micevski struck in the 90th minute to seal a 2-1 win at the ECU Football Stadium on Saturday.

David Foster scored in the 33rd minute for ECU but Robert Petkov capitalised on a goal keeper fumble to level the scores before Micevski led the Lions to victory.

With a star-studded bench and the FFA Cup match at the WA Athletics Stadium coming up Stirling coach Gary Williams said it might have appeared they had one eye on Tuesday.

“Before the game it was still possible for us to finish fourth, so it was important we stayed focussed,” he said.

“I thought the first half was poor but I told them and got a good reaction in the second half.”

Sorrento sealed fourth spot with a 2-1 win over Armadale, so having missed out on the finals Stirling can now dedicate their full attention to the cup.

"The boys are really looking forward to Tuesday,” Williams said. “It’s the biggest game of their careers for a lot of them, and it's certainly the biggest game of my coaching career."

An uneventful first half was only highlighted by the first goal. Jake Benson-Cooper delivered a deep ball into the box for Jon Stynes to head over keeper Aleks Vrteski, and Foster helped the ball over the line.

At the other end keeper Andy Banks couldn't keep hold of Moses Kalau's powerful shot in the 54th minute and Petkov pounced to equalise for the visitors.

ECU had a spell around the hour mark but Vrteski did well to keep out Foster from Danny Dixon's pass across goal.

Foster's best chance came in the 65th minute as Stynes’ ball over the top put him through on goal, but his half volley fired wide.

ECU's defence did its best to deflect a barrage of shots, and Banks made up for his earlier mistake with some solid saves. But Micevski’s class shone through with a great strike from the edge of the area.

ECU captain Jon Higgins said they would have settled for a draw.

"Points aren’t an objective for us anymore so we took a gamble and they caught us on the break,” he said. “But to be fair they were dictating the game."

Higgins said the results have not gone their way this season but there are a lot of positives to carry over into next year.

"We've got some young players in the squad that have gained a lot of confidence from playing at this level, so next year we’ll have bigger aspirations."

They head to Subiaco next week where Higgins hopes to finish on a high.

"We still want to win but it's mainly about incorporating into our game what we practice in training, and playing how we want to play," he said.

ECU Joondalup 1 (Foster 33’)
Stirling 2 (Petkov 54’, Micevski 90’)
Saturday 16th August, 2014
Venue: ECU Joondalup Football Stadium
Attendance: approx. 150
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Adam Fielding
Assistant Referees: Josh Manella, Hayden Frost

ECU Joondalup: 1. Andy BANKS (gk), 2. Ryan LOWRY, 3. John HIGGINS (c), 5. Carl RODGERS, 6. Jon STYNES, 7. Henry DURR , 8. Joe SMITH, 9. David FOSTER (19. Stuart MONTGOMERY 58’), 10. Andy HIGGINS (12. Dejan SPASESKI 61’), 11. Danny DIXON (16. Daniel HEPWORTH 71’), 14. Jake BENSON-COOPER
Substitutes not used: 15. William BISSETT, 21. Jamie SERRA (rgk)
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil

Stirling Lions: 1. Aleks VRTESKI, 2. Rikki SMITH (5. Dean EVANS 64’), 3. Michael PUGLIESE, 4. Jovo PAVLOVIC, 6. Robert PETKOV, 7. Miki VUJACIC (13. Jack SALTER 79’), 8. Andy BROWN, 9. Moses KALAU, 10. David MICEVSKI, 11. Phil ARNOLD, 12. Ali GHOULAMI (14. Clayton ARNEZ 64’),
Substitutes not used:  24. Connor CAMPBELL (rgk), 15. Denis GALAN,
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil