Report by Kane Sutton

Pictured: Kevin Moon. Photo: Peter Simcox

ECU Joondalup are knocking on the door of the top four after a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Balcatta at Grindleford Reserve on Saturday.

Dale McCulloch’s side now sit just three points behind fourth-placed Floreat Athena.

Joondalup kicked away in the second half after a tight and goalless first 45 minutes.

Balcatta’s Marc Anthony conceded Joondalup’s attacking menace was too much for his defence.

“I think we’re fit enough, but I’m not going to hide away from anything,” Anthony said. “I think they had better quality than us, particularly in that final third.

“A few lads up front proved to be a real handful throughout the game. (In the) first half we played well but they’re always dangerous – they’re strong all over the park.

“We’ve been poor the last few weeks and we can’t get out of it. A lot of hard work and the frame of mind needs to change. The motivation’s there but at the end of the day, they’re young kids, they should be motivated to play football every day.”

Daryl Nicol and Gordon Smith were particularly dangerous early for ECU, with the former consistently creating scoring opportunities for the latter.

A first-half opportunity from Smith was parried by goalkeeper Clint Davies to the feet of Tommy Amphlett, whose shot was cleared off the line by a frantic Balcatta defence.

While the home team showed resilience in the first half, Joondalup were rewarded for their consistent pressure early in the second half when Nicol’s cross was finished by Smith in the 57th minute.

Just 10 minutes later, Shane Pickering doubled Joondalup’s lead after a parried effort fell to his feet.

Kevin Moon sealed the win with a shot from outside the box that was helped by a deflection.

McCulloch was pleased with the result after a disappointing opening period.

“We were poor in the first half,” he said. “Although we were probably the better side, we weren’t playing to our potential.

“We worked on a few tweaks within the system and it paid off with the three goals, so we’re happy to get the three points.”

Now, the pressure is on the team to push on and challenge for The West Australian Top Four Cup.

“It’s all about the three points,” he said. “We’re here to keep winning. We need to get into that top four. People are beating everyone, so we just want go in next week and get the job done again.”

Balcatta 0
ECU Joondalup 3 (Smith 57’, Pickering 68’, Moon 88’)
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Grindleford Reserve
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Stephen Gregory
Assistant Referees: Brendan Skinner, Jake Friend

Balcatta: 1. Clint DAVIES, 2. Hanafi GHAZALI, 3. Keiron STALLARD, 5. Conor KAVANAGH, 6. John CORNESS, (7. James SAMMUT), (9. Gomo DUKULY), 10. Zelfy NAZARY, 12. Eamon MCNELIS, (13. Cameron TEECE), 17. Kieran COLWELL, 18. Daniel MOSS, 19. Alan CARROLL, 22. Scott NEWLAND
Substitutes not used: 4. Alexsander SULESKI, 21. Kyle MCDONALD
Yellow cards: 6. John CORNESS 77’
Red cards: Nil

ECU Joondalup: 2. Ryan LOWRY, 3. Rikki SMITH, 4. Stephen MCGARRY, 5. Andy HIGGINS, 6. Shane PICKERING (68’), (8. Oliver ANNIS), 9. Daryl NICOL, 10. Gordon SMITH (57’), (11. Cian HIRRELL), 13. Tommy AMPHLETT, 17. Kevin MOON (88’), 18. Henry DURR, 20. Lewis ITALIANO
Substitutes not used: 1. Todd HOYLE, 7. Keylun POLLARD, 19. Paddy DOYLE
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil