Report by Peter Simcox

Perth Soccer Club moved to third on the NPL WA table after a hard-fought 3-1 win against Floreat Athena at Dorrien Gardens on Sunday evening.

Hamza Hina gave the visitors an early lead. But the home side hit back with goals from Matthew Milenkovic, Rocco Pizzata and Paul Zimarino to seal the three points for Ramon Falzon’s side.

Perth assistant coach Marc Wingell said it was a well-deserved three points, especially after falling behind.

“To concede the goal was a bitter pill to swallow because I thought we had the better of the play up to then,” he said.

“But we fought on and were rewarded with two goals before half-time and both were quality finishes and it gave us a perfect lift before the break.

“Then we went on with it after half-time and Ramon and I were really pleased with the performance of the team tonight.”

English striker Richard Howles had added responsibility with top goalscorer Gustavo Catarcione out injured and he led the line well.

“I thought the boys were brilliant today, from the first whistle to the last, and we had worked really hard at training for tonight’s game and it paid off,” Howles said.

“We were disappointed to concede the opener but after we got our first goal I was convinced we would go and win it and we did.

“Yes, we missed Gustavo tonight, but the players that came in did a fantastic job which shows the depth we have in our squad.”

After soaking up early Perth pressure, Floreat hit the front on 18 minutes. Dean Evans’ free-kick was punched clear by Perth keeper Francis Solae but only to Hina, and the former Jordan youth international finished well.

Perth were having plenty of the ball but lacked the final pass. But as the half ended they started to find pockets of space behind the Floreat defence and were rewarded with the equaliser on 37 minutes.

Milenkovic started the move by racing forward and feeding Niccolo Sabatini on the left. He cut inside his marker and picked out Milenkovic again on the edge of the penalty area and he finished clinically, low past Jason Saldaris.

Five minutes later the home supporters were on their feet again when Perth hit the front. Floreat failed to clear Sabatini’s corner, the ball fell to Pizzata and he powered the ball home from 20 yards to send them in at half-time with the lead.

Both sides had great chances early in the second half. First Phil Arnold saw a header flash agonizingly wide for Floreat, before Athena keeper Saldaris stood tall to deny Zimarino after good hold-up play by Howles.

It was end-to-end football as both sides went on the offensive. Arnold saw another effort drift wide, before Howles was denied by a great stop from Saldaris.

But on 68 minutes Perth scored the decisive third. Young midfielder Kristian Santich poked the ball through to Zimarino, who finished low past the keeper.

Perth were finding holes in the Floreat backline and Nick Ambrogio and Zimarino both went close to adding a fourth late, but the damage had already been done and at the final whistle it was Perth celebrating the win.

Perth SC 3 (Milenkovic 37 mins, Pizzata 42, Zimarino 68)
Floreat Athena 1 (Hina 18)
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Dorrien Gardens
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: Tom Glavovic
Assistant referees: Walter Ciotti and Stephen Knight

Perth SC: GK Francis SOALE, 4 Adrian MADASCHI, 5 Niccolo SABATINI (10 Nicholas AMBROGIO 62), 6 Harley ORR, 11 Matthew MILENKOVIC, 12 Jordan DE LEO, 13 Rocco PIZZATA, 14 Kristian SANTICH, 16 Kieran COLWELL, 18 Richard HOWLES, 20 Paul ZIMARINO
Substitutes not used: RGK Malek KUC, 2 Alex SILLA, 19 Ali NAZARY, 21 Adam CARLINO
Yellow cards: Orr 26, Madaschi 86

Floreat Athena: GK Jason SALDARIS, 2 Marco SANTA LUCIA, 4 Andrew SCALDAFERRO (12 James OWEN 77), 5 Jamie STREET, 6 Jessie FULLER, 10 Calvin WHITNEY, 13 Hamza HINA 14 Ludovic BOI (21 Keylun POLLARD 71), 15 Chris SALDARIS, 17 Dean EVANS, 18 Philip ARNOLD (11 Dennis GALAN 68)
Substitutes not used: RGK Jordan BARBAS, 16 Declan HUDSON
Yellow cards: Evans 58, Galan 78, Chris Saldaris 93