Report by Blayne Treadgold

Photo by FotoEnzo

A superb performance by Floreat captain Dean Evans, including a second-half brace, saw Floreat Athena come from a goal behind to thrash Balcatta 5-1 in a crucial encounter on Saturday afternoon.

Backed by experienced winger Ludovic Boi, Evans seemed to have a hand in just about everything as Athena piled on four second half goals to run over the top of a hapless Balcatta, who are now in the bottom three.

A humble Evans praised the performance of his team-mates.

“I think we all put in a shift today, to be honest, it wasn’t just our forwards ... the back-four held their own and that’s what we needed, especially after the loss to Gwelup (in the FFA Cup),” Evans said.

“It’s been a tough year so far for us, it’ll be a good morale booster ... hopefully it can kick-start our year.”

“We’re not writing off the top four if we can string some wins together, that’s the aim for us now. We’ve started poorly but hopefully we can kick-on with it."

Yet it was Balcatta who broke the deadlock on 37 minutes as Hayden Stevens struck from the penalty spot after referee Steven Gregory spotted Chris Saldaris handle the ball inside the box.

Stevens made no mistake, thumping the ball into the left side of the net and past Floreat keeper Jason Saldaris.

Minutes later, new Floreat recruit Robert Petkov equalised following an Evans corner with Balcatta failing to clear their lines. Petkov pounced on the loose ball to belt the ball home and see the players go to half time locked at 1-1.

Athena picked up where they left off after the break as Ludovic Boi put Floreat in front. Balcatta keeper Kyle McDonald came scrambling off his line to deal with a high ball but only punched the ball as far as Boi who belted it back past him to send Athena into the lead.

Evans made it three for Athena when his 75th-minute strike left McDonald stranded with nothing left to do but watch it sail past.

Four minutes later Evans completed his brace with Balcatta capitulating defensively after another goalmouth scrap in which they failed to clear.

It was then Hamza Hina’s turn to get among the action as Floreat put the cherry on the cake following some well worked combination play from the Floreat attack.

Hamza’s goal completed the rout and left Balcatta head coach Goran Stajic disappointed by the result.

“We controlled it for long periods but it’s been the story of the season at times, we seem to have five minutes of madness,” he said.

“We’ll have to keep working harder, and maybe change a few things up for the next week ... we know we’re not far off.

“It was unfortunate today that some of our chances didn’t go in ... they just had a bit too much class up front."

Balcatta 1 (Stevens pen 37min)
Floreat Athena 5 (Petkov 43, Boi 54, Evans 75, 80, Hina 85)
Grindleford Reserve
Saturday, June 2
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Steven Gregory
Assistant referees: Frank Laval, Sailota Phiri

Balcatta: 25. Kyle McDONALD (GK) 2. Joseph MARINO, 3. Hayden STEVENS, 4. Calum O’CONNELL,
7. Asher NELSON (19. Ben PELLIZARI 75) 8. Carmelo GIUFFRE, 9. Alex WILD (23. Lawrence SHURAMA 60)
10. Jonathan CORNESS, 15. Adriano JELENOVIC, 18. Robert DEL BORRELLO, 20. Shubham MAKELA (21. Amos GAMA 68)
Substitutes not used: 1. Dominico SAVOLDELLI, 5. Tom PELLIZZARI
Yellow cards: Corness 66
Red cards: Nil

Floreat Athena: 1. Jason SALDARIS, 2. Marco SANTA LUCIA, , 6. Jessie FULLER, 8. Jonothan STYNES (13. Hamza HINA 77’) 9. Robert PETKOV (33. Philip ARNOLD 58’) 10. Calvin WHITNEY, 11. Dennis GALAN, 14. Ludovic BOI, 15. Chris SALDARIS, 16 Ryan MALTON (4. Andrew SCALDAFERRO 79’) 17. Dean EVANS
Substitutes not used: 12. Ahadi ABANDELWA, 20. Keylun POLLARD 23. Jordan BARBAS
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil