Athena blow Glory away
Report by Kelechi Osunwa
Floreat Athena put in a clinical performance in blustery conditions to run out 6-0 winners against Perth Glory, the team they have now replaced in second place in the table.
Saturday’s National Premier Leagues WA Round 12 fixture at E&D Litis Stadium was played in wet and windy conditions and Floreat adapted much better than their top four rivals.
Three of the goals came from set-pieces while there was a slew of chances off the back of Glory errors around their penalty area.
Athena took the lead when Nicolas Speca parried a Chris Saldaris header right into the path of Jonathan Stynes.
Henry Hore and Gomo Dukuly looked lively for the visitors early on but couldn’t really create sustained pressure on Jason Saldaris’ goal.
Floreat got the second just before half-time when Jesse Fuller rose highest to head in Dean Evans’ driven corner on the back of an sustained aerial bombardment.
With the rain hurling down, Floreat made it 3-0 from another Evans corner when Nicholas Ambrogio nodded home to effectively decide the game as a contest.
Substitute Tyler Holden made it 4-0 when he ghosted in at the far post to lash home an Ambrogio miss-hit and Chris Saldaris added the fifth shortly after when Dennis Galan found him at the near post after another whipped in corner by Evans.
With the game sputtering to a close, Ambrogio claimed his second when he volleyed home Holden’s cross to send Floreat clear in second place.
Star player: Dean Evans (Floreat Athena)
Perth Glory 0
Foreat Athena 6 (Styne 9min, Fuller 44, Ambrogio 72 90+3, Holden 78, Chris Saldaris 85)
Saturday, June 8
E&D Litis Stadium,
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Steven Gregory
Assistant referees: Aaron Softley, Liam Barclay
Perth Glory: 1. Nicolas SPECA, 7. Ethan BROOKS, 9. Gomo DUKULYy, 8. Henry HORE, 4. Luca BODNAR (22. Alessandro CIRCALI 45), 6. Josh SAMSON, 5. Nicholas WALSH, 2. Zayd FARAH, 10. Trent OSTLER, 11. Gabriel POPOVIC (15. Ciran BRAMWELL 57), 3. Joshua RAWLINS
Substitutes not used: (RGK) 26. Jacob RANGE, 17. Jack LEECH, 12 Jordan ABRAHAMS
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
Floreat Athena: 1. Jason SALDARIS 2. Marco SANTALUCIA, 6. Jesse FULLER, 8. Jonathan STYNES (3. Tristian COLLI 70), 9. Robert PETKOV, 15. Christopher SALDARIS, 17. Dean EVANS, 18. Phillip ARNOLD (33. Tyler HOLDEN 58), 10. Nicholas AMBROGIO, 11. Dennis GALAN, 16. Ryan MALTON
Substitutes not used: (RGK) 23. Jordan BARBAS, 31. Jacob STUBBERFIELD, 4. Adrian MADASCHI
Yellow card: Chris Saldaris 54
Red cards: Nil
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.