Taki: Gwelup have to win - but so do Athena
Football West News
Hasani Sinclair scored twice in Gwelup's win over Floreat earlier this season. Photo by Tom McCarthy
It’s moving day in the NPLWA Men’s title battle on Saturday which, if results pan out, will leave four teams on seven points and one on six going into next week’s final round.
With the exception of Armadale, it is anyone’s to win as the five-match mini-league throws up a thrilling finale to the season.
Cockburn City currently sit top, with Floreat Athena a point behind. Then a further two points back are ECU Joondalup, Gwelup Croatia and Sorrento.
Sorrento travel to Armadale, who looked a different team with the return of talisman Angel Andres Rivera against Floreat last week. The Gulls fought back to take a point off Cockburn but one point from two home matches could come back to bite them.
ECU began the second phase with a thumping win over Armadale but, like Sorrento, have collected a single point in their last two games. This weekend they travel to Cockburn.
The other fixture in the top six is at the Croatian Sporting Complex between the sides who were first and second before the split.
Gwelup comfortably beat Floreat 3-0 when they met earlier this year, Hasani Sinclair scoring twice. However, it was Athena who regrouped to finish first after 11 rounds and Gwelup coach Taki Nicolaidis won’t read anything into their Round Five encounter.
“No, it’s been and gone. We had a good game that day and they didn’t have a good game,” he said. “There is a lot more at stake this week – we have to win but so do Athena.
“They have match winners all over the pitch – you don’t bank all those points in the first 11 games if you don’t have a good team.”
Nicolaidis is equally positive about his own side. However, the fact they have led in all three games since the split but won just one is an irritation.
He said: “I thought in the first half against ECU, we had by far the better chances. They had the bulk of possession but I think if we had scored second goal it would have been difficult for them to come back.
“It was a similar game to Cockburn - we didn’t score that second goal and they ended up coming back to win. Whereas with Sorrento, we did get the second goal and we didn’t look back and won 5-0.”
That big win at Percy Doyle Reserve could yet be decisive in the final count, as Nicolaidis emphasised.
“I’ve stressed to our team the importance of goal difference … we’d hate to lose the league or miss out on the top three because we scored one less than other teams.”
In the bottom six, Perth Glory can strengthen their hold on the final finals spot when they visit Balcatta. Glory have a point lead over Perth SC and Inglewood United despite last week’s goalless draw at Bayswater City.
Perth SC are away to Bayswater on Saturday, while Rockingham City’s final home match of a forgettable season is against Inglewood.
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