Report by Tommy Doleman

Harry O'Brien celebrates after putting Cockburn ahead at Sorrento in the Australia Cup. Photo by FotoEnzo

Cockburn City look to cap a magnificent week when they travel to Bayswater City in Round 14 of the NPLWA - Men’s competition.

The Cockerels moved 12 points clear of the relegation zone on Saturday with a 1-0 victory at Gwelup Croatia, which was their first league win on the road in 2022.

They backed it up on Tuesday with a 3-1 extra-time win over Sorrento to book their second appearance in the Australia Cup Round of 32, as well as a State Cup Final against Armadale on Sunday July 24.

Substitutes Harry O’Brien and Ivan Skorich netted key goals after the 90 after Tim Hill had cancelled out Daniel Santich’s first-half opener. O’Brien’s goal in particular was a tremendous strike from outside the area and he was understandably overjoyed for the club.

“To make it into the cup final and the Round of 32 is unreal. We’ve done it five or six years ago but to do it again is brilliant. The boys put in an amazing shift and a massive effort, and this is reward for all that hard work,” the former Perth Glory academy player said.

“Any game that goes to extra-time is a battle, especially when you’re playing Sorrento away. They turned it into a physical game but the boys battled hard, threw their bodies at everything, and as you heard in the change room the relief and the celebrations were brilliant.

“We know what Sorrento are about. They want to try and get it to their front two quickly and if we can cut the supply then you win half the battle. We’ve been working on this 3-5-2 with the wing backs occasionally throughout the season and it worked for us and we got it spot on.

“When Kenel (Mouithys) cut it back, I had one thing on my mind and that was to hit it as sweet as possible. I might not hit another one like that this season, but as soon as it came off my boot I knew it was heading for the top corner. It’s just one of those ones where sometimes it comes off, other nights it skies over into the trees.”

The Cockerels have had three wins and four draws from their first 12 matches. They have now taken the scalps of the league’s top two sides RedStar and Floreat, as well as Sorrento and Stirling Macedonia in the Australia Cup.

Third-place Bayswater are next in line and O’Brien hopes Cockburn can deliver those big performances on a more regular basis.

“We’ve been playing well over the last month or two but in some of the games we played we probably didn’t get what we deserved,” he said.

“In those bigger games, it’s as if we step up another level and that extra effort in defending seems to come alive for us.

“When you’re down the bottom there’s always that creeping feeling that you could get drawn into a relegation battle, but a win away and a clean sheet last week really lifted our confidence going into this semi-final.”

The five-time State Cup winners last lifted the trophy in 1995, as Spearwood Dalmatinac, and O’Brien expects to see extra spark on the training track in the weeks ahead.

“We’ve just got to keep our heads down and work hard and not get too carried away. Every time we go out on the pitch now, it’s got to be about trying to continue this form because the cup final and Round of 32 will be here before we know it,” he said.

“We were very disappointed to lose in the final in 2016 and this is another opportunity to win some silverware. Any game against Armadale, our local rivals, is always a tasty game so we’ll look forward to it and hopefully go one better this time around.

“In terms of the Australia Cup, I think we’ve got to want a trip over east, don’t we? A few nights with the boys and a game of football to go with it would be brilliant. We’ve been there before. It was a good trip and it’s a great group of lads we’ve got here. So that would be perfect, but even if it’s an A-League side or anyone else at home, we’ll go out there all guns blazing.”

Bayswater, meanwhile, have shipped eight goals in their last two matches, including a 4-1 reverse at Armadale in the Australia Cup on Tuesday. John O’Reilly’s Armadale are one of the form teams of the league and are on a high after that midweek win, having celebrated their 50th anniversary in fine fashion on the Saturday before.

This week they host Perth SC, who are coming off the back of a 3-0 win over Stirling which was their second victory in the last three.

At the top of the league, leaders Perth RedStar have won six of their last seven to sit a point clear with a game in hand. After hammering Bayswater 4-0 last week they travel to Inglewood United, who are starting to motor towards the top four with three wins from their last four.

Second-place Floreat Athena meet Perth Glory at E&D Litis Stadium looking to keep pace, having won four of their past five. Glory have only won once in six outings, scoring only three times in those matches, but a seven-point gap to fourth place is still retrievable should they find their shooting boots soon.

At the bottom Balcatta go to out-of-form Stirling Macedonia, who are winless in four, seeking to build on a performance that saw them a suffer a stoppage-time defeat to Floreat last time.

Gwelup, meanwhile, are hoping to pull further clear of Glen Grostate’s team at home when they host Sorrento, who must quickly move on from their Australia Cup disappointment having slipped from first to fifth in the past five weeks.

Round 14 fixtures

Saturday (3pm unless stated): Armadale v Perth SC, Bayswater City v Cockburn City, Floreat Athena v Perth Glory, Gwelup Croatia v Sorrento, Inglewood United v Perth RedStar, Stirling Macedonia v Balcatta Etna (5pm).