Report by Tommy Doleman

Chris Jackson, right, has returned to goalscoring form this season. Photo by FotoEnzo

A fixture between leaders Floreat Athena and fifth-placed Sorrento with permutations for the title race and Top Four Cup headlines Round 20 of the NPLWA - Men’s competition.

Leaders Athena know wins in their final three league matches will break a title drought which stretches back to 2007.

But there is no room for error with in-form Perth RedStar and Stirling Macedonia just a point behind.

Sorrento, meanwhile, have designs on reaching the post-season for the second straight year. They are chasing Bayswater who are two points clear in fourth spot but have played a game extra.

Trevor Morgan’s side were top after eight rounds but two wins from nine in the league followed, which threatened to derail ambitions of extending their campaign beyond Round 22. However, back-to-back away victories against Inglewood United and Perth Glory have been the tonic for the Gulls to recapture some form, and striker Chris Jackson says the turnaround has provided the team with a lift.

“It’s given us all a bit of a boost,” he said.

“We were in a good position at one point and in the top four with points on the board. But injuries and a few people leaving the club left us a little thin on numbers. The younger guys have come up and done well, so there’s no real downside for us and it’s been an okay season overall.

“We know the next four games are going to be tough, we needed to get a couple of wins on the board and that’s what we’ve done.

“It’s a good group of guys who stick together, whether we’re winning or losing. The mood has been good, we’re a team that looks after each other and is resilient, and it’s good to get back to winning games.”

Jackson is a former NPL Golden Boot winner from his first season here with Armadale in 2018. That season he helped Army lift the State Cup, where his two goals against Gwelup in the final won him the Stan Lazaridis Medal.

After returning home to England for a year, Jackson returned for the Covid-interrupted 2020 campaign. Work commitments and injuries have also been factors in a disrupted couple of years.

But the striker has shown signs of rediscovering his best form in 2022 with 18 goals in all competitions, partnering with three-time NPLWA top scorer Gustavo Marulanda.

“Coming back from injury was tough, but it’s good to string a run of games together now and start kicking on again,” he said.

“Covid halfway through this season perhaps set me back a little bit, but I seem to have come through that and now I’m getting on the scoresheet and starting to play well again.

“It’s always good to play for a club who plays in a style you want to be involved in, otherwise you can sometimes be isolated and frustrated. At times, I am when we don’t move the ball quickly, but it’s good to be somewhere where a club wants to try and get the best out of you.

“Gus is a great guy, both on and off the field. Sometimes you look at what he does and you think ‘how has he managed to do that?’. He’s 30-odd years old, he’s still scoring goals, teaching the young players how to play football and leading well.”

With the top three sides still to play on the run home, Sorrento will likely have a say in the destiny of this season’s title race. Jackson acknowledges the tough task ahead for the Gulls coming up but says the focus at Percy Doyle Reserve is purely on themselves.

“It’s a game at a time for us really, but we know we’ve probably got to win at least three out of the four remaining matches to have a chance of making the top four,” he said.

“In the past, we’ve shown we can take points off the big teams, but unfortunately this season we haven’t done that as much yet. I’d like to think in the next few weeks we are good enough though and we can pinch some points in this final stretch.

“Those teams are going to need wins as much as we do. For us, it’s in our hands to try and stop that, and we want to catch Bayswater and get in that top four. We’re starting to get our strongest possible squad back which is available to us, and hopefully we can show how we want to play, do it well and finish with a few more wins.”

RedStar will look to capitalise on any slip-up from the leaders when they face Perth Glory at Crazy Domains Stadium. Callum Salmon’s side have won four in a row thanks in part to a red-hot Daryl Nicol who has scored 24 times this season, while Glory coach Kenny Lowe will come up against the side he began 2022 with.

Stirling are also lurking and will aim to build on their run of five wins in six outings at home to Inglewood United. Defeats to Sorrento and Athena in the past fortnight have left Inglewood facing an uphill task to reach finals.

A three-game winless run has seen Bayswater slip out of title contention, so attention now turns to holding off Sorrento and securing fourth place when they to go Armadale. John O’Reilly’s side are mid-table but will have a say on matters above given they finish with games against three of the top six sides.

At the bottom, Gwelup Croatia travel to Perth SC in search of three points to stay out of the relegation zone. Last week’s 2-2 draw with Armadale means they are clear of bottom side Balcatta Etna on goal difference ahead of next week’s massive fixture between the pair. For now, they will have to contain Hasani Sinclair, who scored a hat-trick against Cockburn City last week.

Hoping to leapfrog Gwelup are Balcatta, who returned to the bottom last week following their heavy loss against RedStar. They come up against State Cup winners Cockburn, who despite sitting safe in 10th have proven capable of beating anyone on their day.

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- Perth SC played a friendly in midweek against the Perth Glory A-League squad at Dorrien Gardens. This was Glory's first pre-season match ahead of the 2022-23 season and they ran out 4-1 winners. Sam Cook scored Perth’ SCs goal from the penalty spot.

Round 20 fixtures (3pm unless stated): Armadale v Bayswater City, Balcatta Etna v Cockburn City, Floreat Athena v Sorrento, Perth Glory v Perth RedStar, Perth SC v Gwelup Croatia (5pm), Stirling Macedonia v Inglewood United.