Floreat tie with Balcatta to miss chance to go top
Report by Saxon Durrant
Floreat Athena coach Glen Grostate believes his side played their worst half of football all year as his side drew 2-2 with Balcatta on Saturday evening.
Coming into the match hot favourites against a Balcatta team looking to break a three game losing streak at E&D Litis Stadium, Athena started the brighter and looked dangerous until the moment of controversy in the eighth minute.
A header by Bobby Wilson seemed destined for the back of the net but was blocked seemingly by the hand of a Balcatta defender.
No penalty or foul was awarded and left fans and Floreat players furious, which was further added to when Balcatta went ahead in the 27th minute after a saved effort fell to Jonathan Corness who made no mistake from deep inside the box.
Their lead was short lived however, with constant aerial threat Bobby Wilson heading past Domenico Savoldelli to equalise for Floreat.
A fast-paced half followed, with tackles flying in as both teams tried to find a goal.
Balcatta’s Feisal Zaw forced a good save out of Floreat goalkeeper Jordan Barbas before both teams headed in for the break.
The second half saw Floreat push from the whistle, constantly attacking Balcatta until their breakthrough in the 53rd minute.
Captain Dean Evans found space in the area to slot home to complete the comeback and give Athena the lead for the first time.
Balcatta’s fast and direct counter attacking play looked to be fairly controlled by an impressive Athena defensive line, but one ball fell through to Balcatta’s top scorer Luccas Mello, who poked home to level things up with 13 minutes left to play.
While Balcatta had the most of the chances, the game finished 2-2, giving Balcatta coach Salv Todaro a point to take home against high flying Athena.
“We’ll be happy with one point, the boys have been giving us the same effort the last couple of weeks and it’s sort of been coming and I think it’s just desserts for them tonight,” Todaro said.
Grostate said the result felt like a loss with his side’s inability to take chances, with Athena paying the price for a poor first half.
“It’s disappointing because you feel you’ve got to be winning these games just to keep your head above water while you have no players, and the two points meant we could have gone top tonight,” Grostate said.
The result sees Floreat safely hold second, while Balcatta sits in the bottom half of the table with 8 points from as many games.
Floreat Athena 2 (Wilson 34min, Evans 53)
Balcatta FC 2 (Corness 27min, Mello 77)
Saturday, April 8, 2017
E&D Litis Stadium
Kick-Off: 6:00pm
Referee: Tom Dowle
Assistant Referees: Wayne Mutakiwa, Eamon McDonnell
Floreat Athena: 2. Shaun Timmins, 3. Clayton Amez, 5. Bobby Wilson, 6. Jesse Fuller, 8. Jonathan Stynes, 10. Kristopher Gate, 11. Dennis Galan (15. Christopher Saldaris 80), 12. Jackson Morgan, 13. Zelfy Nazary, 17. Dean Evans, 23. Jordan Barbas
Unused Substitutes: 1. Jason Saldaris, 4. Andrew Scaldaferro, 16. Juma Awaka, 20. Joe Tweats
Yellow Cards: nil
Red Cards: nil
Balcatta FC: 1. Domenico Savoldelli, 3. Justin Onek, 4. Callum O’Connell, 5. Kieron Stallard, 6. Jonathan Corness, 8. Patrick Sara, 9. Luccas Mello, 11. Feisal Zaw, 13. Daniel Hepworth (12. Kurt Kouakou 69), 18. Ben Meredith (23.Ismael Bangura 64 [19. Jaedon Ewen 80]), 20. Paddy Quinn
Unused Substitutes: 21. Luke Hutchinson, 10. Dino Topcagic
Yellow Cards: 3. Justin Onek 81, 5. Kieron Stallard 84, 6. Jonathan Corness 89, 8. Patrick Sara 74
Red Cards: nil
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