Report by Jayden Lihou

Photo by Jonny Warrington

 

Perth Soccer Club has leapfrogged Floreat Athena to move into second place on the PS4 NPLWA ladder after a 1-0 win over Armadale at Alfred Skeet Reserve on Saturday.

The only goal came early in the second half when a shot from Aleks Jovic was deflected off Armadale’s Jordan Pavett and into the back of the net.

Perth coach Ramon Falzon said his side played with their hearts on their sleeves to secure the win, which moves them just one point behind leaders Inglewood United.

“For us it was all about the result today, so this is a very important win, especially since Armadale are a hard side to beat,” he said.

“We created a lot of good chances today, kept it safe at the back and didn’t make any mistakes.

“The players know if we want to go back-to-back we need to have one of the best defensive records in the league, so it was crucial that we got a clean sheet today.”

Armadale had a chance to open the scoring in the 17^th minute when Billy Quinncroft laid the ball off to James Atkins inside the box.

Atkins let the ball roll past him to fool his marker, but Perth keeper Francis Soale was equal to his effort on goal.

Gustavo Catarcione came close to scoring 10 minutes later when Michael Craggs recovered to clear off the line, following a deflection off the goalkeeper.

The home side could have led at the break, but Soale denied Atkins again from volley after a probing pass from Nathan Costello.

Perth began the second period positively and almost found the breakthrough in the 52^nd minute when Catarcione flicked a back-heel into the path of Niccolo Sabbatini.

Sabbatini showed a nice piece of skill to get around the last defender and put himself one-on-one, but he was unable to get his shot past Craggs.

He didn’t have to wait long to redeem himself, though, after playing a perfectly weighted ball to Jovic minutes later.

This time, the deflected strike from Jovic was too much for Craggs to handle, and it landed in the back of the net to give Perth the lead.

Craggs kept his side in the match on 81 minutes when he denied Sabbatini’s chip with a fingertip save over the bar.

But his side was unable to fashion an equaliser and Perth went on to record an important win.

Despite the defeat, Armadale coach John O’Reilly said he was happy with how his players performed and in particular his goalkeeper Michael Craggs.

“We played very good football out there today, the players really gave it to Perth and put in a hard-fought battle,” he said.

“Michael (Craggs) is a very important part of the team, he has consistently put in good performances over the year and today was no exception.

“I said to the boys today if Perth were going to take points from us today they would have to wrench them from our hands, and unfortunately they just got over the line today and we didn’t.”

 

Armadale 0

Perth SC 1 (O.G. Pavett 57min)

Saturday July 15, 2017

Alfred Skeet Reserve

Kick-off: 3.00pm

Referee: Tom Dowle

Assistants: Peter Kaiser, Harry Bolan

 

Armadale: GK. Michael CRAGGS, 2. Dylan WHITE, 3. Jake SARDELIC, 4. Nathan COSTELLO (C), 8. Jordan PAVETT, 14. David ANNALL, 16. Billy QUINNCROFT, 17. James ATKINS, 19. Beau RAHIM, 20. Ali GHOLAMI, 25. Anthony SKORICH (9. Kyle KING 41’)

Substitutes not used: RGK. Alec RADONICH, 10. Ryan JAMES, 21. Charlie SIMPSON

Yellow Cards: Costello 75, Rahim 92

Red Cards: Nil

 

Perth SC: GK: Francis SOALE, 2. Alex SILLA, 5. Niccolo SABBATINI, 7. Aleks JOVIC (3. Andreas THEODOSIADES 66’), 8. Tom KING, 9. Gustavo CATARCIONE, 12. Jordan DE LEO, 15. Harley ORR, 16. Kieran COLWELL, 17. Frank FURFARO, 18. Lewis MILNE

Substitutes not used: RGK: Daniel PASSARELLI, 10. Nicholas AMBROGIO, 19. Roberto DEL BORRELLO, 20.Elliot TATTERSAL

 

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil