Report by Blayne Treadgold

 

A late penalty saw Cockburn come from 2-1 behind to share the spoils with Perth SC on Saturday afternoon at Dalmatinac Park.

In an interesting encounter which saw the momentum shift countless times throughout the match, it was a penalty shout for hand ball against Perth’s Matthew Milenkovic which would ultimately decide the outcome.

Despite finding themselves 2-1 behind at half time, it was Cockburn with the bulk of the chances in a fast paced first 45 minutes.

New City recruit Anthony Skorich opened the scoring inside 10 minutes for City after a defensive mix up, Skorich pouncing on the loose ball and calmly finishing past Perth keeper, Francis Soale.

Cockburn began to dominate and it would be down to Soale who produced a big double-save midway through the half to keep Perth within touching distance.

However, Skorich’s opener was soon cancelled out by Perth’s Paul Zimarino with some beautiful combination play in the lead up, Zimarino buried his chance to find a leveler for Azzurri.

Perth went ahead through Niccolo Sabatini just before the break as he rose high to head the ball home and see Perth enter the sheds with a slender advantage.

With several momentum changes in the second half, as both sides tussled for the result, it would be Daniel Robinson to step up for the spotkick for Cockburn and snatch the late point for Scott Miller’s side.

“It was a weird half time talk because it was probably the best we’ve played in a first half… But we went in 2-1 down,” Miller said.

“It shows how much we have improved, but it also shows what a good team Perth are…. Two chances, two goals.”

“First half we possibly could have had three or four…. The result is probably what both teams deserved because both sides gave it a good crack today,” he said.

Perth coach Ramon Falzon was content with a share of the spoils.

“It’s not a bad place to come away from with a point, but I was very disappointed with our first half.”

“We made too many mistakes, too many unforced errors so we were very lucky to be 2-1 in front at half time,” Falzon said.

“In the first half we didn’t execute our original plan…. It was disappointing that we wasted the first 45 mins.”

“We lifted in the second half and Two goals each was probably a fair result,” he said.

Cockburn City 2 (Skorich 8min, Robinson 85’ Pen)

Perth SC 2 (Zimarino 24min, Sabatini 42)

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Dalmatinac Park

Kick-off: 3pm

Cockburn City: 1. Luke RADONICH, 4. Euen GRANT, 5. Kieron STALLARD, 6. Reuben TRISTAO, 7. Lucas MELLO (10. Daniel ARAYA 88’) 8. Cameron EDWARDS, 11. Harry O’BRIEN, 15. Daniel SANTICH (18. Aden DA LUZ 67’) 16. Daniel ROBINSON, 17. Jesse LAZZARO, 19. Anthony SKORICH (12. Ryan PRATT 81’)

Substitutes not used: 2. Chris THACKRAY, 23. Ryan BARKER

Yellow cards: 5. Kieron STALLARD, 17. Jesse LAZZARO, 6. Reuben TRISTAO, 4. Euen GRANT

Red cards: Nil

Perth SC: 1. Francis SOALE, 4. Adrian MADASCHI, 5. Niccolo SABATINI, 6. Harley ORR, 9. Gustavo CATERCIONE,
11. Matthew MILENKOVIC, 12. Jordan DE LEO, 14. Kristan SANTICH (3. Andreas THEODOSIADES 70’) 16. Kieran COLWELL, 18. Richard HOWLES, 20. Paul ZIMARINO (7. Aleksander JOVIC 84’)

Substitutes not used: 2. Alex SILLA, 10. Nicholas AMBROGIO

23. Daniel PASSERILLI
Yellow cards: 14. Kristan SANTICH
Red cards: Nil