Report by Tommy Doleman

Daryl Nicol (No.9) celebrates as he scores a hat-trick for Perth RedStar against Armadale. Photo by FotoEnzo

Floreat Athena will turn for home out in front in the NPLWA - Men’s competition after surviving an early scare to defeat Gwelup Croatia 4-1 at the Croatian Sporting Complex.

Athena moved three points clear of nearest rivals Stirling Macedonia, who crashed 3-0 at Cockburn City, while third-place Bayswater City are a point further back after they conceded a late equaliser at home to Inglewood United.

All three of the frontrunners have five games remaining, with Floreat hosting Bayswater next up in a fortnight's time in a game the latter can ill afford to lose.

Vas Vujacic’s Athena were pushed by a spirited first-half display by the hosts, which saw Gwelup hit the front when Oscar Barry’s corner was headed in via the post by Daniel Walsh, who netted his first goal for the club.

Floreat levelled on 27 minutes when Robert Petkov collected Bayley Brown-Montgomery’s pass and arrowed into the corner for a fifth goal in his past seven games.

Cyril Sharrock saved from Nick Ambrogio and Petkov in the shadows of half-time and that was a warning for the second period as the league leaders’ class shone through.

Super sub Laat Mathiang scored off the bench for the second time in three games via a deflection with 20 minutes left, and soon after the team’s leading scorer Brown-Montgomery made it eight for 2022 when firing across the goalkeeper.

In among that, Samuel Dweh went close to netting for Gwelup after doing all the hard in the area before putting wide of the post. Athena then wrapped it up with Ben Steele’s pinpoint header from Sean McManus’ cross rubber-stamping a fifth straight away win.

Their three-point cushion was confirmed thanks to Cockburn’s 3-0 home win over Stirling Macedonia, as Marko Jelicic’s side prepared for next week’s State Cup final against Armadale in fine fashion.

Justin Tang got the first on 13 minutes when his 20-yard free-kick deflected off the wall beyond a helpless James Bosdet.

Another Tang free-kick went under the wall, but this time was collected by the goalkeeper, while at the other end Hristijan Jankuloski headed straight at Ryan Barker.

Two goals in the final 17 minutes confirmed Cockburn's first win in five. Determined play led to Michael Scafetta striking a first goal for the club, and after another good save by Barker to deny Michael Domfeh, Ivan Skorich applied a finishing touch late on.

At Frank Drago Reserve, Alex Dunn saved a penalty and Manase Abandelwa scored a late equaliser as Inglewood extended their unbeaten run to six games in a 1-1 draw at Bayswater.

The hosts were unbeaten in six at home and got off to a flyer with the opener on five minutes. Sam Mitchinson’s cross was flicked on Ndumba Makeche and Gordan Smith nodded in from close range.

Dunn made several first half saves to keep Bayswater at bay, while in the second half Inglewood rallied with Nic Speca saving from Anthony Bafobusha, Harry Evans and Thiak Kuel.

They needed a big save from Dunn though, as he saved Makeche’s penalty low to his left with a firm hand. And nine minutes from time the visitors levelled when Abandelwa was left unmarked to score from Bafobusha’s corner.

Dropped points by Inglewood and sixth-placed Sorrento meant Perth RedStar’s 5-1 win at home to Armadale gave them control of the final top-four place, as Daryl Nicol starred again with a hat-trick.

Armadale went closest in the opening 25 minutes when Joel Sanderson’s acrobatic effort tested Riley Stephenson ahead of a massive week for the club.

But once RedStar got the first they were able to career away with the win and end a run of three straight losses. Ellis Healing got the first, volleying in Andy Higgins’ cross, and six minutes later it was 2-0 when Nicol scooted away and drove into the corner.

A third arrived on half-time after a beautifully worked team goal finished by Sam Riak. Gordon Perkins curled home early in the second half to give John O’Reilly’s side hope, but RedStar scored twice more to cap an emphatic scoreline.

Both came from Nicol who tapped in a 19th and then rounded the keeper to slot in a 20th of a sensational season as he chases his previous best total of 24 from 2018.

The defeat was a second straight 5-1 loss for Armadale, not the best preparation heading into an Australia Cup Round of 32 clash against Modbury Jets on Thursday and the State Cup final with Cockburn next Sunday

With Gwelup losing at Floreat, Balcatta claimed a potentially important point in their fight for survival in a 1-1 draw at Sorrento, whose top-four hopes are receding by the week.

Byungatae Ahn’s fourth of the season put Sorrento ahead on 18 minutes following a goalline scramble. But Balcatta levelled 13 minutes later when Adam Tong scored direct from a free-kick which Gulls keeper Patrick Hughes failed to deal with. This was Tong's second goal since arriving at Balcatta, both from set-pieces, and Glen Grostate’s side have closed the gap on second-bottom Gwelup to two points ahead of the sides' meeting at Grindleford Reserve this Saturday.

Finally, Perth Glory defeated Perth SC 2-0 in a game played at at E&D Litis Stadium to leapfrog their opponents in the table and put paid to any outside chance of a Top Four Cup push from the defending champions.

For Glory, it was their second win in a row, with Jayden Leader arriving from midfield to finish a flowing move on 32 minutes.

Adrian Sinagra made an excellent double save to deny Hasani Sinclair and Shubham Mokala, and those saves proved valuable when Joshua Anasmo finished Daniel Bennie’s pull-back from six yards.

Round 17 results: Bayswater City 1-1 Inglewood United, Cockburn City 3-0 Stirling Macedonia, Gwelup Croatia 1-4 Floreat Athena, Perth RedStar 5-1 Armadale, Perth SC 0-2 Perth Glory, Sorrento 1-1 Balcatta Etna.