Perth Glory starlet Ndumba Makeche grabbed the match ball and all the headlines with his five-goal haul in a thoroughly dominating performance by the National Training Centre at Alfred Skeet Reserve.

Since joining the NTC three weeks ago, Makeche now has nine goals in four matches and he was a clear man of the match in the 6-2 thumping of Armadale.

His coach John Gibson has seen improvements in the young striker on and off the pitch.

“He’s grown, he’s taken on some really good qualities, and he’s developed as a person,” Gibson said.

“We’ve got a fairly high opinion of Ndumba and he’s come into our environment and he’s just actually been magnificent.”

Billy Quinncroft had given Armadale the lead when they scored against the run of play despite the NTC having the lion’s share of possession and chances.

The NTC have found it difficult to turn possession into goals in recent weeks and it felt like a case of déjà vu during the early moments.

But in Makeche, the NTC have a real talisman capable of finishing off chances.

After slotting home an equaliser with minimum fuss, Makeche raced onto Alex Sulevski’s perfectly weighted through ball before dinking over the onrushing Cyril Sharrock to give the youngsters the lead before half time.

“It been a while since I’ve done that (chipped the keeper),” Makeche said.

“To be fair I thought it was going to go over the bar but luckily enough it dipped into the net.”

Armadale coach Lee Bamber’s half time team talk did nothing to spur his side as they conceded just six seconds into the second half.

The tireless Darcy Cosgrove won the ball deep in Armadale’s defensive third before laying off to Makeche to complete his hat-trick.

A visibly perturbed Bamber bemoaned his side’s injuries and called for players to raise their game.

“It’s just disappointing,” Bamber said.

“Too many players just didn’t turn up today. (There were) too many individual errors, not enough heart, not enough pride and not enough passion.

“We can’t get our best side on the park at the moment. We’ve got too many injuries but the boys who are getting their opportunities are not taking it at the moment.”

Makeche grabbed his fourth and fifth following great set-up play from Bor Bor Sambini and Jacob Collard.

Sambini managed to put the icing on the cake when he took his opportunity with aplomb to make the score 6-1 with a few minute remaining.

Armadale’s Mitchell Castrill then slammed home from the penalty spot late into injury time with virtually the last kick of the game.

John Gibson felt the score line was just rewards for the work his young side have been putting in.

“I thought we were pretty good today, we didn’t do too many silly things,” he said.

“We actually kept the ball really, really well.

“We tinkered with a few things during the week and that seemed to work pretty well.

“Credit to the boys, it’s slightly overdue for them and credit to them, they work ever so hard and we put them under a fair bit of stress!”

Armadale Soccer Club 2 (Quinncroft 16’, Castrill 90+2’)
Football West NTC 6 (Makeche 22’ 27’ 26’ 77’ 80’, Sambini 88’)
Saturday, June 1
Alfred Skeet Reserve, Armadale
Kick off: 3pm
Crowd: Approx 150

Armadale: 1. Cyril SHARROCK, 15. Sean NICHOLLS, 4. Andy TODD, 5. Nathan COSTELLO, 10. Rhys LOXLEY, 9. Billy QUINNCROFT, 11. Trevor LAURE (13. Jason POTTIER 66’), 2. Daniel RICHMAN, 7. Ian MAGUIRE, 8. Llewellyn BAKE (16. Jack BAMBER 66’), 3. Jackson BEALEY (14. Mitchell CASTRILLI 45’)

Substitutes not used: RGK. Ellis HAWKSWORTH, 12. Brandon CATCHPOLE
Yellow Cards: Billy Quinncroft 87’
Red Cards: Nil

FW NTC: GK. Jordan FRANKEN, 2. Storm ROUX (13. Kieran COLWELL 85’), 3. Jeremy TSHONGO, 4. Alex SULEVSKI , 5. Ali Gholami, 6. Jacob COLLARD, 7. Darcy COSSGROVE, 10. Sahr MUSA, 9. Ndumba MAKECHE (17. Matt MCROBERTS 83’), 8. Lawrence SHURUMA (14. Boima BALLAH 88’), 11. Bor Bor SAMBINI

Substitutes not used: 15. Calvin Whitney, Ryan Parker
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil