Floreat Athena are through to the third round in the Soccer Pools Cup after beating Mandurah City 2-1 at home on the E&D Litis Stadium on Saturday.

It was a hard fought win for the home team, who had to break down a decisive and compact City side.

The first half was influenced by bad passing, hard tackling and little open play. Floreat dominated possession and created the few chances that came.

But on 37 minutes, Mandurah took the lead against the run of play. Captain Andrew Brown won the ball on the half-way line and charged down the right wing, seeing off pressure from Athena’s Paul Vatistas.

Brown’s well-aimed cross found Phil O’Callaghan inside the penalty area, who showed composure to slot the ball in near the left post.

The second half started where the first ended, with Floreat continuing to dominate possession, but struggled to create chances. Mandurah were happy to protect their lead by staying deep and counter-attacking.

On 64 minutes, Floreat were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area after Mandurah’s goalkeeper Michael Green had handled the ball outside the area, John Migas stepped up and curled the ball beautifully in the upper left corner to equalise.

Floreat were fired up by the goal, starting to create some good chances, and they went in front on 77 minutes when Dean Apelgren dribbled his way past two Mandurah players on the left wing to find Garrin Collins just outside the penalty area, Collins took aim and coolly put the ball into the net.

The last ten minutes were tense for the home fans, with Mandurah coming very close to equalise, but Floreat stood firm to claim the win.

Floreat coach Michael Roki reflected on the result.

“I think we controlled a lot of the game today, but we just didn’t look like scoring, particularly in the first half.

“It was good to see the two goals in the second half, that’s what gave us the game, really.

“We’re happy to still be in the cup”, he said.

Teams
Floreat Athena – GK V . Vujacic, Madaschi, Apelgren, M. Vujacic (Raffael 79), Bachiller, Collins, Migas, Vatistas, Pavlovic, Kovacevic, Scott - Subs not used: Dunn, Mikulic, Contera

Mandurah City – GK Green, C. Currie, Bright, M. Currie (Crampton 78), K Brown, Pomfret, Wylie, McDarby (Matthews`58), McCulloch (Young 61), O’Callaghan, A. Brown - Subs not used: Bloor, Cuthbert

Referee – Mathew Cheeseman

Football West Reporter - Peder Qvale