Armadale, Cockburn hit Australia Cup jackpot

Armadale and Cockburn City will represent WA in the national Round of 32 stage of the Australia Cup following Tuesday night's WA preliminary semi-finals.

The two sides will also contest the 2022 State Cup final on Sunday 24 July.

Armadale earned themselves a potential crack at an A-Leagues Men side with a 4-1 victory over Bayswater City.

Cockburn put themselves in the same position by winning 3-1 away to Sorrento after extra-time.

At Alfred Skeet Reserve, an early goal from Armadale's Tarek Atta was cancelled out before the break thanks to the predatory instincts of Gordon Smith. But that was as good as it got for Baysie, who had no answer to Armadale's second-half display.

Pieter Jacobsz nodded Armadale back in front, then Baysie were reduced to 10 men as Jason Mirco collected a second yellow card.

Armadale took full advantage with Angel Andres Rivera slotting home a penalty, before Gordon Perkins added the finishing touch in stoppage time.

Now not only do Armadale have the another possible trip over east in the offing - they went to Cairns in this competition four years ago - but they will also play in the State Cup final against Cockburn next month.

That should be a special game in particular for Armadale defender Nathan Costello, who missed the club's 2018 State Cup final win over Gwelup Croatia because of a pre-planned holiday.

Cockburn advanced to the Round of 32 and a place in the State Cup final after coming out on top in a highly entertaining Preliminary semi-final at Sorrento.

The Cockerels were worth their half-time lead, given to them when Daniel Santich finished some smart interplay.

But Sorrento came out a different side after the break and deservedly levelled through Tim Hill. They then put the Cockburn goal under heavy pressure, but found City keeper Michael Craggs in top form and the tie went into extra-time.

And it was the visitors who took their chance with goals early in both halves of the extra period.

First Harry O'Brien produced a fantastic finish from the edge of the box to restore Cockburn's lead. Then another substitute, Ivan Skorich, punished an underhit back-pass to set up a State Cup final clash against Armadale.

 

The Australia Cup Round of 32 Live Draw will be conducted on Wednesday, 29 June 2022 at 5.30pm WST and broadcast LIVE on 10 Play plus streamed via official Australia Cup Facebook and My Football YouTube accounts.

Australia Cup 2022 Round of 32 Live Draw

Date: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Time: 7:30pm AEST
How to watch: LIVE on 10 Play, Australia Cup Facebook & My Football YouTube
How to follow: Follow Australia Cup Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
How to interact: #AustraliaCup #MagicOfTheCup

Final 32 Teams

Qualifying matches are still being contested this week and next week in Northern NSW, Queensland, and South Australia to determine the final 32 teams.

The teams who have so far qualified for the Round of 32 are listed below (in no particular order), and include Final Rounds debuts for Brisbane City FC, Mindil Aces FC, Monaro Panthers, NWS Spirit FC, and Wollongong United.

Melbourne City	Melbourne Victory	Western United	Adelaide United
Central Coast Mariners	Wellington Phoenix	Macarthur FC	Sydney FC
Newcastle Jets	Brisbane Roar	Monaro Panthers (ACT)	Oakleigh Cannons (VIC)
Green Gully (VIC)	Heidelberg United (VIC)	Avondale FC (VIC)	Bentleigh Greens (VIC)
Devonport Strikers (TAS)	Mindil Aces FC (NT)	Wollongong United (NSW)	Sydney United FC (NSW)
NWS Spirit FC (NSW)	Bonnyrigg White Eagles (NSW)	Brisbane City (QLD)	Peninsula Power (QLD)
Adelaide City FC (SA)	Armadale SC (WA)	Cockburn City (WA)

Australia Cup 2022 Draw Principles

The Australia Cup 2022 Draw Principles are designed to provide the guidelines for the 2022 Competition draw process.

• Australia Cup Final Rounds matches will be decided via a live draw on a date and time confirmed by Football Australia.
• Each Australia Cup Final Rounds entrant will be placed in the ball pot.
• In accordance with the Competition Regulations for Australia Cup Final Rounds matches other than the Australia Cup Final, the Home Club for each Australia Cup Match will be determined as follows:
  • Where Australia Cup matches involve only Member Federation Clubs, the first drawn Club;
  • Where Australia Cup Matches involve a Member Federation Club and an Isuzu UTE A-League Men Club, the Member Federation Club; and
  • Where Australia Cup Matches involve only Isuzu UTE A-League Men Clubs, the first drawn Club.
• In all instances, Wellington Phoenix FC will be deemed the Away Club, irrespective of whether it is the first drawn Club.

The geographical zone format used in the Round of 32 and Round of 16 in 2021, will not be utilised in 2022. The draw will be entirely open throughout the Final Rounds.

Round of 32:

• The Australia Cup Round of 32 will be played over three (3) weeks in late July and early August.
• Football Australia will place thirty-two (32) balls containing the names of the qualified Clubs into the one (1) pot, in an open draw.
• Balls will be drawn out one at a time, revealing sixteen (16) matches, until all balls have been drawn from the pot

Round of 16, Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals:

• For the Round of 16 onwards (excluding the Cup Final), the balls containing the names of all participating Clubs will be placed in one (1) pot. The balls will be drawn, opened, and revealed one at a time, until all balls have been drawn.

Cup Final:

• The selection of the Host Venue for the Australia Cup Final will be determined by Football Australia and announced in due course.
• The Australia Cup 2022 winners will gain direct entry Into the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup in 2023.

Australia Cup 2022 Match Schedule Summary*

Matches will be scheduled across the match dates shown in the table below, which will include enhanced production of mid-week match nights and more weekend football than ever before.

Round of 32**	Round of 16**	Quarter Finals***	Semi-Finals***	Final
16 matches, 3 weeks	8 matches, 2 weeks	4 matches, 1 week	2 matches, 1 week	1 match
21 July	10 August	27 August	10 September	1 October
23 July	13 August	28 August	11 September
24 July	14 August	30 August	13 September
27 July	17 August	31 August	14 September
31 July
4 July

* Opening night to be contested on Thursday, 21 July.

** Midweek match days to be considered “Cup Night”, with Tuesday nights held in reserve for practical fixture reasons

*** Exact Quarter Finals and Semi-Final match days to be confirmed

All Australia Cup 2022 Final Rounds matches will be broadcast LIVE and FREE on 10 Play, with thanks to the Football Australia’s Broadcast Partner, Network 10.