Dianella beat MUM to go top of Division One
Dianella White Eagles went top of State League Division One with a 3-1 defeat of previous leaders Murdoch University Melville in the big game of Round Five on Saturday night.
Angel Andres Rivera’s side are clear of Subiaco on goal difference, with the top four separated by only three points.
The hosts led at Dianella Reserve when Kevin Ashwood’s cross-field pass was brought down by Andy Keogh, who continued his stellar start to the season on 14 minutes by netting his fifth goal in as many matches.
MUM FC were protecting a 100% record and levelled just past the half-hour mark when hesitation in the home defence allowed Ilyas Ahmedov to sneak in and score.
But a second yellow card issued to Daniel Tait gave Dianella the upper hand and they capitalised before the interval. Angel Andres Diaz’s shot was saved by Jake Maley-Orr, only for the ball to fall for Paul Zimarino who finished into an empty net.
SEE SQUADI FOR STATE LEAGUE RESULTS, FIXTURES & TABLE
Marc Anthony’s side remained brave until the end, but Dianella wrapped up victory with five minutes left when Alen Patarov stooped to head in player-coach Rivera’s cross.
The result leaves Dianella a point clear of third-placed Murdoch. Between them in second are Subiaco who remain undefeated following a 2-1 win over Cockburn City at Rosalie Park.
The Cockerels have had a tough start to life in the second tier but led on six minutes when Ivan Skorich nudged Adrian Manno under the ball and showed composure to slot Steve McDonald’s side in front.
But their advantage lasted just three minutes when Martin Savic played a smart one-two with Martin Coughlan before running in to score under Cockburn keeper Michael Craggs.
The game’s winning goal came 18 minutes from time when Moustafa Mohamed instinctively fired home on the turn from inside the box to send Subi joint-top, while Cockburn remain three points adrift at the bottom on zero points.
Sorrento FC are also yet to lose and kept their place in the play-off spots by winning 4-1 at Kingsley Westside on Friday night.
Luke Salmon returned to Chichester Park to haunt his former side with an early goal to put the Gulls ahead and the lead was doubled later in the half by Dean Cummings’ penalty.
The hosts gave themselves hope thanks to Jon Hulme, but two stoppage-time goals from Clay Gibbs settled it late on as the young gun followed a powerful header with a stunning long-range curler to leave Kingsley second bottom.
Steve McGarry’s side are four points clear of fifth-placed UWA Nedlands who gave up a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Gwelup Croatia.
UWA hoped to bounce back from last week’s first defeat of the season to Dianella and led after 20 minutes when Luke Salas put through Jed Afenyo to curl high into the net.
Afenyo doubled the lead three minutes later when cashing in on a mistake to run in and join Andy Keogh and Ilyas Ahmedov at the top of the goalscoring charts.
The hosts pulled one back before half-time when Robert Ferrante’s deflected shot looped up nicely for James Harmer to hook in from six yards despite appeals for offside.
They levelled midway through the second period thanks to a brilliant header from Emmanuel Langoya and then won it with 10 minutes remaining when Jeremie Mba curled a free-kick low into the corner to complete the comeback.
Gwelup are now only a point behind UWA, in seventh. Above them on goal difference are Mandurah City who accounted for Gosnells City 5-1 at Walter Padbury Reserve, with Shaun Mukwevho scoring a hat-trick.
The Dolphins had to come from behind after Blake Pritchard’s first-half opener but Robbie Galvin’s free-kick restored parity with 20 minutes left.
Then the Mukwevho show started as the former Bayswater youngster bundled in after a scrappy set-piece before turning home in classy fashion following a cross from the right.
Galvin’s cutback then found Mukwevho who wrapped up a 15-minute treble and Mandurah emphatically ended a run of successive defeats when John Baird’s wonderful pass was latched on to by Fionn Faherty.
Joondalup United are also alongside Gwelup and Mandurah on six points after a dramatic first half saw them win 3-2 at Rockingham City.
Ryan Kennedy’s early red card failed to deter the home side who led on 19 minutes when Shane Boyle picked up the ball on the left and went solo past the visitors' defence to fire home.
Billy Quinncroft’s back-post header made it 1-1 soon after, but despite the numerical disadvantage, Rockingham went ahead again after Cory McNelis fed Barnes to poke home with the outside of his boot.
That was not the end of the first-half drama as United produced two quickfire goals in stoppage time to turn things around. Noah Wittstrom-Lea headed into his own net to level, then defender Laurits Christophersen nodded in Jamie Gardiner’s corner.
While there were no more goals in the second half, it was anything but dull as both sides finished the game with nine men as Joondalup's George McIlroy and Sam McKearnan and Rockingham's Matt Worswick were all dismissed after the restart.
In Division Two, leaders Joondalup City made it four wins from four, winning 1-0 against Canning City thanks to Callum Stocks’ 56th-minute goal at Iluka Sports Complex.
Forrestfield United also have a 100% record and are behind City on goal difference following a 4-1 win at Wanneroo City. Alec Robinson registered a 20-minute hat-trick for the visitors and Noah Appleby also netted after Edin Nalic had opened the scoring for Wanneroo.
East Perth are third and three points off the leading pair after a hat-trick by in-form Ryan McCready gave them a 3-1 win over Kalamunda City.
The weekend’s big movers were Quinns FC who went from eighth to fourth after winning 5-2 against Balga with Magai Deng scoring a couple of goals.
There were plenty of goals at Edinburgh Oval too as Jai Coker, Kieran Witt and Nathan Smith all scored in the second half to help Curtin come from 2-1 down at half-time to win 4-3 against Ashfield.
Swan United also recorded their first win of the campaign with Jake Fritchley netting twice in a 5-2 win over Carramar Shamrock Rovers.