Phoenix turn tables on Maddington
The race for the Belt Up Amateur Premier Division has taken another twist with South West Phoenix now in the driving seat.
A week ago, Phoenix went down 3-0 to Maddington White City and fell three points behind their rivals.
But the tables have turned following Phoenix’s midweek win over UWA Nedlands in the rescheduled Round 11 clash and Saturday’s 5-2 defeat of Hamersley Rovers. At the same time, Maddington have been held to successive 1-1 draws by Wembley Downs and Joondalup United to sit a point behind the leaders with six matches to play.
Phoenix were on it from the start against bottom club Hamersley and they were 4-0 up after only 20 minutes. Lydon Hodgkiss set them on their way on five minutes but after that it was the Lee Stewart show. The Phoenix striker rattled home a 12-minute hat-trick and added a fourth in the second half for his 20th goal of the season. Ben Hall got Rovers on the scoresheet just before half-time from the penalty spot to make it 4-1, while skipper Jordan Nastov got another near the end. But they were never in the contest and remain on a single point.
Maddington went into their game at Joondalup knowing they needed a win to return to the top and they took just eight minutes to get their noses in front through Gason Bazet. However, they were unable to get a crucial second and instead it was Joondalup who struck via Adam Giannasi on 69 minutes.
Kwinana United still retain an interest in the title race following their 4-0 win at Queens Park. They can move to within two points of leaders Phoenix if they win their two matches in hand. Goals from Sean Troup, Lee Bates (2) and Jake Fallows got them the points on Sunday.
Another player to score four goals was Cameron Anderson, whose haul came in Leeming Strikers’ 8-0 drubbing of Jaguar FC. Kieran Witt (2), Leandro Fernandes and skipper Ben Greaves got the others.
Jean-Marc D'Avray hit a stoppage-time winner for North Perth United against Quinns. The 2020 champions went in front through Alex Corner on 10 minutes but were pegged back when Danny Head levelled for Quinns 10 minutes from the end. However, D'Avray had the final word to damage the visitors' outside title aspirations.
Finally, second-half goals from Matthew Devereux and Sam Turner gave Wembley Downs a 2-0 victory at UWA Nedlands.
Filed Under: Amateur Master Metro Cup