Men’s State League Division One leaders Western Knights dropped points for the first time this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fremantle City.
A routine afternoon seemed to be on the cards for Knights when Dean Hurley opened the scoring inside six minutes.
But Fremantle City have not lost since Round Two and hit back before half-time when Riley Van Dieken scored for a second game on the bounce.
Cameron Lord’s side had to defend with 10 men for the final 12 minutes when Matt Sparrow was shown a red card, but the Knights could not break through.
Knights are still five points clear at the summit despite Forrestfield United bouncing back from their first defeat of the season with a 2-1 win at Stirling Lions.
United had to come from behind as Alex Tanevski gave the six-time State Cup winners a lead inside five minutes at Macedonia Park.
The visitors levelled three minutes later when Josh Pereira netted his first goal of the season, before Jordan Hart’s second-half goal preserved United’s unbeaten away record.
Meanwhile, Joondalup United completed a good week’s work with a third win in seven days to move up to third.
The latest on Saturday was a 2-1 home victory over Subiaco. Jay Lang gave United the lead on 27 minutes with his fourth goal in six games, but they were pegged back by Shay Donovan’s equaliser three minutes later.
But Jamie Gibson’s second half strike restored the hosts’ lead and that proved decisive as Joondalup United extended their unbeaten run to five games.
Mandurah City have not lost since Round three either and they moved up to fourth place in the State League Division One with a 1-0 win over Quinns.
Joseph O’Brien scored the crucial goal with 10 minutes to play which puts him in a three-way tie for second place in the Golden Boot race.
The defeat for Quinns was a second in four days and drops them down to sixth, but only a point behind their opponents in the league.
Elsewhere, UWA Nedlands came from behind to defeat nine-man Ashfield SC 4-1 on the road.
Kaelen Majeks struck on 19 minutes to give the hosts a first-half lead, but Kade Fearnall’s red card proved to be a turning point as UWA equalised through Emmanuel Kankpeyang shortly after the dismissal.
Ivwananji Simbile, Godfrey Asimwe and Sam Kent all struck in the second half as UWA Nedlands moved three points clear of their opponents, who finished with nine men when Josh Kotio collected a second yellow card in stoppage time.
Finally, Swan United came from behind to win their first game of the season 2-1 at Olympic Kingsway.
Gyles Davies scored his sixth goal of the campaign for Kingsway inside quarter of an hour but Swan United hit back twice in three minutes before the break.
John Monterosso scored the equalising goal before the club’s top scorer Albert Amankwaa scored what proved to be the winner as Swan closed the gap on Stirling and Subiaco at the foot of the table.
In Division Two, Murdoch University Melville joined Wanneroo City at the top of State League Division Two after a 6-0 home win against Kingsley Westside.
The hero of the afternoon was Declan Tanna who netted a hat trick to take his tally to five for the season with Oriol Fernandez, Ryan Tucker and Ben Howe scoring the other goals.
It was a fourth consecutive win for MUM FC and it moved them level on points with the Roos after the leaders fell to a 3-0 defeat at Joondalup City.
Nicholas Koefler broke the deadlock after 78 minutes at Iluka Sports Complex with two goals in six minutes which all but secured the win.
Liam Peacock made it 3-0 late on as he scored in his third consecutive game for City, who move up to third off the back of a six-game unbeaten run.
Bobby Despotovski got off to a winning start in his first game at the helm of Dianella White Eagles, as they came from behind to win 3-2 at Morley Windmills.
After conceding a first-half own goal, the league’s leading scorer Asa Sippits scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season to help move the visitors up to fourth in the table.
Elsewhere, there was 3-1 home wins for Balga and Curtin University over Kelmscott Roos and Canning City respectively, while Gosnells and Carramar Shamrock Rovers shared the spoils with a 2-2 draw at Walter Padbury Reserve.
Filed Under: Men's State League