A goalless draw for Olympic Kingsway against Mandurah City was enough to send the Men’s State League Division One title north after Western Knights’ inability to beat Joondalup United.
Kingsway had scored 12 goals in their four second-phase fixtures but they were held at bay by a Mandurah side who had outside hopes of the title themselves.
In the end, it did not matter because Knights were held 2-2 by Joondalup United at Nash Field, the third successive game in which they had dropped points.
Joondalup had not won in the second phase of the competition but upset the apple cart after half an hour when Jamie Gardiner scored for a second straight game.
Jack Rycroft responded quickly for the home side, but they were unable to get in front and ended up trailing again when Jay Lang struck on 52 minutes.
Josh Marocchi opened his account for the season six minutes from time as the Knights pressed for a late winner which would have given them the title, but it was not to be.
Elsewhere, Fremantle City sneaked into the finals on goal difference following a 2-1 win over Forrestfield United.
City needed to win and for Mandurah to drop points at Kingsway and they were buoyed by Callum Stocks’ early opener at Hilton Park.
Abias Bukuru doubled the lead in the second half and that proved enough to earn Cameron Lord’s team back-to-back wins and a place in the post-season competition, despite Vladimir Naumovski’s late consolation.
In Division One’s bottom six, Stirling Lions won for the second time in four days to snatch a finals spot from Quinns. Lions beat Swan United 4-1 to set up a semi-final with champions Kingsway.
A 5-0 win over Subiaco in Wednesday’s game in hand meant Stirling required a win at Macedonia Park on Saturday and a slip up from Quinns at UWA to win their pool.
Alex Tanevski’s first half brace got the ball rolling for the Lions before Gavin Knight’s 12th of the season put them 3-0 up early in the second half.
Albert Amankwaa pulled one back for the visitors but Stirling locked away the three points late on through Lawrence Shuruma as all eyes turned to events at UWA.
Quinns knew a win in Nedlands would secure a finals berth, but UWA hit the ground running.
Pascal Sedgwick netted a pair of goals inside the first half hour to put the hosts in the ascendency, then Quinns hit back before half-time with goals from top scorer Jamie Stewart and Reece Corrigan.
A winner was required by the northern suburbs club with Stirling cruising to victory, but the visitors’ unbeaten second phase yielded no reward as their season came to an end.
The final game in Division One saw Subiaco come from behind to defeat Ashfield 2-1 at Rosalie Park in a fixture between two teams out of finals contention.
Freeman Nyatsambo opened the scoring inside 10 minutes for the visitors as they aimed for a first win of the second phase.
But their hopes were dashed as Alfred Beyan put into his own net after the break and Cian Guest scored the winner.
Division One Cup semi-final draw
In Division Two, all eyes were on the race for the finals after Carramar Shamrock Rovers sealed the title last weekend and Dianella White Eagles booked their place with a 4-1 win over Wanneroo City.
Bobby Despotovski’s side knew a win would shake off the chasing pack below them and Bojan Stefoski put them ahead a minute before the break, before Asa Sippits’ 13th goal of the season earned him the Golden Boot as he finished one clear of Roos striker Flynn Nolan.
Simon Burt pulled one back, but late goals from Stephen Musonda and Nikola Zmukic ensured White Eagles would progress to the semi-finals.
The Roos were all but assured of their place already despite the heavy defeat due to their superior goal difference on their rivals, and that meant Joondalup City were unable to catch them despite a 2-1 win over champions Carramar.
City’s best hope of qualifying for finals week was dependant on a Dianella slip, but that would not materialise despite them taking a 2-0 lead through Jack Hailstones and Liam Peacock.
Siyan Zhang pulled one back for Rovers which mattered little in the grand scheme of things as Gerry McEwan’s side set their sights on a double winning season.
The final fixture of the upper-tier saw Murdoch University Melville and Gosnells City play out a 2-2 draw on the Murdoch synthetic.
The hosts, like Joondalup City, needed a hefty win and results to go their way elsewhere, but neither unfolded even though Mohammad Javid’s own goal gave them an early break.
Feisal Zaw’s 11th of the season made it 1-1, but Kai Jones quickly restored the lead within 60 seconds, and that seemed to be enough for Murdoch University Melville to claim the points until Tony Chandler’s last-gasp equaliser from the penalty spot.
In the bottom six, Morley Windmills needed a win to earn a finals meeting with Carramar Shamrock Rovers this Tuesday and they held up their end of the bargain with a 5-0 win at Balga.
Mark Donnelly scored on six minutes to ease any nerves and their position strengthened further on 50 minutes when Dion Berman added a second.
Otto Van Der Poel, Farruh Mavlonov and Ryan Treacy all added their names to the scoresheet later in the half, as Windmills head into finals full of confidence with four wins from their last five.
It meant Canning City’s 2-0 win away at 10-man Kelmscott Roos was academic, given that they required Morley to drop points in conjunction with their win.
James Atkins scored both goals in the first half for City who saw out the game after Bassie Kamara’s red card midway through the opening period.
Finally, Kingsley Westside ended their maiden State League season on a high as they finished with a 3-2 home win over Curtin University.
Ramiro Vilar continued his excellent second phase form for the hosts with a hat-trick as they went on to record back-to-back wins, despite Dilip Thapa Masangi and Prabhdeep Saini pulling goals back for Curtin.
Division Two Cup semi-final draw
Filed Under: Men's State League