The WA preliminary section of the 2024 Australia Cup reaches its conclusion tonight with both semi-finals in the northern suburbs.
The two matches kick off at 7pm and will be livestreamed on Streamer and Football West YouTube.
Division One frontrunners Sorrento FC - the last State League team still in the competition - host City of Joondalup neighbours Perth RedStar at Percy Doyle Reserve.
Sorrento have been outstanding this year as they bid to make an immediate return to the NPL. They won the pre-season State League Night Series and are unbeaten in the league, winning eight of their opening 10 matches to sit a point clear at the top. They arguably produced the performance of the Australia Cup so far in winning 4-1 at Fremantle City, who are currently second in the NPL. Dean Cummings is their leading scorer in the cup with four goals, all in the win at Maccabi.
RedStar have had a comfortable run in the competition so far, beating one amateur and two State League teams. They do have the competition's leading scorer in Darlyl Nicol (seven), and they won the NPL Night Series in March. Their league form is hot, too, with five successive wins taking them to third in the table.
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Meanwhile, across at Kingsway Reserve, it's an all top-flight encounter clash as NPL leaders Olympic Kingsway take on Perth SC.
Olympic, who have also won their past five league matches, are the top scorers in the NPL and have been in the goals in the Australia Cup. They scored four at Dianella, five at Mandurah, and in the last round came from 2-0 down to beat Western Knights with three goals in the last 19 minutes.
One of the key men for Olympic is Joe Knowles, who inspired the victory over Knights with a goal and two assists. He has so far scored five times in the Australia Cup, the same as Perth SC's Sam Cook whose stoppage-time effort in the previous round decided the game against Stirling Macedonia. Cook also scored a brace on the weekend in the league draw with Perth Glory.
The winners of both games will enter the national Round of 32 where they could potentially be drawn against an A-League side. They will also face each other in the State Cup final at the Sam Kerr Football Centre in September.
