Gwelup Croatia and Floreat Athena turned on the entertainment in the final round of the State League Division One season after playing out a 4-4 draw at the Croatian Sporting Complex.
It was a fun way for Floreat to finish their campaign, having won the title and confirmed promotion back to the New Balance NPL last week.
Gwelup ended the season in eighth place but took it up to the champions to lead 2-0 after half an hour.
Jack Bardsley got both, with the midfielder racing clear of the visitors’ defence to net, before cutting inside from the right and curling into the far corner.
But Floreat have had all the answers throughout the year and a first-half fightback gave them a 3-2 lead at the break.
Josh Willis slotted into the corner, while Tom Wassholm levelled matters after Gwelup switched off from a quickly taken set-piece. Willis’ curling strike then took a slight deflection on its way through to complete Athena’s turnaround.
A terrific strike from Nicolas Echeverria made it 3-3 on 50 minutes, and then Shaun McDermott glanced home Roberto Soares’ corner at the near post to put Taki Nicolaidis’ side back in front.
Rhys Davies rescued a late draw, though, with a stoppage time header from Mohamed Al-Zaidy’s cross as Floreat ended the campaign on a 10-game unbeaten run.
Elsewhere, UWA Nedlands defeated Joondalup City 1-0 in a meeting between two sides who will feature in September’s inter-divisional playoff semi-finals.
Golden Boot winner Joe McInnes got the 94th minute winner from Lewis Nohar’s cross which brought up an impressive 26 goals for the league season.
The result means the two teams do not now meet each other in the play-off semis. Instead, City dropped to fourth and face NPL side Armadale over two legs for the spot in the final at the Sam Kerr Football Centre.
The winner of that tie will meet UWA or Mandurah City, who booked their ticket to the play-offs by beating Murdoch University Melville 3-1 in a tea-time kick-off.
It was a must win for the Dolphins after Quinns had overtaken overtake them earlier in the day. They hit the front on the stroke of half-time when Joe O’Brien crossed for Hamza Hina to turn and finish.
Murdoch levelled on 65 minutes when Seagh Harris teed up Matt Worton to slide into the bottom corner.
But Mandurah restored their lead two minutes later when Hina followed in after O’Brien’s initial attempt was saved. And Jordan Callaghan broke clear to seal it late on with his 16th goal of the campaign.
The win meant Mandurah not only overtook Quinns but Joondalup Ciy as well to ensure a third-place finish.
Quinns had earlier put pressure on Mandurah by beating Kingsley Westside 3-1 at Stylish Park.
It was a fifth win on the bounce for Nick Jennings’ side, but it wasn’t quite enough to see them make the play-offs as they fell just short on goal difference.
Christos Vaenas tucked away Jordan Allen-Rana’s cross from the right and then volleyed home from six yards as the hosts led 2-0 inside 22 minutes.
Leonard Gama extended the lead in the second half after unselfish play from Vaenas, before Finlay Park’s late consolation from a corner.
With the inter-divisional play-offs set, Inglewood United’s 4-0 win away at relegated Curtin University proved to be academic as they finished three points off the top four.
Curtin were already relegated coming into the weekend with Troy Reid coaching his final game following a six-year stint in charge. They trailed just before the interval when Owen Goodliffe found Jake Nicholson who rounded the goalkeeper and side-footed home.
Gavin Byars was first to the rebound after Nicholson’s shot was saved for 2-0 in the second period, before Nicholson completed a brace when latching onto another Goodliffe through ball.
Inglewood’s leading scorer Rostyn Griffiths completed the scoring late on as Glen Grostate’s side finished their year on a winning note.
Finally, Subiaco will head into their relegation play-off on a high after they beat Cockburn City 2-0 to finish the regular season with back-to-back victories.
A nicely worked goal down the right saw Tomas Despotovski and Ben Bathgate combine with the former crossing for Kaleb Morrison to open the scoring on 19 minutes.
An unmarked Ivan Skorich wrapped it up against his former side in stoppage time, as Subi’s attention turns toward a two-legged inter-divisional play-off semi-final against either Balga or Kalamunda City.
State League Division Two is set for a thrilling finale with the top three sides separated by two points in the race for the league title and automatic promotion.
Wembley Downs remain top on goal difference with one round remaining after Josh Chalmers’ double gave them a 2-0 victory at Gosnells City.
Carramar Shamrock Rovers are just behind them in second spot after winning 3-0 at Morley Windmills. Harrison Bissett, Ravi Singh and Nathan Diaz got on the scoresheet at Wotton Reserve with Rovers level on points but four goals behind Wembley.
Rockingham City are two points behind the leading duo after easing to a 4-0 win at mid-table Ashfield. Joe Moss and Tom Kinnane had City 2-0 up at the break with an own goal and Raphael Gomba’s effort extending the lead after the restart.
Elsewhere, Kalamunda City dropped outside of the inter-divisional play-off positions on goal difference after being held to a goalless draw by East Perth. Balga replaced them and moved into fourth place after easing to a 3-1 win against Forrestfield United.
Betab Tsagay, Finn Wilson Pidgeon and Ivwananji Simbile had Balga three-up in the opening half before with Lucas Reid pulling one back on 52 minutes. Lal Cung was shown a straight red card for the hosts late on, while Ibrahim Bilal and Callum Shepherd were also dismissed.
Forrestfield’s loss means they are highly unlikely to reach the promotion play-off places, while Balga and Kalamunda will also have a say in how the title race shapes out as they hosts matches against Wembley and Carramar respectively on the final day.
At the bottom of the league, Canning City missed a chance to confirm their safety after letting slip a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with bottom side North Beach.
Will Roscoe and Brian Mashingaidze had City clear at the interval and four points clear of the bottom two.
In the end, they have to settle for a two-point buffer after Menghoung Chroek’s second-half brace for Beach, who must beat Ashfield at home to have any chance of avoiding relegation back to the Belt Up Amateur Premier League.
