Stirling Macedonia maintained their 10-point lead at the head of the Men’s State League Division One after defeating Quinns 6-2 in Saturday’s top-of-the-table fixture.
Two goals in the first 15 minutes from Alex Tanevski set Ian Ferguson’s side off and running as the forward followed in Gavin Knight’s free-kick, before lashing in following another Knight assist.
Kade Fearnall arrived from midfield to slot in a fifth of the season and make it 2-1 on 65 minutes. It was game on at the point, but Stirling restored their two-goal cushion when Hugo Snowden netted for a third consecutive week.
Reece Abrams bundled in from a set-piece to pull another back and set up a grandstand finish, only for the hosts to pour in three late goals and come away with an emphatic win.
Substitute Dhuors Chols provided a near immediate response and Shay Donovan made it five with a finish at the back post. A flowing team move led to a sixth scored by Asher Nelson as Stirling moved another step closer to the title and promotion back to the NPL after a two-year absence.
Western Knights maintained second place after a 1-0 win over Subiaco, which moved them three points clear of Quinns having played a game more.
Ciaran Byrne’s 18th goal of the season was the games decisive goal as the forward rolled his marker and struck the ball beyond Teo Brown.
Fremantle City also won by the solitary goal away at Joondalup United to break a three-game winless streak.
Adam Ciampini’s first goal of the campaign decided it as he latched onto a short back pass to lift over the onrushing Joe Smith.
Elsewhere, there were big wins for two of the bottom three sides as Forrestfield United and Swan United both boosted their survival hopes.
Dan Corbett’s hat-trick gave Graham Normanton’s side a 3-0 win over Ashfield, their second win of the campaign and first since Round Six.
Moses Macauley supplied Corbett’s first with a cross for the forward to finish, before a penalty of 34 minutes doubled the home sides lead. Corbett then headed home precisely from another Macauley assist to ice the game.
One goal was enough for Swan as they won at home for the first time this season with victory over Mandurah City. John Monterosso supplied the winning goal after good work from Brennan Borzecki.
UWA Nedlands extended their unbeaten run to five games with a goalless draw against Olympic Kingsway.
The hosts moved into seventh with the point, although they were denied a fifth successive win by some desperate Kingsway defending.
In Division Two, the wins keep coming for Dianella White Eagles who are 14 points clear and 14 games unbeaten after a 5-0 thrashing of Carramar Shamrock Rovers.
Nikola Talimdzioski, Kristian Despotovski and David Heagney all struck inside the first 28 minutes to give the visitors a three-goal cushion as their irresistible run of form continued.
Despotovski and Heagney both struck again in the second period to complete the scoring and tick off another win en route to a likely title and promotion.
Wanneroo City moved into second as they extended their unbeaten run to eight games at in-form Gosnells City with a 2-2 draw.
Scott Pereira cancelled out Kye Douglas’ early goal to bring Gosnells level and Jordan Parfitt’s finish seven minutes after the restart put the hosts in front for the first time. Simon Burt pulled Roos level on the hour.
Wanneroo are a point clear of Kingsley Westside, who lost for a third straight game at home to Murdoch University Melville. Joshua Cortes and Dion Berman scored the goals either side of the break.
Elsewhere, there was a remarkable comeback at Iluka Sports Complex as three goals in the final 17 minutes gave Joondalup City a 3-2 win over Canning City.
Sabin Shrestha put the visitors two up on 70 minutes with his second of the afternoon. But a brace from Nicholas Koefler and Jonathan Hulme’s 92nd minute completed the turnaround.
Balga won a third straight game after strikes from Bleron Mamudi and Menghoung Chorek gave them a 2-0 win over a Morley Windmills side who finished with nine men.
Finally, Kelmscott Roos won their first game of the season at the 14th attempt thanks to Phillip Park’s first-half effort against Curtin University.
Filed Under: Men's State League