Stirling Macedonia took advantage of the top three teams failing to win to move to within a point of Men's State League Division One leaders Western Knights.
The 4-1 victory at Quinns also meant a happy return for Stirling head coach Ian Ferguson, who swapped Gumblossom Park for Macedonia Park in the off-season.
Yet it was the hosts who got off to a flyer inside two minutes when Reece Abrams got the final touch from Adam Tong's header for his first goal since the opening day.
Stirling pulled level almost immediately as Alex Tanevski was brought down in the area and Gavin Knight stepped up to score his seventh of the season and sixth in four games.
Shay Donovan followed in Knight's strike to make it 2-1 before the break, and it got even better after the restart as Sam Wynne's volley was fumbled by Caelan Cooper and Gyles Davies pounced to tap in Stirling's third.
The scoring was complete with just over 20 minutes to play as Davies headed in Knight's cross to complete a second half brace, as the visitors won a third straight game to put themselves in the title mix.
Stirling's win moved them up to second in State League Division One and just behind unbeaten Knights, who were held 1-1 by Subiaco at Nash Field.
Ciaran Byrne had the best of the early chances for the leaders, but the league's top scorer would draw a blank for the first time this season having scored 12 goals across his first five matches.
It was goalless at the interval, but Knights’ Dean Hurley wriggled away from a challenge on the edge of the area and found the bottom corner for 1-0 after 51 minutes.
Subiaco responded three minutes later as Ben Campbell struck a magnificent volley from the edge of the area and rescued an excellent point on the road which keeps them in mid-table.
The final game of the day in Division One saw Joondalup United travel to Hilton Reserve and earn a 1-1 draw at Fremantle City.
The visitors are now unbeaten in five since losing 5-1 to Western Knights in Round One and they opened the scoring with a Brad McDonald blast from outside the area.
Their lead lasted 10 minutes though as Callum Stocks pressured Joondalup's defence before running in to score against his former club.
In Division Two, four games were played as Dianella White Eagles continue to set the pace at the summit with a 3-1 win over Balga at Princess Road Reserve.
Kristian Despotovski got the visitors off to a perfect start inside sixty seconds, but Balga equalised before the break through new signing Ayella Joseph.
The away side went on to claim a fifth win of 2021 and extended their unbeaten start to the season, however, as David Heagney and Bobby Wilson scored second half goals.
The win guaranteed Dianella would finish the round top, but Kingsley Westside remain a point behind after a 3-1 win over Joondalup City in the late kick off.
Josh Waldock netted a pair of goals and Lewis Flatt bagged the other as the 2019 Belt Up Amateur Premier winners won for a fifth straight league game. Bayley Brown-Montgomery netted for City.
Elsewhere, Murdoch University Melville continued their good start to the season as a 2-1 win at Kelmscott Roos saw them finish the weekend in third spot.
They did have to come from behind as winless Kelmscott went ahead on 33 minutes through Lochlan Cameron's second of the campaign.
But debutant Dion Berman came off the bench at half time and netted within two minutes of the restart before Kai Jones opened his account for the season with a 79th minute goal to secure the points.
Finally, Wanneroo City consolidated their position in the top half of the league with a 2-1 win over Canning City. Charles Breen and Joshua Chivell netted for the hosts.
Filed Under: Men's State League