Floreat Athena maintained their undefeated start to the State League Division One season after defeating Curtin University 3-1 on Monday afternoon.
Alun Vernals’ side are three points clear of the chasing pack following their Round Five win, while Curtin remain at the foot of the table.
It wasn’t completely straightforward for Athena, though, with Curtin going ahead after 18 minutes when Gaspar Becerra played in Mighael Muller, who struck a low shot past Josh Hunter.
The home side levelled before the interval when Declan Hargreaves’ spearing pass picked out Josh Willis, who finished with aplomb.
Harry Lewis rifled home powerfully from Mohamed Al-Zaidy’s pass to give his side a second-half lead with Rowan Steed’s drive from the edge of the box against his former side completing the scoring.
Kingsley Westside remain in second place after prevailing 3-1 past Cockburn City on Saturday.
Raeez Pandor opened the scoring with an early penalty after Robbie Linford went down in the box. But Cockburn levelled on 18 minutes when Matthew Bowen fired brilliantly across goalkeeper Isaac Driessen after winning the ball high up.
Kingsley regained their lead when Ben Wyeth followed in to nod home after Ben Radonich had denied Max Adamson. The third goal arrived midway through the second half when Nick Koefler turned home from close range after Cockburn failed to clear Jamie Gardiner’s free-kick.
That was a first win in three for Ben Andrews’ side, while Cockburn are third-from-bottom.
UWA Nedlands collected a 3-0 home win against Quinns FC to sit in third place, despite playing the second half with 10 men.
Uni were ahead on 27 minutes when Mark Bauersachs’ cross ran for Hugo Martin Perez to score first time with a nicely taken goal. But they found themselves on the back foot when goalkeeper Tadgh O’Malley was shown two yellow cards in six minutes for two challenges outside the box.
The red card failed to deter the hosts as Joe McInnes scored twice in nine second-half minutes to seal the win. The striker beat the offside trap to slot in before glancing in Gregory John’s cross as UWA made it three wins on the spin to keep pace at the top.
Gwelup Croatia complete the top four and are now four games undefeated after defeating Inglewood United 1-0.
Jeremie Mba was the matchwinner on 33 minutes when latching onto Jamie Sinnott’s long ball and rounding the goalkeeper to finish. That goal puts the forward top of the Golden Boot race with six for the season and leaves Inglewood down in ninth place.
Joondalup City are one point outside the promotion play-off places after picking up a 2-1 win at Mandurah City.
City had to come from behind as Zander Basile brought down and slotted into the bottom corner after only three minutes.
Guy McDonald’s side were level at the break when Luke Steer squared for Louis Hadfield to tap in. And Hadfield, the matchwinner at Quinns last week, was the hero again after the restart with a brilliant winner fired in from just outside the box.
That was a third loss in a row for the Dolphins, who drop to eighth.
Going above them are Murdoch University Melville, who defeated Subiaco 2-1 for their first win of the campaign.
Ed Wynne-Willson won and converted a 14th-minute penalty for the hosts, but Tomas Despotovski’s free-kick just before the break levelled matters.
The decisive goal was scored with a quarter of an hour remaining when Isaac Scellier turned into his own net after Max Winton saved Adam Fields’ drive. Murdoch are now in mid-table and four points off fourth, while Subi are second bottom after a third loss in a row.
In Division Two, Rockingham City are five points clear at the top of the league after defeating Wembley Downs 2-1.
All the goals were scored in the first half, with an own goal from Alex Galipo deciding matters after Wembley's Mella Loding had earlier cancelled out Tom Kinnane's opener.
Ashfield stay second but lost ground on the leaders after a 3-1 defeat to in-form East Perth, who are now third and a point behind their opponents with a game in hand.
Oleksandr Pozhar had given the hosts an early lead but two goals to marksman Ryan McCready and another for Adam McCarron gave them a fourth win in a row in all competitions.
Kalamunda City are up to fourth in the standings as three goals in the final six minutes gave them a remarkable 6-3 win at North Beach.
Angel Andres Rivera’s double and Lorran Almeida’s goal had the visitors three-up by the hour mark and on course for a comfortable win.
Three goals in 16 minutes from Galey Zangpo, Michael Bailey and Jayden Rowles had North Beach right back in it at 3-3, but Alexandre Coelho, Nikola Zmukic and Rivera’s hat-trick goal wrestled the initiative back in a game of momentum swings.
There was a 3-2 win for Forrestfield United over Morley Windmills, with both teams remaining in mid-table. John O’Reilly’s side were two-up thanks to Isaac Ntow’s first-half double, but Rhys Loxley’s brace and Lucas Reid’s late winner completed a terrific comeback.
Balga also bagged their second win of the campaign with a 4-1 success at second-bottom Gosnells City.
Darren Francis had pulled one back for Gosnells after an early own goal and Jose Zuniga’s finish had Balga in the ascendency. But Ilya Nebylytsya and Seamus Edwards struck in the second half to secure the points for Gerhard Janssen’s team.
Canning City’s game with Carramar Shamrock Rovers was postponed this weekend and will be played on Saturday 2 May.
