Round 7 Wrap up | 2020-2021 Macron SFL WA

Yet another exhilarating round of SFL action, with some high quality matches & two rare draws..

Perth AFC 3 – 4 Balga FC

Round 7 of the Macron State Futsal League opened with a thriller, with AFC letting a 3 goal advantage slip for the 2nd week in a row. An inspired Gabriel Kieswetter struck early against his old club to open the scoring for AFC. And when Oscar Pit and Ryan Moss made it 3-0 midway through the 1st half, AFC looked well on their way to redeeming last weekend’s loss to Stirling. Mack Snooks responded on his debut for Balga minutes after coming on to reignite their interest in this match. And when Luke Ross scored just before the interval, the comeback was well and truly on its way. A cheeky backheel from captain Luqman Sayyed squared the ledger early in the 2nd half and Conor O’Driscoll scored the winner 2 minutes from the end to give Balga a famous comeback victory and drive them up to 9th on the ladder. Heartbreak for AFC who, despite missing their captain Nathan Thorp and the influential Andrija Jukic battled valiantly to take the lead and hold on for so long.

Murdoch Warriors FC 2 – 2 Fremantle FC

The match of Friday night featured 2 sides desperate to return to form, and the draw left them both now 4 matches without a win. Fremantle opened well with top goalscorer Milan Rosic made it 5 for the season midway through the 1st half. An own goal late in the half looked like both sides would enter the break all locked up, but a late strike from academy product Diego Florenca gave Fremantle the edge at half time. An early 2nd half goal from captain Meisam Kanani balanced the ledger once again and that is where the scoring ended, with both goalkeepers excelling, especially Tom Robless, who was deputising for the ill Frank Del Rosso. The draw dropped Murdoch to 6th on the ladder, with Fremantle rising to 7th.

Perth Lions FA 4 – 2 Stirling Braza Ginga FC

The final match on Friday night presented an intriguing encounter, with the inform Lions announcing themselves as finalist contenders with a famous victory over the defending champions. Elliot Tattersall opened the scoring for The Lions midway through the 1st half to make it a memorable debut for him. When captain Baqr Al-Qaraghuli made it two shortly after, it looked like an upset was on the cards. Fahed Kassis responded for Stirling early in the 2nd half with a nicely worked team goal, only for Lions stalwart Jamal Yusof to restore the 2 goal advantage. Braza captain Pavel Parihuzic’s goal late on brough about an exciting finish, and as Stirling chased an equaliser playing 5th man, Lions keeper Danial Forbes scored from distance into an open net to secure the notable win. The win took The Lions up to 5th on the ladder, as Stirling dropped to 8th.

Rockingham Cambio Cumbre FC 3 – 3 Cockburn EWA FC

Saturday’s line-up of fixtures opened with a tantalising contest with Rockingham & Cockburn sharing the spoils. Cumbre were looking to extend their perfect start to the season and raced to an early two goal lead via an own goal & a smart finish by Faris Noor Rani, his 9th of the season. Cockburn responded via Alex Gamble, his 7th of the season. Young gun Tyler Garner restored Cumbre’s 2 goal advantage early in the 2nd half with his 6th goal in 7 matches. The match turned midway through the 2nd half as Rockingham hit the post via a deflected shot & EWA countered to score via their youth captain Igor Cvijanovic to narrow the gap to one. A smart late strike from senior captain Mark Gavranic (his 9th of the season) ended an evenly matched contest as Cumbre dropped to 2nd on the ladder and Cockburn retained their place in 4th.

South Perth FC 7 – 2 Byford Venom FC

South Perth retained their perfect start to the season with a commanding performance over a gallant but error-strewn Byford. Byford opened well with the fastest goal of the season via the impressive Johan Van Den Dolder. South Perth pressed The Venom high up the court all match long, and forced errors that were capitalised on by off-season recruit Daniel Muzzarelli with a double (taking his season tally to 9), Roberto Armellini (7th of the season) and Justin Pearce (4th of the season) to take a comfortable half-time lead. 2nd half strikes from Roberto Boi (3rd of the season), Remo Capitani (7th of the season) and Filip Rojnica (8th of the season) completed the scoring for South Perth, as Van Den Dolder completed his double and Byford’s 2nd (his 5th of the season). The win gives South Perth sole occupancy of the summit, 2 points ahead of Rockingham. Whilst Byford are getting closer to their first win of the season.

Canning Ultra Tigers FC 1 – 4 Joondalup ECU Jets

Canning played their best match so far this season, and should have gone into the half-time break several goals ahead of Joondalup, except for missed chances and excellent goalkeeping by the impressive Moutasim Al-Busaidi. The Ultra Tigers did eventually take the lead early in the 2nd half via the imposing Tarek Atta (his 4th of the season). That goal seemed to stir ECU into life as they piled on the pressure and responded via a Davyn Nguyen hattrick and a Luke Palmateer strike (his 4th of the season) to take control of the match. The win took The Jets to 11th on the ladder, as the improving Ultra Tigers continue to chase their first points of the season.

Curtin Footbalista FC 2 – 11 Perth Longobarda FC

The final match of the round saw a rampant Longobarda tear Curtin apart with some irrepressible counter attacks, clinical finishing and another terrific performance from goalkeeper Ricardo Louro. A hattrick from stalwart Alex Kretowicz (taking his season tally to 9 goals in 6 matches) led the scoring, as he was ably assisted by doubles from Jeevan Krishnan and Luigi Vetere (their first strikes of the season), along with singles from Darko Mikic, Cristiano Dos Santos Kevin Gallo and Graziano Lucisano completed the scoring for Longobarda. Footbalista responded late in the 2nd half via Moreno Cappello (his 6th of the season) and Omar Twalah (his 6th from 4 starts), but it was too little too late for a side that needs to work harder on their defence to go along with an exciting collection of attack minded players. Longo cemented their position in 3rd, whilst Curtin dropped to 12th on the ladder.