Round 13 Wrap up | 2020-2021 Macron SFL WA

The SFL returned following a 2 week break for Christmas and New Year to a thunderous response with goals galore & some surprising results.

Perth AFC 2 – 4 Murdoch Warriors FC

AFC succumbed to a resurgent Murdoch who broke a 9 match winless run with style. When AFC scored straight from kick-off via talisman Andrija Jukic it looked like The Warriors poor run of results would continue. But, Murdoch responded well & equalised midway through the 1st half via Justin Tang, who was deputising as captain in the absence of Meysam Kanani, who coached from the sidelines. AFC retook the lead with Jukic’s 2nd of the match shortly after, only for young gun Joel Di Toro to restore parity just before the halftime break. 2nd half strikes from Alex Pietroniro and Koray Altintas, their maiden goals in the SFL, gave The Warriors a deserved victory as they look to rekindle their season. Murdoch remain 10th on the ladder & AFC 9th.

South Perth FC 0 – 5 Rockingham Cambio Cumbre FC

Two of the form sides of the competition met in the match of the round. With South Perth & Rockingham training hard during the midseason break in anticipation of a competitive match up, it was Cumbre who started well, with an early strike from Spiro Nenadic, and a late 1st half goal via the in-form Mason Vojdani. 2nd half strikes from Vojdani, Nestor Fonseca & Faris Noor Rani settled what ended up being a surprisingly one-sided encounter. And to make matters worse for South Perth, Daniel Muzzarelli hobbled off with an injury, and Luka Bergomi suffered a season ending back problem. Rockingham extended their lead at the top to 4 points, and South Perth remained in 3rd on goal difference.

Canning Ultra Tigers FC 5 – 6 Curtin Footbalista FC

In a seesawing match in which the lead was traded on 4 occasions, Canning & Curtin entertained the crowd with a thrilling end-to-end encounter. The Ultra Tigers started well & took the lead midway through the 1st half via Niko Burns. Footbalista equalised late in the half via Amin Movahedi to send both sides level at the halfway mark. Two quickfire goals via man-of-the-match Hazrat Akhlaqi gave Curtin the lead, only for Canning to respond via Shaz Ramlee. When Mouhanad Akle restored Foobalista’s 2 goal advantage midway through the 2nd half, The Ultra Tigers called a time out & returned with a quickfire 3 goal burst from Burns, Hezairee Sharizan & Josh Watkins to turn the match on its head. With only 2 minutes remaining, Curtin responded with another brisk double from Akhlaqi to settle the encounter. A heartbreaking loss for Canning, as they remain 12th on the ladder. As for Curtin, they used up their ‘get out of jail’ card to return to winning ways & close the gap to the teams above them on the ladder.

Stirling Braza Ginga FC 5 – 3 Fremantle FC

The Battle Royale between 2 worthy adversaries ended with Stirling taking the plaudits over a determined Fremantle. With both sides missing players, especially Fremantle, it was Braza who started stronger, taking an early lead via SFL leading goalscorer Victor Brauner. Chris Rocchi doubled the advantage midway through the 1st half, on his way to man-of-the-match honours. Fremantle young gun Benji Mikhael responded with a fine strike to rekindle Fremantle’s interest in this match at the halfway mark. Rocchi scored early in the 2nd half to restore Braza’s 2 goal advantage, only for reigning SFL MVP Danilo Neves to bring Fremantle back into the contest. Further strikes from Rocchi, sealing his hattrick, and Claudio Tavares for Stirling, and Halil Russo for Fremantle culminated the scoring. Braza cemented their place in the Top 6, as Fremantle dropped to 8th, 6 points away from a place in the finals at the midway point of the season.

Balga FC 6 – 3 Perth Longobarda FC

Balga came into this match as one of the form sides of the competition, and surprised their more fancied opponents with a solid performance & come-from-behind victory. Longobarda started well, with strikes from Philipp Alimov & Jeevan Krishnan giving them a 2 goal advantage. Balga responded with late 1st half strikes from young gun Luke Ross and the ever present Conor O’Driscoll to balance the ledger at the halfway mark of the match. An own goal early in the 2nd half gave Longo the advantage once again, but from there onwards it was all Balga as they responded with strikes from O’Driscoll, Kristoff Dippl, Ross & captain Luqman Sayyed to seal a famous victory. Despite the loss, Longobarda remained 2nd on the table, as Balga maintained the pressure on Stirling and the Top 6 with their 4th win in a row.

Perth Lions FA 10 – 4 Byford Venom FC

The Lions roared back to winning ways with a solid win against a gallant Byford. A 4 goal burst in the opening 3 minutes defined this match, with Amirali Azimi & Bakr Al-Qaraghuli giving The Lions a 2 goal advantage & Brandon Vander Ros and Ali Milhem trading strikes. But it was Al-Qaraghuli’s 2nd midway through the 1st half & James Oldroyd’s 1st that gave The Lions a match-defining lead from which The Venom could not recover, despite their best effort in the 2nd half. Milhem added his 2nd early in the 2nd half, and a double from Oldroyd completed his first hattrick for the club. Further strikes from talisman Jamal Yusof and Moh Totonchy, on his first start of the season, completed the scoring for The Lions. Byford responded with strikes from Johan Van Den Dolder, Travis Bosveld and Vaughan Audrain. The win keeps The Lions firmly in 5th spot, only 3 points away from 2nd.

Joondalup ECU Jets 5 – 15 Cockburn EWA FC

The final match of the round saw the highest scoring encounter of the season, as Cockburn returned to winning ways with a thumping victory over Joondalup. EWA started on fire with 4 goals in the opening 5 minutes via Alex Gamble, Mark Gavranic, an own goal & Jesse Lazzaro. 4 more goals later in the half gave Cockburn the highest half-time lead this season, via Niko Cvijanovic, Brandon De Abreu, Lazzaro’s 2nd & Igor Cvijanovic. Gamble completed his hattrick with a quickfire double early in the 2nd half, and from then on, both sides traded goals with a double from Lazzaro taking his match tally to 4 goals & Gavranic, De Abreu & Niko Cvijanovic also completing their doubles. Davyn Nguyen, Joel Jebaratnam, a Paul Grant double & Josh Green responded for The Jets.