(with Kalon Harrison, Football West)

Perth SC secured their place in the Night Series quarter finals with a 5-1 hiding of top flight rivals Balcatta on a warm evening at Dorrien Gardens. Liam Boland bagged a hat-trick with Daniel Micevski grabbing the other two, negating Ashley Rosindale’s finish and leaving Perth as the only team in Group H with a perfect win record after two games. “I’ve got the service this year so I can score goals. It’s a bonus for the team but it’s a good result,” Boland said before praising his new coach. “Mauro (Marchione) has been great, he’s got everybody really focussed. I’m more focussed than I’ve ever been, so hopefully that leads to better football.”

The only goal of an entertaining first half arrived on 23 minutes when Boland converted from the penalty spot after he was tripped off the ball by Mikey Aspin. Balcatta had their chances to restore parity before the break but their best attempts on goal were met by the heroics of Jason Saldaris. Boland slotted in his second goal in the 66th minute after a fine spin took him away from his marker. Four minutes later Daniel Micevski had his heels clipped by Adam Tong, a foul he punished by netting the resultant spot kick. Rosindale managed to get one back for Balcatta in the 76th minute, but by that time the game was already over. Micevski got his second in the 89th minute after being played through by Logan Crawford, and in stoppage time Boland completed his hat-trick with a smart volley.

(with Chris Andrawes, Football West)

A revamped Perth SC have shown no mercy in inflicting a 7-0 thrashing on third tier Subiaco AFC in the late game at Dorrien Gardens. Daniel Micevski was the star of the show with four goals on a night when David Micevski, Liam Boland and Josh Wilkins also found the back of the net. “The way we played was good ... some of these players have only joined the team in the last couple of weeks and don’t know each other’s names,” commented winning coach Mauro Marchione. “So I’m pleased to see the spirit of the team is committed to achieving something.”

Subiaco more than held their own across the opening half hour, fending off numerous attacking raids by the team in blue while fashioning a few openings of their own. However, as Perth’s superior fitness slowly started to emerge it became apparent who the winner would eventually be. The opening goal arrived after 34 minutes when David Micevski cut the ball back to Daniel Micevski for a simple tap-in. Two minutes later Daniel Micevski doubled his teams’ lead, while after the break Daniel Micevski added another three goals to compliment finishes by Boland and substitute Wilkins.

Subiaco coach Darren Yates saw no reason to be dis-spirited by the outcome. “Seven-nil is probably not a great reflection on the game, they are a class outfit at the end of the day, they deserved it,” he said. “We’re here to experiment and try out a new team and I was happy with what I found out. There was nothing to change, in the first half or the first 20 minutes especially. At the end of the day you know it comes down to match fitness, we’ve got a great bunch of lads, but they’ve never played together before so I was really happy with it.”