Joondalup Close But Floreat Edge It

Floreat Athena guaranteed itself a place in the Bam Creative Night Series quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over ECU Joondalup at Litis Stadium on Sunday night.

With one pool match remaining against Mandurah, the club can not finish lower than second thanks to its two wins.

For ECU Joondalup, it is a different story after the club was stripped of its points from its Round 1 win for fielding a player who still serving a suspension from last season.

To have any chance of qualifying, the Students must beat the equally desperate Armadale in the Round 3 clash this weekend.

Particularly early in the match, Floreat displayed an intensity to test any side and ECU’s defence was under siege for much of the first 20 minutes.

The Students only remained in the match thanks to fine work from keeper Andy Banks.

A one-handed deflection over the crossbar against a powerful James Isaia drive from the top of the box was his best effort.

It wasn’t until 16 minutes into the first half that ECU finally tested Athena keeper Alex Dunn but he was up to the challenge.

Jamie Watt had three attempts to poke the ball past Dunn but could not get enough purchase on it, much to his frustration.

Floreat’s defenders were equal to the task when ECU did get forward, often from a long pass as the Students tried to catch them on the break.

Despite its dominance, Floreat could not break the deadlock before half-time but its tenacity was finally rewarded in the 56th minute.

Report by Chris Leitch