Match Report - Div 1 First Team v Floreat

The first team welcomed Mike back from 3 weeks of eating and drinking his way round Asia, and he took his place in the starting line up as Souths experimented with a 3-5-2 formation in the absence of regular centre half (and training ground centre forward) Dave. Chris “the horse whisperer” Howarth also reappeared and took his place on the bench alongside Shannon.

It was obvious from the start that Souths had lifted considerably from the previous weeks performance against Curtin, and the movement and neat passing caused Floreat problems from the off. With some neat link up play form Craig and Scott up front and Willy and Shawn providing a threat out wide, Souths always looked dangerous but couldn’t find a way through the Floreat defence. Craig came close, forcing a good save from the keeper after a neat through ball from Neil while Shannon hit the post from the edge of the box after another good lay off from Neil.

Despite Souths controlling the game it was Floreat who took the lead against the run of play, capitalising on their first real chance of the match after Neil was caught in possession in the middle of the park. An early through ball found the Floreat striker in space and he finished calmly leaving Steve with no chance.

Souths response was immediate. Colin collected the ball from centre, burst through the midfield and slipped the ball through to Scott, whose first time effort was well saved by the keeper, low to his right. From the resulting corner, Matty bulged the old onion bag with a towering header. This prompted smug looks from Tom on the sidelines after he organised set piece training during the week. Training which Matt missed.

Despite continuing to press, Souths couldn’t make their dominance count and the first half ended 1-1.

The second half saw Souths continue to pile the pressure onto the Floreat defence, but they couldn’t increase their lead, despite some excellent attacking moves. Colin came closest hitting the post with a free kick from the edge of the area while Willy shot straight at the keeper when he found himself in space 6 yards out.

Willy’s aim was a bit more accurate when it came to assaulting the opposition and his guest appearance in the back 3 saw him become public enemy number one to Floreat’s large travelling support after a number of forwards “tackles”.

With about ten minutes remaining, Craig notched his first goal for South Perth tucking away an excellent ball across the box from Shawn to finish off a superb counter attacking move started off by Matt at the back.

Souths held on comfortably for the remainder of the match and finished their pre-season with a well deserved win.

Highlight:
A return to playing the sort of football that served the team so well last year. The team always looked dangerous going forward and on another day the scoreline could have been far more convincing.