Defending champs lose to Polonia
Last season’s cup and league champions Phoenix suffered their first loss of the 2017 Great Southern Soccer Association men’s open competition, going down to Polonia at the North Road soccer grounds last Saturday afternoon.
Phoenix entered the round 4 contest on the back of strong wins over Rovers, Albany-Bayswater and Royals but were immediately on the back foot as their opponents went ahead inside the first 45 minutes.
Polonia struck twice in the first half and added a third goal in the second 45 minutes, finishing 3-1 winners over the defending league titleholders.
Youngster Tom Hunt was impressive throughout and managed to find the back of the net for Polonia, with teammates Cameron Spence and Justin Wilson also scoring in their side’s first victory of the season.
In the first three rounds, Polonia had lost to Royals, league leaders Caledonians and Albany-Bayswater.
Rick Dekker scored the sole second-half goal for Phoenix, who lost just one league match last year.
Albany-Bayswater moved to six points in the league standings after a 4-2 victory against Royals, also on Saturday.
Three first-half goals helped Albany-Bayswater establish a comfortable lead by the break, with Callum Garland scoring twice, and Brenden Kunst and Asgher Nawroozi also pierced the Royals defence.
Caledonians remain the only undefeated team in the league after notching a fourth straight win, beating Rovers 3-0 in their Sunday fixture.
Liam McDonald, Liam Nyhan and Aaron Griffiths all scored as Caledonians kept their unbeaten record intact.
A serious injury to the Rovers goalkeeper hampered their chances in the match.
In the women’s league A competition, defending champions Denmark thrashed rivals Grammar Blue 11-0, which included six goals in the opening 45 minutes last Friday night.
Leah-Rose Winter and Layla Wright helped themselves to hat-tricks and Josie Cloud netted a brace for Denmark.
Caledonians led by a goal at half-time in their round 4 clash with Phoenix, thanks to a strike from Nicole Mullally, but their joy was short-lived as Phoenix banged home four goals in the second half to record their second triumph of the season.
Last Tuesday in the men’s masters league, Polonia defeated The Vets 5-3, Caledonians won a high-scoring contest against Rovers Black 5-4, Denmark beat Albany-Bayswater 3-0 and Old Boys and Cross Keys United shared the points in their game.
Port Albany, Denmark White, Royals, Mt Barker United and Denmark Black were on the winners’ list in women’s league B.
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