ARMADALE climbed off the bottom of the table with a resolute 2-1 victory over Cockburn City at Dalmatinac Park on Saturday.
The win was Armadale’s second in a row and moved it two points clear of last-placed Subiaco, which lost 5-0 to Bayswater City.
Armadale coach Paul Price was delighted with the win and his side’s defensive performance.
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READ NOW“We played extremely well defensively and did well to catch them on the break, and I thought we thoroughly deserved the win,” Price said.
“This win takes us off the bottom, which is a massive thing for us, and we’ve also got a better goal difference than Subiaco… we’ve also got a game in hand on them as well.
“If we keep playing with today’s commitment and professionalism then we will definitely avoid relegation.”
The away side was first to threaten when a lobbed pass found Michael Domfeh inside the box and his shot was touched out for a corner by Cockburn keeper Luke Radonich.
Domfeh was at it again in the just three minutes later when Anthony Skorich split the defence to put him one-on-one.
The forward made his way into the box and calmly slotted the ball past Radonich to put his side up 1-0 in the 21st minute.
The lead was doubled in the 39th minute when the referee awarded Armadale a penalty after a handball by Cockburn defender Euen Grant.
Ellis Healing stepped up and showed compose to score his side’s second.
Armadale opted for a more defensive approach in the second half and Cockburn was forced to fashion efforts from range.
The first came in the 69th minute when David Araya’s shot was prevented from finding the bottom corner thanks to a diving save from Armadale keeper Alec Radonich.
Cockburn was denied from distance again when a good shot from Cameron Edwards was saved once more.
The home fans had something to cheer in the 93rd minute when Harry O’Brien scored a consolation goal.
O’Brien was alone in the penalty area when a long ball found him before he controlled the ball and finished in the bottom corner.
Cockburn coach Scott Miller said Armadale deserved the win.
“We were not at the races; we gave away a couple of silly goals and Armadale beat us fair and square,” he said.
“We had all the possession, but I thought Armadale set up really well defensively and had a good game plan which they executed a lot better than our own.”