Soccer: UWA Nedlands claims 1-0 win over Canning City

UWA Nedlands FC struck revenge on Canning City SC they held a slender lead for the majority of the game to come out 1-0 victors in round 20 of the State League Division One on Saturday.

Both sides came into the fixture with aspirations for a top half finish, but a loss for either side would seriously dent their chances heading into the penultimate round.

UWA started the fresher of the two and tested the Canning keeper early courtesy of a riffling effort from midfielder Marc Zagami.

Zagami was to be involved again shortly afterwards exchanging a neat one-two with midfield companion Conor Devlin before threading Lloyd Prout through down the right flank.

Prout’s resulting cross was put into a perilous area but Canning was able to clear their lines and avoid any danger.

Fullback Robbie Black’s well placed corner found Alex Kretowicz sniffing within the six yard box with Kretowicz able to control and finish from close range to give the home side the lead.

UWA was comfortable in possession and was remaining a constant threat, particularly through Prout down the right flank.

The winger was unfortunate not to give Kretowicz his second after he brilliantly turned his man before riffling in a low cross but Canning’s keeper was on his toes to stop Kretowicz from getting his desired touch.

Canning thought they had found an equaliser when a quick break resulted in an intelligent finish from their centre forward, lobbing the oncoming Ranjeet Sekhon from the edge of the area with his head.

Canning’s celebrations were short-lived, as the assistant’s flag was raised and for the second game in a row UWA’s opposition saw an equaliser disallowed for offside.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half was rather stale, with Canning coming out with a higher intensity and UWA not quite being able to dominate as they did in the first period.

However, with time UWA started to slowly get back on top highlighted by Prout causing havoc for Canning down the right hand side, which saw the midfielder have a string of opportunities miss by the finest of margins.

Despite maintaining the majority of the ball, UWA was still susceptible on the break and Sekhon had to be on his toes to cut out the danger on various occasions.

Canning came closest when a cross from the right wing came across the face of goal, UWA fullback Brandon Naude was on hand to clear, albeit only marginally missing his own net.

The victory maintains UWA’s aspirations of a top five finish, with two tough fixtures against Joondalup and Ashfield to be played in the final two weeks.