The 2011 APB State League Division one side

Welcome to the Ashfield family

We are proud to announce a new addition to our footballing family, A new Sponsor ALANCO. We are proud to be associated with a Western Australian company that has focused on providing the best possible service to it's customers and has the motto Quality Products, Superior Service, and Satisfied Customers.

ALANCO, founded in 1987 has a showwroom and distribution network that can get quality parts to Auto electricians anywhere in the State overnight and to the entire Metro area within two hours. Alanco’s Automotive Electrical range is second to none, combining some of the biggest brands in the industry.

Keith Bollen and his team are also football fans and are following our results closely on facebook and twitter.

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ASHFIELD FINISH NIGHT SERIES IN THIRD

Ryan Frisina’s early strike was enough to give Ashfield a 1-0 win over Bunbury Forum Force and cap off a terrific Night Series with third place in the 2012 competition.

The Ashfield striker has been in sensational form this pre-season and he was prominent again, scoring a sensational free kick which proved decisive as the Reds claimed their third Premier League scalp with victory.

Bunbury huffed and puffed in their search for an equaliser but they’ll have to be content with their semi-final appearance as they look towards an opening day tussle at home with last season’s league champions Balcatta.

Warm condition didn’t help the players early on in this twilight kick-off, but the opening goal did arrive 12 minutes in, and it was an absolute pearler.

The Division one side had a free kick on the corner of the penalty area and Frisina expertly curled the ball around the wall and into the corner of the net.

The Ashfield number nine should have doubled the scores almost immediately after, but he failed to get a decisive touch on Karl Tate’s low cross.

Bunbury set about getting a quick response as Prosser dribbled from the halfway line unchallenged but fired his shot just over the crossbar.

Jordan Rispin headed over from Kieran Quin’s corner and then Jamie Tandy stung the palms of Brad Eiffe from range as the Force started to take charge.

Lee Stewart also tried his luck from range but again didn’t quite get the direction as Ashfield held a narrow advantage at the interval.

Ashfield were the first to threaten the target in the second half through Darryl Warren, but it was Bunbury who came closer soon after, only for Quin to miss in similar fashion to Frisina earlier.

Former Manchester City youth player Jamie Tandy did his best to liven up proceedings with a marauding run down the left hand, but his cross was disappointing after all his good work.

The best openings continued to fall to Frisina though, this time he dragged his shot wide of the target after being picked out by Natta Narraongphant.

Stewart was the next player who probably thought he could have done better, having scooped over the bar after being put through on goal.

With 13 minutes to play, Ashfield failed to capitalise on a four on one situation as substitute Karl O’Reilly shot with a lack of conviction straight at Russell.

Chances were still falling to the giantkillers as the last five minutes loomed, but this time it was Tate who failed to trouble the goalkeeper.

Bunbury had one last chance to draw level late on, but Bright Abobobi headed inches wide from Quin’s corner as Ashfield held on to secure to finish third in the Night Series.

Bunbury Forum Force 0
Ashfield SC 1 (Frisina 12’)
Saturday March 10, 2012
BCG Stadium, Perth
Local kick-off: 5:30
Crowd: 400
Referee: Mark Williams

Bunbury Forum Force: 1. Shane RUSSELL (GK), 2. Mark OSMOND (10. Jarrod MORT 49’), 4. Michael HUGHES, 5. Jamie TANDY, 7. Kieran QUIN, 8. Danny KANE, 9. Bright ABOBOBI, 12. Aiden SAVORY, 14. Jordan RISPIN (17. Ollie McGEE 79’), 15. Jayden PROSSER (11. Jon BROOKS 63’), 16. Lee STEWART.

Subs not used: RGK: Ryan MONTGOMERY, 2. Corey UTTERSON.

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Ashfield SC: 1. Brad EIFFE (GK), 3. Matt WARDLE, 4. Steve O’MAHONEY, 5. David GORDON (6. Brian MAYBIN 55’), 7. Karl TATE, 8. Ashley PICKER (2. Mark HUMPHRIES 56’), 9. Ryan FRISINA, 11. Daryl WARREN, 12. Ian GRIFFITHS, 14. Natta NARRAONGPHANT (10. Karl O’Reilly 65’), 15. OKWE DIAMONDSTAR.

Subs Not Used: RGK: Todd BUSBY, 13. Grant LEARMONT.

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

GIANT KILLERS SPOT ON AGAINST FLOREAT

Giant killers Ashfield SC repeated last week’s heroics by knocking current night series champions Floreat crashing out of the competition. An extra time Frisina equalizer sent the game to penalties which saw the First-Division side victorious 5-4 against the Premier League side.

With what would have been close to the last kick of the game Frisina sent the vocal crowd into a frenzy when his chip shot hit the back of the net, nine perfect spot kicks later Okwy Diamonstar sent his team into the next round.

Up until the last minute of time added on it looked like last year's Night Series champions had the game sewn up after a Ryan Boland double in five minutes had given Floreat the lead.

Ashfield, who dispatched Premier League champions Balcatta last week started the game in a confident opening and signalled their intent when Darryl Warrens' shot beat the keeper but couldn’t stay under the bar.

After eight minutes a Mark Humphries through ball found Frisina who unselfishly fed the ball to Warren who did not miss this time. Floreat tried hard to level the score, Boland a little too hard as he was booked for simulation after being tackled fairly by Steve O’Mahoney.

Floreat pushed hard down the right hand side through the lively Jarrad Smith who cut inside Matt Wardle and unleashead a vicious curling shot into the far side of the goal past the outstretched Eiffe.

In their first attack after the restart Ludovic Boi picked Diamondstar’s pocket as he attempted to see a ball over the line and delivered an inch perfect cross to an unmarked Boland at the far post.

The Ashfield response to going behind was to take the game to Floreat as Warren (who troubled the Floreat defence all night) broke free and found Mladen Kovacevic who made no mistake as the underdogs drew level.

The Ashfield crowd had further reason to celebrate only minutes later as a delightful through ball to Frisina who lobbed the keeper with a delicate one touch but the referees assistant raised the flag claiming the Ashfield forward was offside.

Floreat continued to press Brad Eiffe who couldn’t hold onto Mike Lawsons' long range shot and with the Ashfield defence failing to clear the ball cleanly Floreat were given a dubious penalty that Boland confidently belted past Eiffe that saw the reigning Night Series champions take a slender one goal lead at the break.

The second half started slowly with Floreat setting the tempo defending their lead comfortably and Ashfield surrendering possession too easily. Boland was hungry for his hat-trick and he tested Eiffe from long range but Ashfield weren’t done and after making good possession in the final third and beating the back line Karl O'Reilly put his shot over the goal.

Stand in coach Maurice Carruthers rolled the dice and replaced O’Relly and Picker with Nattapong Narraphunt and Karl Tate.

Floreat were handed a perfect opportunity to write their own history when Ashfield cleared a ball off the line to a Floreat player and his cross found an unmarked Boland who fluffed his lines and headed wide of the open goal.

This appeared to Spur on Ashfield who could sense their Night Series rapidly coming to a close. In a heart stopping four minutes of extra time the ball seemed to be penned in the Floreat defensive third. Ashfield were irrepressible in attack. With the neutrals in the stand joining in with the Ashfield faithfuls in the stands singing "come on you Reds” as the players and fans as one tried to will the ball into the net

In the third minute of stoppage time Frisina found a little bit of space in the area, His instinctive 'hit and hope' looped over keeper Johnstone Walker and in the ensuing Ashfield celebrations the players buried Frisina in a pile of red shirts .

With the game going to penalties Eiffe managed to deflect the first penalty onto the bar and this was the decisive moment for Ashfield as all nine remaining penalties were taken with aplomb. Diamondstar showed all his experience in calmly slotting the winning penalty past Walker to send the Ashfield giant killers into the semi-finals against Perth SC.

Can the fairy tale continue? Will Goliath in the guise of Perth FC prevail or will the underdog David (Ashfield) slay yet another giant and make it to the final.

If you are a neutral, like to be entertained, want to see football played with passion and have a soft spot for the underdog, come and cheer on the Red machine as they take on the Azure blues on Saturday 7.45pm, March 3 at 6PR Stadium, corner Hamer Parade and Eighth Avenue in Inglewood.

BALCATTA SEE RED IN ASHFIELD BOILOVER (with Ilija Mihalj, Football West)

A Ryan Frisina brace has helped first-division Ashfield stun eight-man Balcatta 4-1 to book a quarter-final Night Series berth in an action-packed Night Series encounter at Wotton Reserve on Friday night.

Adam Tong, Jovo Pavlovic and Veo Human all received their marching orders in an astonishing 12-minute period as the top-flight side imploded in a game it looked like winning comfortably early on.

In the sixth minute, a moment of indecisiveness from Ashfield centre-back Martin Sherwin saw winger Daniel Micevski get in behind before he was fouled by the defender who appeared to be the last man.

Referee Anastasios Paraskevas subsequently pointed to the spot, giving the benefit of the doubt to Sherwin despite Micevski being metres from goal - Balcatta captain Tong stepping up to confidently convert and put his team 1-0 up.

Ashfield was second-best for most of the opening period but equalised slightly against the run of play when enigmatic midfielder Darryl Warren caught the Balcatta defence napping before sliding a left-foot shot past Bobson Karoma in goal.

Darryl Warren looks back as his shot hits the old onion bag; Photo Courtesy of Ashfield SC

With their supporters now in full voice and sensing a possible upset, Ashfield's players gathered momentum as the half drew to a close but were lucky not to go in behind at the break after Balcatta striker John Thornley blasted over when he really should have scored from Steve Burton's knock-down.

That miss would come back to haunt last season's League Premiers as within five minutes of the re-start Ashfield was ahead.

Frisina's seemingly harmless shot was trickling towards Karoma who inexplicably fumbled into the path of the waiting Karl O'Reilly who couldn't miss from a yard out.

Balcatta was rattled and an inability to capitalise in the final third was proving its downfall.

In the 62nd minute, brilliant wing-play and a cross from Warren down the left forced Pavlovic to hurry his clearance over the bar and almost turn into his own net in the process.

Once again Balcatta was made to pay and from the resulting corner Steven O'Mahoney picked out Frisina at the back post who headed across goal emphatically to make it 3-1.

Only needing a point to advance, Balcatta threw everything forward and in the 72nd minute Tong thought he had pulled one back when his header appeared to have crossed the line.

Already booked for dissent eight minutes earlier, Tong's remonstrations didn't go unheard and Paraskevas issued the Englishman his second yellow card for taking his protests over the top.

Seven minutes later, Pavlovic was also sent for an early shower after what was deemed to be a two-footed lunge on Ashfield midfielder Ruben Tristao, despite the big defender clearly getting some of the ball.

Balcatta's misfortune was confounded from the resulting free-kick when Karoma split Sherwin's effort straight at the feet of Frisina who made it 4-1 to complete his double and silence the opposition fans.

There was still time for second-half substitute Human to see red after a sideline scuffle which saw both sets of players and benches involved.

After the match, star striker Frisina emphasised the team effort that saw them inflict one of the biggest upsets of the pre-season so far.

"Tonight was a big night for the Ashfield Soccer Club," he said.

"The boys put in a massive effort and worked hard all week at training.

"We did the things we had to do and had a good result at the end."

Triumphant Ashfield coach Matt Carruthers was also optimistic in his side's chances against either Floreat Athena or Shamrock Rovers in next Friday's quarter-final at Dorrien Gardens.

"We played Floreat in the Cup last year and were a little underdone, but (whoever the opponents are) hopefully we take this week's game into next week and give it a real go," he said.

Ashfield 4 (Daryl WARREN 29', Karl O'REILLY 50', Ryan FRISINA 62', 82')
Balcatta 1 (Adam TONG pen 7')

Date: Friday, 17 February 2012
Ground: Wotton Reserve, Embleton
Match time: 6:30pm
Referee: Anastasios PARASKEVAS
Assistant referees: Dusan RUJIC and Andrew GIORGI

Ashfield: 1. Jon PERKINS (gk), 2. David GORDON, 3. Matthew WARDLE (c), 4. Steven O'MAHONEY, 6. Ruben TRISTAO (5. Mark HUMPRHEYS 84'), 8. Karl TATE, 9. Brian MAYBIN, 10. Karl O'REILLY (15. Ian GRIFFITHS 77'), 11. Martin SHERWIN, 12. Darryl WARREN (13. Paul QUINN 84'), 14. Ryan FRISINA

Substitutes not used: RGK. Brad EIFFE (gk), 7. Ashley PICKER
Yellow cards: David GORDON 7', Brian MAYBIN 36'
Red cards: Nil

Balcatta: 20. Bobson KAROMA (gk), 4. Julian MADASCHI, 5. Adam TONG (c), 6. Michael BLACK (19. Shane NUNES 66'), 7. Daniel MICEVSKI (14. Veo HUMAN 67'), 8. Jason BARRERA (3. Mark WALSH 66'), 9. John THORNLEY, 11. Steve BURTON, 13. John MIGAS, 15. Paul VATISTAS, 16. Jovo PAVLOVIC

Substitutes not used: RGK. Simon MADASCHI (gk), 2. Simon ELTON-BOTT
Yellow cards: Adam TONG 64', 72', Steve BURTON 80', Shane NUNES 80', Paul VATISTAS 83'
Red cards: Adam TONG 72', Jovo PAVLOVIC 79', Veo HUMAN 83'

Ashfield on Radio

Listen to Night Series Comments from World Football Show on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM from Saturday Morning. Group G at 45mins.

http://203.59.129.151/radio%20fremantle%20archive/saturday%2009_00%20radiofreo.wma

They refer to us a "Giantkillers" - love it

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