Match Report By Neil Martin

A new look Perth Saints Masters side came into the preliminary round of the Masters Cup brimming with confidence after securing the Deaks Cup just six days earlier. Their opponent in this Cup fixture was Fremantle United who were promoted to the Masters Premier league this season.

The condition of the pitch at Fremantle’s ground was poor and this combined with the warm weather was sure to make life difficult for both teams. Jim Kasdorf was a late withdrawal for the Saints due to work commitments.

Fremantle flew out of the blocks and had the Saints on the back foot from the outset. A number of chances whistled past Brett “The cat” Lambert’s posts before Fremantle converted their dominance into a lead with a goal on 11 minutes.

The Saints were taking time to settle into the match but came storming back into the game when Andy Ryder resisted the temptation to shoot from a tight angle electing to square the ball to Graham Cameron who rifled the ball past the keeper after 17 minutes.

Both sides continually gave the ball away as the play swung from end to end and a number of chances went begging for both teams as the finishing skills were just not evident for this early season clash.

The Saints continued to work hard and took the lead in the 36th minute when a pinpoint cross from Adrian Scagnetti found Cameron who added his and the Saints second goal. Just as it appeared that the Saints would take a lead into the break Fremantle struck back to level the scores at 2-2 on the stroke of half time.

The half time break was an opportunity for the Saints to regroup and plan for the second half. Fremantle were tiring and the Saints felt that the cup tie was up for grabs if they could just retain possession and take their chances up front.

The match continued at a frenetic pace in the second half and both sides created a number of opportunities but failed to nail the final pass until Cameron drove the ball home for the Saints in the 57th minute to record his hat trick and wrestle back the lead for the visitors.

As the match progressed Fremantle appeared to run out of ideas before a back pass by Ewald Ringer took a wicked bounce from a pot hole in front of Saints keeper Lambert. His attempted clearance missed everything and the ball ended up in the back of the net to level the tie at 3-3 with still 20 minutes to go.

This stroke of good fortune appeared to inspire Fremantle and it was the home side who took the lead after scoring the winner with just 8 minutes to go. Try as they might the Saints were unable to level the score for the fourth time to send the game to a penalty shoot out. Fremantle took the match and progressed to the next round of the Cup leaving the Saints to wonder how they let the match slip from their grasp.

Plenty of room for improvement from a Saints outfit in just their second serious hit out for the season and with a number of players playing together for the first time.

April 8, 2006