Perth SC crusied through to the next round of the Australia Cup after a 12-0 win against Amateur Division One side Perth AFC at Dorrien Gardens on Saturday.
Substitute Jamie McNelis scored four goals in eight minutes in the second half, adding to goals from Gordon Perkins (2), Daniel Faichney (2), David Ninkovich (2), Michael Scafetta and Thiak Kuel.
The tie also allowed coach Kenny Lowe to hand first team debuts to Under 23 players Nicholas Hay and Gianni Ielati, both coming on as substitutes late in the match.
Scafetta opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 8th minute after one of the Perth AFC defenders was adjudged to have handled the ball.
Perkins doubled the advantage five minutes later and scored his second in the 16th minute in-between Faichney’s 13th minute strike.
Perth SC went into the break 4-0 up and with the numerical advantage after one of the Perth AFC players was given a direct red card for offensive language towards the referee.
Faichney got the fifth 10 minutes into the second half and Ninkovich made it 6-0 with 15 minutes remaining.
Then the Azzurri scored six goals in the last 10 minutes, including McNelis’ four-goal cameo, in a final burst to completely overrun their amateur opponents who had toiled gallantly with 10-men for the first 80 minutes of the game.
Perth SC’s opponent in the next round of the Australia Cup will be drawn early next week. The next Australia Cup round will be played on the weekend 3-4 May.
Attention turns back to the league on Thursday evening with a big City of Vincent derby against Floreat Athena at Dorrien Gardens. Kick-off is 7pm.