Cockburn give Miller a good send off

Cockburn City coach Scott Miller ended his reign at the club with a hard-fought 3-3 draw against All Flags State Premier League leaders Bayswater City.

Cockburn City coach Scott Miller ended his reign at the club with a hard-fought 3-3 draw against All Flags State Premier League leaders Bayswater City at Dalmatinac Park on Saturday.

The 40-year-old will start his new position as youth development coach at Perth Glory for next season, but he was delighted with his side-s fightback against the unbeaten Bayswater.

“I definitely think in the second half we looked like we had arrived and I thought for probably 15 minutes in the second half they dominated us again,” Miller said.

“But I was really pleased that we battled hard and showed a lot of character to salvage a point and hopefully the boys will believe in themselves for the rest of the season.”

Gustavo Giron Marulanda, Todd Howarth and Steve Burton had given the visitors a 3-2 half-time lead, with Paul Lloyd and Nick Carroll on target for the home side, before Antonio Naglieri-s late free kick gave both sides a share of the spoils. Both sides finished with 10 men with Cockburn midfielder Matt Salmon and Bayswater defender John Kearney sent off.

Sorrento missed out on an opportunity to gain on the leaders after squandering a 1-0 lead against Bunbury at Payne Park. Former Motherwell defender Steven McDonald headed the Gulls in front in the first half, before an error from Sorrento keeper Curtis Aspden gave Bunbury striker Ryan Francis the equaliser late.

ECU Joondalup moved into fifth place on the table with a 4-1 win against Balcatta at the Edith Cowan University campus. First half goals to John Monterosso, Jon Stynes and Tommy Amphlett put the home side on the way to victory; this was despite Balcatta dominating for most of the first half. Former Perth Glory winger Amphlett added his second goal midway through the second half, before Chris Thackray scored Balcatta-s consolation goal late.

In other games, Stirling scored a 2-1 win against Armadale at Macedonia Park. Rory Grant gave the home side the lead on the hour, before Mark Peers levelled 10 minutes later. It looked like they would leave with a point before Dean Evans scored in stoppage time to win it for Stirling. Inglewood beat Perth 3-2 at Intiga Stadium, while Floreat won for the first time in the league this season, after defeating the Football West National Training Centre 5-2 at E&D Litis Stadium.