Soccer: Cosmos win puts heat on Kingz as play-offs near

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Middle-of-the-table Canberra Cosmos did themselves a favour with a win in round 22 of National Soccer League action but it was a victory Wollongong Wolves and the Football Kingz could have done without.

After taking the first-half lead through Stuart Young, Wollongong Wolves conceded two - from Milton Cortes and Jon Angelucci - late in the game to see their unbeaten 11-match streak ended.

Canberra's home win allowed them to leapfrog the Kingz into 10th place and keep their slim top six play-off hopes alive.

But there was some good news for the Kingz on another front.

Marconi, on their way to a 2-1 win over bottom-placed Eastern Pride 2-1, had Archie Thompson sent off in the 80th minute. The fourth-highest goalscorer in the league this season will now miss Friday night's game against the Kingz at Wellington's WestpacTrust Stadium.

A hat-trick for Andy Vlahos, who took his season's tally to 10, set up South Melbourne's 3-0 away win over Parramatta Power and kept them a point clear of Sydney Olympic.

Perth Glory made the most of their home advantage to rock Northern Spirit 4-1 with Damian Mori and Bobby Despotovski grabbing two goals each to remain locked at the top of the goalscoring list with 15.

Ben Burgess gave the Sydneysiders the early lead from the penalty spot. Despotovski completed Perth's scoring from the spot in the 90th minute.

Louis Brain scored for Adelaide City Force 19 minutes into their away game with Newcastle United. The Force held on to win by that margin and, with a game in hand, remain just three points out of the top six.

In the other game, in front of a crowd of just 1643 at Ballymore, Brisbane beat Sydney United 4-2 with Paul Foster scoring twice for the home side including one from the penalty spot.

In a catch-up game tomorrow night, Brisbane are at home to South Melbourne.

But South Melbourne have every incentive - a victory will let them stretch their lead at the top of the table.

In feature games this weekend, Adelaide are at home to Perth and the Kingz battle to keep their play-off hopes alive.