Report by Tommy Doleman
Bayswater City have all but locked away back-to-back league titles after a 6-2 win over Stirling Macedonia in the penultimate round of the New Balance NPL WA Men’s competition.
Baysie’s big win, combined with Olympic Kingsway’s 1-1 draw against Sorrento FC, means Matt Sparrow’s side are three points plus significant goal difference ahead of the Green Machine with one game remaining.
Stirling, meanwhile, miss out on a top-four finish for the second season running and will end an inconsistent campaign in mid-table.
The reigning champions had matters in their own hands going into the weekend and went in front on 21 minutes. Luke Palmateer made it goals against his former side home and away when netting from Declan Hughes’ back post corner.
Stirling showed fight in the first half and levelled when Callum McKenzie’s drive broke kindly for Alex Tanevski to turn in from close range.
The hosts were 2-1 up at the break courtesy of Pat Loughrey’s powerful finish and extended their lead four minutes after the restart when the Irishman’s cutback was swept home by Jon Corness.
Chris Jackson made it 15 goals for the season when volleying emphatically into the bottom corner on the hour, which ended Stirling’s outside top four hopes.
Oli La Galia later came off the bench and rolled in from a tight angle to make it five, before McKenzie scored from penalty spot to join Jackson on 15 goals in 2026. La Galia scored a sixth late on with a straightforward header from another Hughes corner as Bayswater extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches.
Friday’s result ended Perth RedStar’s chances of winning the league and meant Kingsway had to win to keep their title hopes alive, given that Bayswater’s goal difference was 15 better than theirs. But Richard Garcia’s side failed to get the job done against a team that had conceded seven against Baysie a week earlier.
Olympic began on the front foot as Aryn Williams’ flick from Jawad Rezai’s corner was cleared off the line by Scott Robertson early on. And on 20 minutes another Rezai corner did yield the game’s first goal with Joe Hobson heading in from six yards.
At that point, Kingsway were taking the title race to the final day. But they could not kill off their opponents and instead it was the Gulls who struck on 78 minutes when Keegan Chambers broke clear of Olympic’s defence and rifled into the top corner from 18 yards.
Sorrento had the best chance to win it late on when Clay Gibbs forced a reflex save from Mark Birighitti. They then withstood a late rally to claim a point to dispel any relegation discussion on the final day.
Elsewhere, Pieter Jacobsz jumped to the top of the scoring chart with four goals as Perth Azzurri beat Perth RedStar 5-2 to put themselves in pole position for Top Four Cup qualification.
Kenny Lowe’s side were two up inside 11 minutes. David Ninkovic’s cushioned pass was slotted into the corner by Ethan Banks before Jacobsz tapped in Jamie McNelis’ cross.
RedStar, who are assured to feature in the post-season competition, pulled one back swiftly after a mistake at the back from Perth which resulted in Aaron Black’s whipped finish from 18 yards.
Two goals in two minutes around the half-hour mark would give Perth what proved to be a commanding 4-1 lead. Jacobsz bundled in at the second time of asking after seeing his initial attempt saved by Liam Reddy, before putting away his hat-trick goal when set up by Banks.
Jack Baker struck from inside the box to give RedStar hope of a comeback early in the second half. But Jacobsz’s header late on saw him climb to 17 goals for the campaign and two clear of Chris Jackson and Callum McKenzie in pursuit of a third consecutive Golden Boot.
Perth’s big win means they only need a point against Sorrento on the final day to return to the Top Four Cup. That’s because Fremantle City’s 5-3 defeat against Perth Glory leaves them three points behind.
Glory came flying out of the blocks in a dominant first-half showing and led 3-0 at the break.
Lewis Donnelly’s long throw was flicked on by Louis Sollitt, with Achnaff Sayon arriving to put in the opener. Alfie Knight then cashed in on a turnover from Chad Nilson to finish with aplomb, before following in after Ollie Evans’ shot was saved by Luke Radonich.
Glory were cruising at that point, but Freo scored twice in two minutes to make a game of it. Cam Edwards controlled and finished Charlie Chechlacz’s near post cross, and then Nick Ambrogio scored from the penalty spot after Taj Bingwa was fouled by Donnelly.
The home side restored their two-goal cushion with a quarter of an hour remaining through Malise Mpunga’s low curler from the edge of the box. And even though Luke Rossi pulled another back for Freo, Tadi Kuzamba won and scored a penalty to lift Glory to ninth and a point clear of the bottom two.
Armadale are also a point outside of the relegation zone after Leigh Griffiths scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Dianella White Eagles, which saw the latter drop into the relegation play-off spot.
Griffiths beat the offside trap and latched onto Kyle Murray’s long ball to strike past Peter Pilkadaris on seven minutes.
Army keeper David Keenan made two big saves before the break to deny Albert Luwi’s shot and Franc Gamiz Quer’s header. And seven minutes after the restart, John Baird’s side doubled their lead when Griffiths volleyed in Corey Sutherland’s pass.
Dianella made a triple substitution and one of the replacements won a penalty to get the visitors back in it. Yannick Dao pulled down Noah Shamaki in the area, with Luwi stepping up to score from 12 yards.
But Griffiths settled the contest 11 minutes from time with a clinical finish from Craig Barker’s pass, as Armadale made it four games unbeaten and leapfrogged their opponents.
With results going against them elsewhere, Balcatta Etna are odds-on to be relegated from the NPL WA despite a goalless draw at Western Knights.
Basil Lenzo’s side are three points behind second-from-bottom Dianella White Eagles, who they meet on the final day at Home Group Stadium. However, they will need to win by five goals to avoid automatic relegation.
It could have been worse for Etna as they conceded a penalty in the 95th minute when James Fanelli fouled Dylan White in the box. But Seb Medica saved Jesse Lazzaro’s spot-kick and bravely denied the midfielder on the follow-up to give Balcatta an outside shot of survival going into the final day.
