2025 Australian Championship: Baysie out after heavy loss
Bayswater City bowed out of the Australian Championship after going down 4-1 to group winners Wests APIA in Sydney this afternoon.
The result meant Baysie finished third in Group D, behind MetroStars on goal difference following the Adelaide club's 2-0 win over Sydney United 58 earlier in the day.
Bayswater went into the game knowing they needed a point. But with Paddy Loughrey, Chris Jackson and Oli La Galia all missing, it was always going to be a tough task and they found themselves two down at the break.
Franco Farinella tapped home a cross from Presley Ortiz, who was given too much time to pick out his man. Then just before the interval, Farinella caught the Baysie defence napping at a throw-in and gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage.
Things went from bad to worse for Matty Sparrow's side early in the second half when Scottish midfielder Sean McManus was dismissed for a foul.
However, this didn’t deter the visitors from getting themselves back in the game, and Aidan Edwards threw them a lifeline with an excellent lob from the edge of the area.
But as Bayswater chased the goal they required to go through, APIA made use of their extra man to pick off the visitors with two more goals, scored by Oscar Gonzalez and Domenic Costanzo. That secured top spot for APIA, who finished three points in front of MetroStars and Bayswater.
The result was crushing for Bayswater, who were unable to garner the single point they needed from either of their last two group games. But once the dust settles, the NPLWA champions can look back on their campaign with pride, taking three wins and a draw from six matches against some of the top Member Federation teams in the country.
