Baysie title boost as Olympic, Glory lose
Bayswater City have taken a major stride towards a first league title since 2017 on a dramatic weekend in the NPLWA – Men’s competition.
The unbeaten leaders kicked off Round 13 with a 2-0 home win over bottom side Floreat Athena on Friday night.
And their weekend got even better with nearest rivals Olympic Kingsway and third-place Perth Glory both going down to surprise defeats.
That leaves Bayswater with a six-point advantage over 2024 champions Olympic heading into the final nine matches of the campaign, with Glory now 10 points off the pace.
NPLM RESULTS, FIXTURES & STANDINGS
At the other end of the table, Floreat remain four points adrift at the bottom. Yet they were able to frustrate Matty Sparrow’s side for almost an hour at Frank Drago Reserve. The deadlock was eventually broken when Oli La Galia latched onto a loose ball and crossed for Chris Jackson to force in. Jackson completed a brace moments later when smashing home after La Galia had glanced on Lewis Italiano’s long kick.
That made it 11 wins from 13 matches for Bayswater and they were given a further boost this afternoon when Sorrento FC inflicted a first home NPL loss on Olympic since 2023. The 2-0 result also snapped a four-game winless run for Steve McGarry side, who have gone four points clear of the relegation play-off spot.
Corey Sutherland was the Gulls’ hero with a goal late in each half. His first came in style, four minutes before the break. Hamza Hina deserves praise for winning the ball from Ryan Lowry. His cross was cleared only as far as Sutherland, who chested down and volleyed in from 18 yards. Sutherland’s deflected strike late on sealed a much-needed Sorrento win and landed what could be a telling blow to Olympic’s title defence.
Glory also suffered defeat as a 3-1 reverse at home to Stirling Macedonia saw them lose for the first time in five league games.
Ago Mujic’s side were riding high after booking their tickets to the Hahn Australia Cup Round of 32 in midweek, along with Olympic. And they were ahead after two minutes when Samuel Dweh’s cross was headed into his own net by Ruben Argent after pressure from Callum McKenzie.
Glory levelled by the quarter hour mark after Adrian Pini showed trickery down the right and crossed for Noah Iercai to stroke into the bottom corner. But Stirling restored their lead before half time when James Bosdet’s goalkick ran through for McKenzie to coolly lift over an onrushing Glory goalkeeper Ryan Warner.
The visitors then put the game out of the youngsters' reach with 16 minutes left when Daniel Jankuloski was penalised for handball and Leigh Griffiths made no mistake from the penalty spot to score his first goal for the club.
Elsewhere, Perth RedStar took control of the final top four place with a 2-0 win away at Armadale.
Callum Salmon’s side took the initiative late on in a tight opening 45 minutes when Daniel Walsh headed in his first goal for the club from Matty George’s inswinging corner. George was involved again early in the second half as the visitors made it 2-0 with his perfectly weighted assist setting Sam Pollard away to run in and score.
That was an impressive sixth win in a row for RedStar who are two points behind Glory and three points clear of fifth-placed Perth SC.
Perth leapfrogged Armadale into that position after a thumping 5-0 win at Fremantle City as they ended a six-game winless run in the league.
The Azzurri went ahead on 16 minutes when Daniel Faichney played a give-and-go with Ethan Banks before squaring for Josh Cala who had plenty of time to finish.
Perth doubled their lead before half-time with Faichney again the provider for Abdul Osman to smartly head in and net for a second straight season at Hilton Park. Osman himself doubled up early in the second half when following in Cala’s shot to give Perth a third and three likely points.
It got worse for the home side when Sam Riak stole possession in midfield and gave it to Osman who nudged forward for Banks to run in and drive home a fourth from the edge of the area. David Ninkovich raced clear and hammered into the bottom corner as Kenny Lowe’s side got their season back on track, while Freo suffered a sixth consecutive defeat to stay second bottom.
Finally, Western Knights bounced back from last week’s defeat to RedStar by winning 2-0 at Balcatta Etna.
Knights made the perfect start with a minute played when Harry O’Brien beat the offside trap to control Jesse Lazzaro’s clipped pass and poke low past the goalkeeper. Etna had taken Kingsway to penalties in the Australia Cup on Wednesday, but they were unable to mount a comeback as Kristian Santich skipped past Kurt Harris' last-man challenge and ran through unopposed to double the lead with 21 minutes to go. The win keeps Knights well clear of trouble, while Balcatta stay just above the relegation play-off spot.
