UPDATE: William Freney’s blistering late strike earned Perth Glory a 3-3 draw with Perth SC last night as both teams’ winless streaks continued in the NPLWA – Men’s competition.
The Round 11 result at the Sam Kerr Football Centre leaves the out-of-form pair a point clear of the relegation play-off spot. The Azzurri are still awaiting their first league win under Kenny Lowe, while Glory at least ended a six-match losing run.
SEE SQUADI FOR NPLM RESULTS, FIXTURES & TABLE
It did not start well for Glory who found themselves 2-0 down midway through the first half. Judd McDougall’s cross wasn’t dealt with by goalkeeper Robbie Cook and Perth SC’s striker Sam Cook was there to score from close range. Then Sean O’Connor had his pocket picked by Josh Cala and the ball broke nicely for Gordon Perkins to make it goals in back-to-back games.
Laat Mathiang provided a timely response for the youngsters on 27 minutes when he drove through the heart of Perth’s midfield and struck low into the back of the net.
Glory were level at half-time when Aiki Tsukamoto was brought down by Franc Gamiz Quer just inside the box and Sebastian Despotovski finished calmly from the penalty spot.
But Perth regained their lead early in the second period after playing out coolly from the back. Coby Sutton eventually led the charge down the left and fed David Ninkovich with the forward breaking into the box and squaring for Sam Cook to tap in.
Perth may have extended their lead when Robbie Cook got down well to save from Perkins before Sam Cook headed over Ethan Banks’ cross from six yards.
Freney then had a long-range strike saved by the outstretched Joe Pollard. That proved to be a warning sign, and with three minutes on the clock the substitute was again given time to hit from distance. This time Freney’s drive flew past Pollard, and the midfielder’s first NPL goal was good enough to rescue a point.
Balcatta now occupy second bottom in the division following a 2-0 home defeat to Bayswater City, their third defeat in four. In contrast, Gary Williams’ side are unbeaten in six games.
Baysie led on 42 minutes when Gordon Smith found Chris Jackson in the penalty area. The former Golden Boot winner got an awkward pass under control and instinctively finished low past Connor Campbell.
The win was wrapped up four minutes from time when Cameron Teece’s cross was cleared only as far as Smith, who swept in to score his first goal since Round Two.
Bayswater ended the weekend inside the top four, four points behind third place and seven off the top.
Olympic Kingsway are the leaders at the halfway mark of the competition after coming from behind to beat Armadale 2-1 at Alfred Skeet Reserve.
The hosts had a confidence-boosting 5-0 win over Stirling at Alfred Skeet Reserve last week and took the lead before the break against the league’s top side. Charlie Fleming lifted into the channel for Hamish Van Dieken to break into the box and volley home nicely despite being off-balance.
Van Dieken was then fouled by Mitch Oxborrow early in the second half which saw Olympic’s skipper collect a second yellow card and his team go down to 10 men. It did not deter David Tough’s side, though, and they equalised soon after with Joe Knowles’ deep cross to the back post headed across goal and in by Luke Hewings.
Hewings and Knowles were key again when Kingsway got the game’s decisive goal 20 minutes from time. Hewings’ work rate saw him win the ball on halfway before Aryn Williams surged forward from full-back. He pulled across goal for Knowles to net a sixth of the season and complete the turnaround.
Armadale’s appeals for a penalty nine minutes from time were waved away by the referee and in the aftermath Chan Yelchan was shown a second yellow card as the hosts also ended the game with 10 men.
Alun Vernals’ side remain in eighth place and five points clear of danger with the gap to fourth starting to widen. On the other hand, Kingsway stay one point clear of second-place Fremantle City who won 2-1 at Floreat Athena to make it six victories on the spin.
Floreat were four games without a win coming into their first of four consecutive home games. They went in front on seven minutes thanks to a beautifully worked team goal as Kyle Murray’s killer pass found Sean McManus, who rolled across for Nick Ambrogio to finish low via the post.
Freo levelled later in the half as Dylan White played a give-and-go with Pat Loughrey before standing up a cross for the league’s leading scorer Ollie La Galia to head in and make it 10 goals for the campaign.
The home side found themselves on the back foot when Cherno Bah collected two yellow cards in seven minutes prior to the interval.
Matty Sparrow’s side profited with a winner on 69 minutes as John Chalmers released Loughrey who charged upfield before the ball eventually fell for La Galia. The striker’s shot was well blocked by Ajang Yuot but the rebound fell perfectly for Loughrey to crash home.
Perth RedStar’s fine form also continued as two Daryl Nicol goals were the catalyst for a 2-0 win over bottom-side Inglewood United.
Nicol stayed onside to collect Lewis Tucker’s perfectly weighted pass and the Scot did the rest as he coolly rounded the goalkeeper before firing high into the net.
He completed a brace in the second period when Bryce Bafford drove to the byline and pulled back for the striker, who controlled with his first touch and slotted home with his second.
RedStar’s win means the top three sides are separated by three points, while Inglewood remain eight points adrift at the bottom having lost all 11 of their matches so far.
Finally, Stirling Macedonia bounced back from last week’s hammering at Armadale by edging Western Knights 1-0.
It was a successful game in the dugout for interim head coach Dean Nicolaou, who stepped up following Ian Ferguson’s departure from the club during the week.
Knights keeper Sam Reilly was forced into an early save when Danny Douglas’ cross was met by Alex Tanevski, but the goalkeeper was beaten all ends up on 26 minutes when Sam Wynne rifled in superbly from 30 yards.
Shay Donovan hit the base of the post with Knights’ closest chance of the night and later shot straight at James Bosdet in the final 10 minutes. It ended 1-0 and both sides sit level on points and within striking distance of Bayswater in fourth.
On Sunday, Stirling announced they had appointed former Perth Glory Academy head coach Ago Mujic as the man to replace Ferguson.