Kingsway rally from two down to beat Knights in Australia Cup

It was an outstanding night of Australia Cup football on Tuesday with just four teams now standing in the race to make the national Round of 32.

 

The biggest drama came at Kingsway Reserve, where Olympic Kingsway rallied from 2-0 down with under 20 minutes remaining to beat Western Knights 3-2.

 

Knights looked well set at the break as goals from Justin Tang and Jack Bardsley gave them a deserved two-goal cushion. Tang did well to work the space and open the scoring inside the first 10 minutes, while Bardsley was allowed too much time to fire low beyond Adrian Sinagra from outside the box.

 

Kingsway introduced top scorer Liam Boland at half-time but they had to wait until 71 minutes before throwing themselves a lifeline. A pinpoint long ball by Mitch Oxborrow picked out Joe Knowles, who timed his run just right and calmly slid his shot below Sam Reilly. Bardsley then brought a smart low save out of Sinagra as Knights continued to press. But with five minutes to play Knowles turned provider, sending over a superb cross for Joe Hobson to level. And the pair teamed up again a minute from time, as Hobson got on the end of another terrific Knowles ball to win the game for Kingsway.

 

 

There was plenty of excitement at Dorrien Gardens too, where a stoppage-time goal by Sam Cook gave Perth SC a 3-2 victory over Stirling Macedonia. The Azzurri had already led twice thanks to a Federico Achilli double but each time Stirling got on terms, through Sam Wynne and Alex Tanevski. Then with extra-time on the cards, Cook reacted first after the ball came out off keeper Liam Price to set up a last-four trip to Kingsway.

 

 

Things were more straightforward in the two other games, as Bryce Bafford's opener and an own goal saw Perth RedStar win 2-0 against Rockingham City at Percy Doyle Reserve.

 

RedStar will take on Sorrento FC in the preliminary last four after the Gulls ended Ashfield's cup run at Paintseal Arena. Rhys Thompson got his maiden senior goal for Sorrento, who won the tie 4-0. James McGowan, Keegan Chambers and Luke Salmon were the Gulls' other scorers.

 

The two semi-finals will take place between 11-13 June with the winners advancing to the national Round of 32 of the Australia Cup as well as meeting in the State Cup final.

 

Olympic Kingsway v Perth SC

Perth RedStar v Sorrento FC