Perth RedStar crashed Sorrento’s big day in spectacular style on Saturday as they recorded a 7-1 thrashing of their northern rivals.
This was supposed to be an afternoon of celebration for the Gulls, who officially unveiled the upgraded John Hughes Pavilion at Percy Doyle Reserve at their first home game of the 2023 NPLWA – Men’s season.
It was also head coach Steven McGarry’s first home fixture in charge, against the club he played for when they were ECU Joondalup.
Unfortunately for McGarry, it was his former teammate and fellow Scot Daryl Nicol who called the shots.
Nicol got RedStar off to a flier when he netted from the penalty spot inside two minutes, awarded after the striker had been tripped by Dean Cummings. And he would play a big part in the second goal on eight minutes.
Nicol ran through on goal before being fouled by Ryan McLaughlin on the edge of the area. The defender saw a straight red card, and the 2022 Golden Boot winner meted out further punishment when he unleashed an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner.
A player and two goals down, things were not going to plan for Sorrento. And they got worse 10 minutes later when Declan Hughes beat brother Patrick in the Sorrento goal.
There was no further damage inflicted on the hosts before half-time, but early in the second period RedStar were virtually out of sight when Chok Dau rifled home from the edge of the box.
Gustavo Marulanda reduced the arrears with a nice free-kick for his fourth of the season, but that simply brought a devastating response from RedStar.
Tom Hough joined the party with a fifth from close range, before Dau stayed onside and coolly rounded the goalkeeper to bring up a half-dozen. Daniel Walsh then got forward and scored a rare goal from defence to make it seven as RedStar got off the mark in 2023.
Perth Glory were involved in a high-scoring thriller for a second successive week as they came from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Bayswater City.
While only claiming a point on Saturday, the youngsters remain the league’s only unbeaten side and sit outright top on seven points ahead of five teams grouped together on six points.
It wasn’t looking good for Glory in the first half though, as Gareth Naven’s team flew out of the gates after losing their opening two matches.
Jon Stynes’ scored with his head for a third straight week from Samuel Dweh’s cross to open the scoring, then Stynes was on hand for his fourth goal of the season from Andrew Maranta’s cross. And Dweh’s stunning first goal for Bayswater put the three-time NPL champions firmly on track for a first win of the season.
But Glory have shown plenty of fight in their first two matches under new head coach John Walmsley and they pulled one back on the stroke of half time through Laat Mathiang’s penalty. Hopes of a comeback were further boosted when Jayden Gorman lashed in a volley, and then half-time substitute Jaylan Pearman finished first time from Alex Da Rocha’s deep cross to tie it up with 15 minutes left.
That would be the end of the scoring though as Glory set the pace after three rounds. Bayswater, however, have only one point from three games and finished this one with 10 men when Nic Speca saw red against his former side for a challenge on Gorman.
Among the bunch of teams in a tie for second are Armadale, who returned to winning ways with a 4-0 win against Inglewood.
Amir Ajan got John O’Reilly’s side off to the perfect start with a free-kick on four minutes, as the former Stirling man scored for a second successive home game.
George Ballah squared for Chris Jackson to make it 2-0 and the league’s leading scorers struck two more after the restart to move second, while Inglewood drop to 10th with this second straight loss.
Off-season recruit Tim Berger struck a low third to treble the lead and Jackson completed the scoring with great composure after being put through by Pieter Jacobsz.
Meanwhile, a late own goal gave Floreat Athena a second win on the bounce as they edged past Stirling Macedonia 2-1 at E&D Litis Stadium.
Bayley Brown-Montomgery’s stunning first half opener set the holders on their way as he brought down a cross-field pass wide on the right, cut inside and curled into the far corner.
Alex Tanevski’s first goal of the season levelled it during the first half after a cross from Ryan Malton was prodded in by the forward.
An entertaining match was ultimately decided in stoppage time with Jason Saldaris making a fine low stop from Dejan Spaseski at one end. That save was rewarded three minutes into stoppage time when Phil Arnold’s free kick hit Asher Nelson and went in to give Floreat the points.
Balcatta Etna also recorded back-to-back wins thanks to another late goal from Kotaro Yamamoto, whose stoppage-time penalty gave his side a 3-2 victory at Olympic Kingsway.
Glen Grostate’s team picked up their first three points of the year on the road at Inglewood last week and they were off the mark after half-an-hour at Kingsway Reserve. Jon Corness’ corner fell to Jack Allen in the area and he drilled low past the goalkeeper for his first goal since moving across from Bayswater.
Olympic levelled just before the break as a ball forward ran through for Ciaran Byrne to poke home his second goal of the campaign.
Another Corness corner led to Balcatta regaining their advantage with substitute Ben Hinshelwood claiming his first goal of the season, only for Kingsway to respond again 13 minutes from time as Oscar Barry netted from a tight angle for David Tough’s side.
However, the visitors went ahead for a decisive third and final time in the 93rd minute. Tyler Garner was adjudged to have controlled the ball with his hand and Yamamoto hammered his penalty kick hard down the middle for the winner.
Finally, Cockburn City lifted themselves into mid-table thanks to an excellent 1-0 win over Perth SC at Dorrien Gardens.
It was a second straight win for Steve McDonald’s men following their victory at home to Bayswater last week. John Guya got the winner here when following in after Luke Radonich fumbled Frank Kinnen’s shot.
Results
Armadale 4-0 Inglewood United
Bayswater City 3-3 Perth Glory
Floreat Athena 2-1 Stirling Macedonia
Olympic Kingsway 2-3 Balcatta Etna
Perth SC 0-1 Cockburn City
Sorrento 1-7 Perth RedStar