Olympic Kingsway are closing in on their first top-flight title since 1980 after coming from behind to defeat Inglewood United 5-1 in Round 19 of the NPLWA - Men’s competition.
Having qualified for the Australia Cup Round of 16 on Tuesday night, Kingsway recovered from conceding first to put on a commanding second-half display against the division’s bottom side, which maintains their five-point cushion with three games remaining.
Inglewood’s loss means they stay three points adrift of the relegation play-off position and seven points from safety.
The home side were able to contain Kingsway early doors and had the game’s first notable chance as Kotaro Yamamoto tested Adrian Sinagra from 20 yards following a nice team move.
From the resulting corner, Inglewood hit the front as Harry Evans’ delivery was headed in by Jordan Brown for the defender’s third goal this term.
NPLM RESULTS, FIXTURES & STANDINGS
The goal woke Olympic up but Alex Stanojevic’s side nearly had a chance to make it two with Hayden Lowe crowded out by Kingsway’s rearguard after good work from Yamamoto.
Kingsway then went up the other end and levelled when Joe Knowles collected Mitch Oxborrow’s sweeping pass and cut inside to curl home for 1-1.
Knowles then scored from the penalty spot after Brown’s handball to bring up 14 goals for the season and send his side into half-time ahead.
There was an early scare for the visitors early in the second period when they gave away the ball in their own territory and Yamamoto’s effort was blocked. But ultimately Kingsway cruised to victory to make it four wins on the bounce going into the business end of the season.
Liam Boland came off the bench to bend a brilliant finish into the bottom corner, before Lebib Lebib got forward from full-back to notch his first NPL goal having been put through by Josh Samson.
Calum O’Connell wrapped up the win late on after Inglewood failed to clear their lines from a corner, as Kingsway’s charge towards league success continued.
Nearest rivals Perth RedStar kept their mathematical hopes of back-to-back championships alive after defeating Perth Glory 2-1 in an entertaining clash at RedStar Arena.
The hosts led just before hal-time when Declan Hughes’ corner was headed in by skipper Blair Govan for a 1-0 lead at the interval.
Glory equalised on 70 minutes when Khoa Ngo dribbled with pace and penetration down the right before pulling back for Adam Bugarija to finish. But they were level only for 60 seconds as the defending champions scored what proved to be the winning goal.
Daryl Nicol’s cross was diverted toward goal by Sonny O’Shea who saw his effort clawed away by Cameron Cook. Matty George was first to the loose ball and showed poise before rifling low and hard to ensure RedStar remain in pursuit.
Glory, meanwhile, have lost five in a row and are four points from safety having failed to make up ground on 10th-placed Perth SC who lost 4-1 away at Bayswater City.
Perth started well and had a golden chance to go ahead on 20 minutes, but Sam Cook was unable to force over the line from close range after good work down the left from Coby Sutton.
Not for the first time this season the Azzurri were their own worst enemy as they gifted the day’s first goal to Bayswater soon after, Gordon Smith anticipating Rocco Liberti’s pass out of defence before slotting into the net.
Chris Jackson made it two before the break, and he had another just after the restart following a counterattack which ended with Cameron Teece’s deft pass feeding the Englishman to score.
Jackson returned the favour on 55 minutes with his cross from the right reaching Teece who stroked in Bayswater’s fourth as they celebrated the 10th anniversary of the 2014 title-winning side in style.
David Ninkovich’s stunning strike from distance proved to be only a consolation as Perth’s buffer on the bottom two stays intact, despite being three games without a win.
Bayswater’s victory saw them move up to fifth and remain in contention for a top-four finish after third, fourth and sixth all dropped points on Saturday afternoon.
Third-placed Fremantle City fell to a 4-1 loss at home to Western Knights whose impressive win came off the back of a fine first-half performance.
Adam Kostrencic’s team started well and took the lead on 12 minutes when their fifth corner of the afternoon was curled directly in from the right by Jesse Lazzaro.
They doubled their lead on half-an-hour when Alex Da Rocha’s drive from range was spilled by Luke Radonich with Justin Tang following in to fire home the rebound.
It got even better for the visitors who had a third soon after with Tang pulling back for Da Rocha to sweep in and have Knights on course for three points.
Christos Vaenas got in on the act to bag his first Knights goal with 20 minutes left, having followed in after Da Rocha’s free-kick came back off the goalkeeper. Back-to-back away wins for Knights mean their NPL status is secure for 2025 as they move safely into mid-table.
Freo pulled one back when Shubham Mokala’s strike was blocked by the Knights defence and Hayden Stevens was on hand to smash in. Matty Sparrow’s side still have work to do to secure a position in the post-season competition with Bayswater now only four points behind them.
Stirling Macedonia pulled level on points with Fremantle as a late Hugo Snowden penalty rescued a 2-2 home draw with Balcatta Etna.
Balcatta went ahead on 20 minutes when Chris Harold slipped Ben Hinshelwood in behind Stirling’s defence. The striker still had plenty of work to do as he waited patiently for a yard to open up before striking low for his 11th goal of the season.
Etna’s advantage didn’t last long with Stirling back on terms moments later when Alex Tanevski bundled in Asher Nelson’s low cross from the left.
Glen Grostate’s side led at the break when Liam Price parried Rostyn Griffith’s curler into the path of Liam Hudson who arrived to finish in assured fashion.
But they could not hold onto all three points with Blamo QuaQua penalised for a foul in the box on Kai Matthews. Snowden drilled the spot-kick down the middle to extend Stirling’s unbeaten run to seven games, while a third draw in a row for Balcatta means they are basically safe.
Finally, Floreat Athena mounted a late comeback to stay in the hunt for finals with the 2-1 win also denting the chances of opponents Armadale.
Alun Vernals’ side led just past the midway mark of the first half after a well-crafted move down the left, as Luke Collins stood up a cross for Golden Boot leader Pieter Jacobsz to stretch his scoring streak to six games and make it 20 for the season.
But two strikes in the final 15 minutes turned the game on its head with Floreat ending the weekend six points off fourth, while Armadale are now a further two points back.
Sean McManus got the leveller from the penalty spot which made it goals in back-to-back games for the winger, before Cherno Bah slipped in Noah Shamaki for the striker to roll coolly into the corner.