Report by Tommy Doleman
Bayswater hold a slender lead at the top of the New Balance NPL WA Men’s competition after being held to a 1-1 draw by Fremantle City at Hilton Park.
The result leaves Baysie ahead of Perth RedStar on goal difference only, with Olympic Kingsway a point further back in third. However, the reigning champions will lose top spot next week when RedStar travel to Kingsway for a catch-up game from Round 14.
Saturday’s clash between Fremantle and Bayswater was a dress rehearsal for this season’s State Cup final, with both sides also representing WA in the Hahn Australia Cup later this month.
Both teams had opportunities in the first half with Pat Loughrey forcing Luke Radonich into a save, while Shubham Mokala fired over the bar at the other end.
But Freo were presented with a chance to take the lead five minutes before the interval when Luke Palmateer was adjudged to have fouled Chad Nilson in the box. Nick Ambrogio sent Lewis Italiano the wrong way from the spot to make it 1-0 at half-time.
The hosts should have been two-up early in the second half but Shubham Mokala hit the bar from close range after Italiano saved Taj Bingwa’s attempt. And that miss proved costly as Bayswater levelled on 64 minutes through Cameron Teece after a nicely worked move involving Anthony Bafobusha and Ollie La Galia.
Borbor Sam came closest to a winner with his curler tipped onto the crossbar by Radonich, but it ended all square. Freo are now four games unbeaten, five points away from the top four with five matches remaining.
RedStar moved alongside Bayswater on 34 points after edging past Stirling Macedonia 1-0 on the road.
The only goal came on 53 minutes when Nic Walsh ventured forward from full back with the defender’s cross deflected into his own net by Kade Fearnall.
Alex Tanveski volleyed Stirling’s best chance of an equaliser wide as their inconsistent form sees them in mid-table and seven points behind the top four.
Kingsway also closed the gap to summit with Jawad Rezai scoring a hat-trick on debut in a 6-1 victory away to Armadale.
Rezai took nine minutes to open his account for the Green Machine after latching onto Liam Boland’s clever pass before finishing emphatically across the goalkeeper.
Rob Harker’s glancing header from Danny De Silva’s free-kick made it 2-0 at the break, with the visitors putting their foot down in the second half to boost their goal difference.
They went three up after an hour when Joe Hobson’s shot cannoned off the underside of the bar and landed over the line. Cherno Bah’s second yellow card on 62 minutes then had the home side down to 10 men, and soon after Jonathon Leithead found himself in the right place at the right time to add a fourth.
Rezai’s classy first-time finish from Jack Clisby’s long diagonal made it five. And after Scotlan Morrison tucked away a late consolation for the Army, Rezai completed a treble late on from the penalty spot.
Armadale remain third from bottom and two points clear of the relegation play-off place.
Bottom side Balcatta are now within four points of safety after breathing life into their fight for survival after a 3-1 win over Perth Glory at the Sam Kerr Football Centre.
It was a critical game for Etna to maintain any hope of staying up and they came flying out of the traps. Glory stopper Ryan Warner made four good saves in the opening half-hour to deny Balcatta the game’s first goal.
Against the run of play, Glory went ahead in stunning fashion as Jack Lennon teed up Tino Mutema to rifle into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Balcatta got the reward their effort deserved on the stroke of half-time when Darius Ghinea’s cross from the right was met by a diving header from new signing Teppai Iida.
Oliver Evans poked just wide of the post in the second period for Glory, but it was Balcatta who landed two late blows to tighten up the relegation picture and close to within two points of the youngsters.
Iida doubled the lead when linking with Ghinea before slotting under Warner with around 10 minutes remaining. And Ghinea, himself, found the score sheet in stoppage time when tapping in after substitute Phoenix Lee beat Warner to the ball and squared for the striker.
Glory remain second bottom, just two points clear of Balcatta and the automatic relegation place.
Elsewhere, Western Knights snapped a six-game winless run with a 2-0 victory over Sorrento FC at Nash Field.
Knights led after half-an-hour when the Gulls defence failed to deal with Regan Hutchinson’s long throw and Santi Flores bagged his first goal since joining the club from Glory.
Sorrento almost levelled in first-half stoppage time but Ryan Inman’s header struck the woodwork. Instead, they saw the game slip away as Daniel Walsh tucked home following WoonSub Sim’s corner to ensure his side keep their faint hopes of a finals finish alive.
Sorrento are ninth but remain seven points clear of danger with Dianella White Eagles moving above them on goal difference following their 2-2 draw with title hopefuls Perth Azzurri in the evening kick-off.
Fresh off a hat-trick at Armadale last week, Pieter Jacobsz opened the scoring early on with a free header at the back post from Michael Scafetta’s corner.
Asher Nelson tied it up on nine minutes when he slipped Jacobsz and thumped home a header from Daniel Zivkovic’s corner.
Ian Ferguson’s side then led on 27 minutes when Sasa Njegic drove through the heart of Dianella Reserve and fired in from outside the box against his former side. However, in-form Jacobsz scored again from another Perth set-piece before half-time to make it 2-2.
That was how it stayed and Azzurri stay four points off top spot in fourth.
