Olympic Kingsway crowned NPLM champions

Report by Tommy Doleman 1724519886,1724831685

The photographer in the Olympic Kingsway changing room clearly jumping up with the players in celebration as the 2024 NPLM champions enjoy their moment. Right: Scorers Liam Boland and Joe Knowles. Photo by Olympic Kingsway

Olympic Kingsway have been crowned champions of the 2024 NPLWA – Men’s competition following a 3-1 win over Balcatta Etna.

It is the club’s first State title since 1980 and third in all.

The Green Machine’s fifth win in a row means they are eight points clear at the top of the league with one match to play, as attention turns to Tuesday night’s Australia Cup Round of 16 home tie with Adelaide United.

Balcatta’s loss ended a run of four games without defeat for Glen Grostate’s ninth-placed side, but they gave the leaders a good fight in an even first half at Inglewood Stadium.

Chris Harold’s effort was well saved by Adrian Sinagra with Josh Samson heading off the line, while an excellent clearance inside his own six-yard box from Aryn Williams ensured Ben Hinshelwood did not have a simple tap-in.

At the other end, Joe Knowles looped a header inches wide of the post. Knowles was then brought down by Etna keeper Connor Campbell and the in-form striker converted the spot-kick as he scored for a sixth straight league game.

Balcatta equalised four minutes later when Shogo Osawa drove forward and spotted Harold alongside him, and the former Perth Glory winger finished superbly from outside the box.

Etna deserved to be on level terms at the break, but Kingsway clicked it up a gear in the second period and two goals in three minutes proved decisive.

Knowles’ corner from the right was glanced on by Ryan Lowry for Liam Boland to nod home from close range to make it goals in three successive matches.

Soon after, Knowles was put through on goal by Josh Samson with the striker rifling in a 17th goal of the season to kickstart the celebrations and cap a memorable day for Kingsway.

At the other end of the table, Inglewood United’s 31-year stay in the top flight of WA football ended after their relegation to State League Division One was confirmed with a 6-0 loss at Fremantle City.

Having shipped six goals at Bayswater in midweek, Inglewood were behind inside 15 minutes at Hilton Park as Shubham Mokala capitalised on a mistake to burst clear and roll across for Charlie Chechlacz to score the opener.

The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Aiden Formston picked up two bookings in three minutes and their task looked more difficult in first-half added time after Taj Bingwa’s stunning side-footed finish from the edge of the area.

Bingwa’s shot was blocked into the path of Pat Loughrey who scored to make it three for Freo and victory was all but sealed when Alex Silla got forward from full-back to bend into the bottom corner.

Loughrey’s stunning second of the afternoon was curled in from distance with 90 minutes on the clock and there was still time for Riley Woodcock to bundle in from close range following a set-piece scramble.

The win lifted Fremantle to third with results elsewhere ensuring they secured a spot in this season’s Top Four Cup in their maiden NPL campaign.

Inglewood's relegation was confirmed after Perth Glory picked up a point in a 2-2 draw against Western Knights at Nash Field.

The result put Ivan Zuvela’s side four points above the trap door going into the final round, but their fate for 2025 will be decided in September’s inter-divisional play-offs with second, third and fourth from the second tier.

Glory took the lead on six minutes when Adam Harris’ clearance fell to Joeys midfielder Gio De Abreu who showed wonderful technique to hit an unstoppable long-range volley past Sam Reilly.

The youngsters held the lead until early in the second half when the hosts were awarded a penalty which Owen Goodliffe perfectly placed past Cameron Cook.

Goodliffe turned provider when feeding into the six-yard box for Jesse Lazzaro to turn in and make it two goals in the space of seven minutes for Knights.

But Glory rescued a crucial draw with 11 minutes remaining thanks to Khoa Ngo’s long ranger, which would ultimately see them live to fight another day for their NPL survival.

Elsewhere, there were goals galore around the grounds as Perth SC made it back-to-back wins in eye-catching fashion with a 5-4 win at Perth RedStar (above).

Title-chasing RedStar needed to win while hoping Balcatta would do them a favour against Olympic and they made a good start. Bryce Bafford was fouled by Franck Gamiz Quer and Daryl Nicol scored from the penalty spot.

Perth’s safety had been confirmed during the week and with the pressure off, they stunned RedStar with a first-half blitz which saw them lead 4-1 at the break against the outgoing champions.

Sam Cook brought them level when controlling Sam Pollard’s low cross and firing high past Liam Reddy at his near post.

Josh Cala intercepted a pass in midfield and slipped in David Ninkovich for 2-1 before a nice team move ended with Ethan Banks crossing for Daniel Faichney to head in via the bar.

Pollard got the Azzurri’s fourth goal with a low strike from 18 yards against his former side.

Gamiz Quer scored Perth’s fifth on 59 minutes when converting Abdul Osman’s corner from close range. That goal turned out to be worth its weight in gold as RedStar mounted a late comeback but fell short of rescuing a point.

Nicol quickly got one back when latching onto Ryan Finnie’s pass and finishing in accomplished fashion, before the three-time Gold Medal winner profited on a misplaced pass to roll in for his hat-trick.

The Scot netted his fourth of the afternoon in the final two minutes with a delicate chip over the wall from an indirect free-kick. But RedStar ran out of time and skipper Blair Govan also collected a second yellow card late on as the league’s runners-up ended with 10 men.

There was another thriller at Macedonia Park – and another four-goal hero – as Pieter Jacobsz’s last-gasp rocket gave Armadale a 5-4 win over Stirling.

The result was not enough for Armadale to keep their post-season hopes alive but it has been a fine season for Alun Vernals’ side.

Jack Willis’ free-kick was headed in by an unmarked Jacobsz to get the Army underway midway through the first half, before the league’s leading scorer doubled his tally from six yards after excellent work from Purvishna Appadoo.

Jacobsz then supplied the cross which ran through to the back post for Jayden Leader to drill past James Bosdet for 3-0.

Stirling pulled one back soon after when Alex Tanevski found Ciaran Byrne whose shot was too strong for Joel Driscoll in the Armadale goal.

Jacobsz completed his hat-trick in the second half when racing away to score one-on-one past the goalkeeper having been released by a brilliant Willis pass.

That made it 4-1 to Armadale but Stirling wasn’t quite done as Kade Fearnall’s corner was headed in by Joshua Bilaloski to trigger the fightback.

Defender Brent Quick sneaked forward to open his account for the year, before Byrne held off his marker, turned and finished in the box to tie it up at 4-4 and seemingly earn Stirling a draw.

But there was one final twist with Jacobsz scoring a stunning 25th goal of the season on 95 minutes to all but secure this season’s Golden Boot. The striker latched onto a quickly taken free-kick from Leader, took a touch and lashed in a brilliant volley from a tight angle which gave Armadale the points.

Stirling’s defeat did not matter too much in the final analysis as Bayswater’s 3-2 defeat at Floreat saw them extend their run without a top-four finish to six years.

Floreat led after half-an-hour when Sean McManus cut inside from the left and curled towards goal and Lewis Italiano’s save hit Nick Ambrogio and went in.

Ambrogio made it two on 38 minutes when collecting the ball on the edge of the area and beating Italiano with a low strike through the goalkeeper.

But Bayswater were battling to keep their post-season hopes alive and two quick Gordon Smith goals had them on terms at the interval. The Scot flashed a near-post header in from Sam Mitchinson’s and then he finished stylishly after a nice give-and-go with Chris Jackson.

The winning goal went Athena’s way on 72 minutes with McManus’ cross from the left eventually arriving at the feet of Cherno Bah who lifted high into the net from close range.

Bayswater’s season now ends next week against Balcatta, with Gary Williams’ side four points off fourth.

For Floreat, the win rounded off a special afternoon as they paid tribute to the memory of their former player and ex-State captain Troy Bernard on the 20th anniversary of his death in a workplace accident.