Aryn Williams rescued a crucial late point for Olympic Kingsway against title rivals Perth RedStar on Saturday to ensure David Tough’s side remain top of the NPLWA - Men’s competition.
The defender’s close-range finish secured a 2-2 draw for Kingsway, who stay ahead of last season’s champions by goal difference with seven rounds to play.
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Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash did not disappoint as the Green Machine, smarting from last week’s loss to Fremantle, made the perfect start. Striker Joe Hobson latched on to Williams’ pass, drove towards the edge of the area and whipped with precision past Liam Reddy.
RedStar levelled three minutes before the interval when Daryl Nicol ghosted in behind Kingsway’s defence, with the ball eventually breaking for the unmarked Joel Chianese to tap home from six yards.
The hosts almost regained the lead when Williams’ header was cleared off the line by Tom Hough late in the first half. However, it was RedStar who turned the title race on its head when Matty George turned around the corner for substitute Theo Leeming to finish emphatically before the hour mark.
Joe Knowles had the ball in the net, but the offside flag denied the former Brisbane Roar striker. However, Kingsway did get their equaliser four minutes from the end when Ollie Annis’ deep corner was controlled and finished by Williams as both sides settled for a point.
That draw gave Fremantle City a chance to close the gap on the top two, but they were unable to take the opportunity after losing 1-0 at Bayswater City.
The decisive goal came on 18 minutes when Gordon Smith lifted forward for Chris Jackson to cross first time and find Joshua Anasmo, who used his body well to turn and strike in.
Freo’s third loss in four matches means they remain five points off the top two, while Bayswater sit fifth and are five points behind their third-placed opponents.
Stirling Macedonia are currently fourth, but their buffer on Bayswater is now only two points after a 2-2 draw with 10-man Inglewood United.
Inglewood led on 50 minutes when Jordan Brown’s long throw was helped on by Chris Tilson with Kotaro Yamamoto loose in the box to slam home.
However, the home side responded with a near-immediate equaliser, courtesy of Calvin Whitney’s perfectly placed penalty.
Inglewood were reduced to 10 men when Tilson was shown a second yellow card after charging down Liam Price’s attempted clearance.
That allowed Stirling to seize the initiative and they hit the front with 15 minutes left when Louis Hadfield latched onto a quickly taken throw and rolled across goal to Asher Nelson for a simple finish.
But the visitors answered straight away when Benson Nsegetse beat Price to Bradley Vlachy’s long ball with the winger’s touch taking the ball in.
The point for Inglewood means the league’s bottom side are now four games undefeated and only four points off safety following results elsewhere.
One of the sides they are chasing are Perth Glory, who remain in the relegation play-off place after a Pieter Jacobsz hat-trick saw them go down 6-3 at Armadale.
Amir Ajan stood up an early cross for Jacobsz to head in from six yards and Armadale doubled their lead when forcing a mistake from Glory’s defence with a high press, which led to Hamish Van Dieken side-footing into a vacant net with 20 minutes played.
Ivan Zuvela’s side pulled one back straight away when Royie Rahimim cushioned a pass across to Sebastian Despotovski, who finished low past the goalkeeper.
Armadale’s two-goal lead was restored when determined play down the right from Lachlan Collins led to a cross which was dug out and then met by Jacobsz who arrived late to stab in.
Jacobsz then completed his hat-trick when guiding in Ajan’s free-kick, which puts the striker joint-second in the Golden Boot race with 12 for the season.
A frantic first-half ended when Laat Mathing clipped forward for Rahimim who beat the offside trap and score to make it 4-2, but Armadale’s appetite for goals continued after the restart.
Ajan’s inswinging free-kick from wide of the left went through everyone and nestled in the back of the net, before Glory’s Aiki Tsukamoto arrived to crash in after Tadiwanashe Kuzamba’s effort was saved by Joel Driscoll.
A sixth was scored courtesy of another wicked Ajan set-piece, as Armadale stay in the race for the top four with this big win. They are five points off fourth place, while Glory remain in trouble at the bottom.
Perth SC are also in danger and are only above Glory on goal difference following a 3-1 defeat to Floreat Athena on Friday evening.
Noah Shamaki’s sweetly struck volley on nine minutes gave Athena the advantage at the break, and they held that lead until the hour when Franc Gamiz Quer headed in Ethan Banks’ corner.
However, Harley Orr was shown a red card on 66 minutes for fouling Cherno Bah just outside the box. That proved to be the turning point as Floreat cashed in with the extra player to score twice more and move clear of the bottom.
Chris Saldaris nodded in Kyle Murray’s free-kick to restore Floreat’s lead, before new signing Tarek Atta came off the bench to capitalise on a Perth error at the back to net.
The victory moves Vas Vujacic’s side five points clear of the drop zone and may also keep their finals hopes alive.
Balcatta Etna also boosted their survival hopes with a 1-0 win over Western Knights, which made it back-to-back wins for Glenn Grostate’s team.
The winner came on 28 minutes when Liam Hudson’s header from Ben Hinshelwood’s cross was saved by Sam Reilly with Shogo Osawa there to lash in the rebound.
Knights finished the game with 10 men when Callum Mellowship was sent off for a last-man foul and have won only one of their last 11 matches to sit mid-table, while Balcatta are five points clear of the relegation play-off spot.