Assistant coach Stewart Moses says Bayswater City have the edge going into next weekend’s Cool Ridge Cup final against Stirling Lions after claiming a 1-0 National Premier Leagues victory yesterday.
On a day when WA clubs acknowledged the passing of Inglewood United stalwart Siggy Kramer with a moment of silence before games, the precursor to the cup final was lit up with less than a minute gone.
Bayswater striker Steve Burton made the most of his first opportunity when he pounced on a loose ball after just 56 seconds to give the home side a lead that was preserved for the duration at Frank Drago Reserve.
Despite having to soak up plenty of pressure, Bayswater, who won the Night Series this season, will be buoyed by the result going into Saturday’s cup final, according to Moses.
“We started well today and we have the psychological edge on them now going into next week,” he said.
“We will probably go into the game as favourites but they had a couple of players out today, so we will need to prepare well and hopefully get our second piece of silverware this season.”
Perth SC moved into second place, five points behind Bayswater, with a 4-1 crushing of Inglewood at Intiga Stadium.
There was hope that Inglewood would honour Kramer’s memory with victory when Ryan Clarke put the home side in front but a Mark Doninger hat-trick and a goal from Matt Milenkovic sealed a comfortable win for Perth.
ECU Joondalup looked to be heading for victory away to Balcatta thanks to David Foster’s header early in the second half. But Balcatta skipper Adam Tong rescued a point with a goal in stoppage time that could not prevent his side from slipping to third on the table.
Honours were even at Alfred Skeet Reserve were Armadale went in front through Jackson Bealey’s penalty before Blamo Qua Qua equalised from the spot for Perth Glory in the 1-1 draw.
There was drama at Litis Stadium where Cockburn City’s 2-0 lead through goals from Conor Kavanagh and Matt Barlow was cancelled out by Floreat Athena’s Ludo Boi and Aryn Williams.
But the home side’s hopes of a point were dashed when substitute Liam Murray scored in the 90th minute to seal Cockburn’s 3-2 win.
Pre-season wooden spoon favourite Subiaco climbed to third from bottom by extending to five matches their unbeaten streak.
This time Sorrento were the victims as substitute Ger Fitzgerald scored late to seal a 3-2 win. The teams had been level going into the latter stages of the game after Scott Bulloch had scored twice for Sorrento and Josh Booysen had done likewise for Subiaco.
But after dominating the second half at Percy Doyle Reserve, Sorrento were caught on the counter to Subi’s delight.
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