Stirling Macedonia kept pace with leaders Perth RedStar after three goals in the final eight minutes completed a remarkable turnaround and a 3-2 win over Perth Glory at Lark Hill.
Sammim Fattahi’s 96th minute spot-kick gave Stirling all three points as the top three sides all won in Round 18 of the NPLWA – Men’s competition, meaning the title race landscape remained the same.
Glory’s third loss in four games drops the youngsters into the relegation play-off position after wins for both Sorrento and Floreat who had started the weekend below them.
After a goalless first half in Port Kennedy, Glory opened the scoring six minutes after the restart when they countered swiftly from a Stirling corner. Daniel Bennie burst down the right and pulled across for Khoa Ngo to apply a simple finish.
They looked to have the points sewn up 12 minutes from time when Bennie got across his marker and tapped in Jayden Gorman’s cross from close range.
But Stirling answered quickly when Dejan Spaseski headed in a first goal of the season from Kade Fearnall’s free-kick. And with 90 minutes on the clock, Glory did not deal with James Bosdet’s long set-piece and Kingsley Eshun crashed in for 2-2.
And it got even better for Ian Ferguson’s team as Spaseki won a last-gasp penalty for his side and Fattahi kept his cool to win it with the last kick of the game.
As a result, Stirling remain just one point behind RedStar with a game in hand, following the leaders’ 2-0 home win over Bayswater City.
Callum Salmon’s side are now unbeaten in four games with three wins in that stretch. They broke the deadlock at RedStar Arena on 66 minutes through Sonny O’Shea’s maiden senior NPL goal as he curled beautifully into the bottom corner from Andy Higgins’ pass.
Chok Dau’s solo run ended with a thumping strike into the roof of the net as RedStar doubled their lead and ensured they remain top of the league with four rounds remaining.
Olympic Kingsway are third and four points off the pace with a game in hand against Stirling to come. A 1-0 win at Inglewood United on Saturday maintained a six-match unbeaten stretch for David Tough’s team, all of which have been away from home.
Ciaran Byrne’s perfectly placed curler on the stroke of half-time brought up 11 goals this season for the striker, which combined with a fifth clean sheet in six games gave Olympic victory.
Conversely, defeat for Inglewood means they are three points adrift at the bottom of the league, with next week’s fixture against 11th placed Glory looming as crunch encounter for both teams' hopes of survival.
The big movers of the day were Perth Soccer Club whose 4-1 win away at Armadale lifted them from seventh to fourth.
Two goals in the first 12 minutes set Danny Hay’s men on their way with Sam Cook’s rising half volley getting them off to a spectacular start. Only Chris Jackson and runaway Golden Boot leader Daryl Nicol have scored more league goals than the Azzurri youngster in 2023.
David Ninkovich made it 2-0 when he raced in behind to prod high past Joel Driscoll, and the Azzurri were well on course on the hour when Ninkovich’s corner was met by Julian Teles for three.
Alex Da Rocha added a fourth for Perth, who despite sitting in the final top four spot are only four points above the relegation play-off place. Pieter Jacobsz pulled a late goal back for Armadale, who have lost their last three matches and are a point clear of danger in a clustered mid-table group.
Perth’s win means Balcatta slipped out of the top four on goal difference with Jordan Brown’s late winner for Sorrento consigning Etna to a 3-2 defeat at Grindleford Reserve.
Gulls skipper Dean Cummings arrived from deep to loop in a header from Tim Hill’s cross-field pass, before the visitors were further boosted by Adam Buckingham’s red card for a foul on Gustavo Marulanda.
Cummings stepped up to score the resulting penalty for a ninth goal this term, but despite being a man down Balcatta rallied in the second half to seemingly earn a share of the spoils.
Liam Hudson twisted and turned before driving across Paddy Hughes to pull one back, and it was 2-2 when Carmelo Giuffre struck low on the volley to make it goals in successive weeks.
But Steve McGarry’s side had the final say with a first win in four games provided by Brown’s header after a scramble caused by Marulanda’s set-piece. The winner moves Sorrento up to eighth and they are one of four sides on 23 points, one clear of the relegation play-off berth.
Floreat jumped out of the drop zone with a 3-1 win away at 10-man Cockburn, who are level on points with Athena but behind on goal difference.
Jesse Lazzaro’s last-ditch handball from Bayley Brown-Montgomery’s shot put the home side down a man and down a goal, with Noah Shamaki squeezing the penalty kick past Michael Craggs.
Jordan Dane followed in David Araya’s free-kick to level at the break, but as he did in June’s State Cup semi-final between the teams, Phil Arnold put Floreat 2-1 up when turning home from Sean McManus’ ball across the six-yard box.
McManus then raced away in second half stoppage time to slot low into the corner and make it back-to-back Athena wins, which boosted their survival chances.