NPL WA Men's Round 21 Review

Football West \\ Photo Credit: Rob Lizzi 1692515880,1692516037

Perth RedStar are all but champions of the 2023 NPLWA – Men’s competition despite being held to a goalless draw by Perth Glory at Lark Hill in the penultimate round of the season.

That is because of Stirling Macedonia’s 3-0 home loss to Perth SC, which means Callum Salmon’s side will officially take the title next week barring an extraordinary set of results, given they are three points and 20 goals better off than their nearest opponents.

Hosts Glory had the better chances as Liam Reddy saved low down to keep out Jayden Gorman’s goalbound shot, before Laat Mathiang and Daniel Bennie hit the frame of the goal.

RedStar’s best opening of the first half saw the league’s leading scorer Daryl Nichol ghost in behind Glory’s defence, but the Scot uncharacteristically missed the target with his high effort.

Reddy saved from Khoa Ngo while RedStar's Chok Dau curled wide of the post, as the second half tightened up with both sides seemingly content to share the points.

Glory's first clean sheet of the campaign ensured they cannot go down automatically as two of the sides who are below them, Balcatta and Cockburn, meet on the final day. They still have work to do in Round 22 to avoid finishing in the relegation play-off spot, but a point at Floreat, who currently occupy that position, will be enough.

Perth SC Rob Lizzi

Hasani Sinclair celebrates his opener for Perth at Stirling. Photo by Rob Lizzi

Meanwhile, Stirling were left to ponder a bad day at the office as they saw their title hopes blown away by an impressive Perth SC, whose third victory in four matches means they need only a point against Bayswater on the last day to cement a top-four finish.

In the second DT38 fixture of the season, Danny Hay’s side led on 36 minutes when Julian Teles threaded through perfectly for Hasani Sinclair to tuck an effort into the bottom corner.

David Ninkovich’s free-kick went through the wall early in the second period to double the advantage and a third goal from Jeremie Mba with 16 minutes remaining made Perth favourites to reach the post-season finals. They sit three points clear of Armadale and Bayswater in the race for fourth, and just a point behind Olympic Kingsway in third.

Rob Lizzi DT 38

Club and match officials line up before the Stirling-Perth DT38 game, which raises testicular cancer awareness in memory of Dylan Tombides, the former Australia U17 player who was a junior at both clubs. Photo by Rob Lizzi

Elsewhere, it was a big day at the other end of the league with the bottom six sides now separated by three points going into the final round.

Armadale confirmed their safety and kept their finals hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Balcatta Etna at Grindleford Reserve as Alun Vernals made it back-to-back wins since joining the club.

George Ballah scored the winning goal midway through the second half with a long-range strike which squeezed under Etna goalkeeper Connor Campbell.

The defeat means Balcatta are now winless in eight games and drop to 10th place, two points clear of bottom-side Cockburn City who they face in a do-or-die Round 22 fixture.

The Cockerels must beat Balcatta or they are down after losing 1-0 to Inglewood on Saturday, with Shubham Mokala’s early goal the difference.

In a tense and tight game, Mokala provided the match-winning moment inside the opening 10 minutes at Inglewood Stadium when Michael Domfeh squared for Inglewood’s leading scorer to apply a simple finish.

United's Alex Dunn pulled off a fantastic save from Jesse Lazzaro later in the first half, but Cockburn could not find an equaliser as successive wins sent the hosts up to ninth and ahead of Balcatta and Floreat on goal difference.

A point better off are Glory and Sorrento, who won 1-0 at Olympic Kingsway to inch closer to safety.

The only goal of the afternoon was scored on 28 minutes by Gustavo Marulanda who nudged past David Keenan after Olympic’s defence allowed Tim Hill’s long ball to bounce.

It may have been more comfortable for Steve McGarry’s side, but Keenan did all he could to keep Kingsway in it. He denied both Dean Cummings and Gustavo Marulanda from the penalty spot in the space of three minutes to remarkably make it four penalty saves in four weeks.

Despite the loss, Olympic have locked away a top-four finish in their first season since returning to the top flight. All that remains to be determined is whether they will host or travel for the minor semi-final.

Finally, Floreat boosted their hopes of survival as they won 3-0 against playoff-chasing Bayswater. Athena moved off the bottom and a win next week at home to Glory will mean they stay up.

Bayswater’s finals ambitions took a hit though, as they now need to beat Perth by four goals in Round 22, while hoping Armadale drop points against Sorrento.

An early goal settled Floreat’s nerves at E&D Litis Stadium with Bayley Brown-Montgomery’s initial shot saved and Nick Ambrogio following in to score.

Joshua Anamso thought he had equalised, but he was penalised for handling in the build-up to putting the ball past goalkeeper Josh Hunter.

Vas Vujacic’s team had breathing space on 64 minutes when Sean McManus slipped in Robert Petkov and the striker returned it to the Scottish flyer who continued his run to net from close range.

And three points were confirmed near the end when Andrew Palmer’s brilliant first goal of the season flew past Lewis Italiano into the top corner.