NPL WA Week 3 Wrap

With three games gone in the WA NPL, four teams, Bayswater, Perth, Balcatta and Floreat remain undefeated to start the season. With Stirling and Sorrento also picking up wins on the weekend, a 3 point gap has already opened up between the top and bottom halves of the table.
 

Floreat Athena 2 (Govan 5’, McMahon 76’)
Armadale 0
E & D Litis Stadium

Despite missing a raft of absentees, Floreat Athena claimed victory in a tough battle with Armadale. Blair Govan’s first half header from Kris Gate’s cross was enough to give the visitors the lead at half time, but Armadale refused to lie down. It took a strike from their captain Lewis McMahon against the run of play to secure the win, although the hosts felt disappointed they walked away empty handed.


Subiaco 1 (Milne 47’)
Sorrento 2 (Harnwell 2’, Canham PEN 84’)
WA Athletics Stadium

Sorrento continued Subiaco’s poor start to the season, running out 2-1 winners at the WA Athletics Stadium. Todd Harnwell took advantage of some sloppy early marking to give the visitors the lead, which stood until half time. Subiaco’s Daniel Milne equalised shortly after the restart to give the hosts some hope. But five minutes from time, Sorrento’s Ryan Pearson was adjudged to have been felled inside the box, much to the fury of the home side.  Sean Canham stepped up to the spot and resigned Subiaco to a controversial third loss in as many games.


Bayswater City 1 (Colli OG 10’)
Inglewood United 1 (Clarke 69’)
Frank Drago Reserve

Bayswater held on to their spot at the top of the ladder following a 1-1 draw with Inglewood. In a hard-fought affair, an own goal from Inglewood’s Jason Colli gave the home side the lead after just 10 minutes. United regrouped and worked their way back into the match, and were rewarded midway through the second half when Ryan Clarke struck to earn the visitors a share of the points.


ECU Joondalup 2 (Amphlett 28’, 86’)
Balcatta 2 (Caniglia 47’, Ramlee 83’)
ECU Joondalup Football Stadium

Tommy Amphlett scored a brace to earn ECU Joondalup a vital first point of the season. The ex-Glory man opened the scoring for the home side with a neat finish. However, Balcatta struck back early in the second half through Alex Caniglia and looked like they’d claim victory when Shazalee Ramlee curled home with seven minutes to play. But Balcatta hadn’t counted on Amphlett, who responded immediately to rescue an important draw for ECU.


Stirling Lions 4 (Vujacic 23’, Martin 30’, Shuruma 59’, Petkov 84’)
Perth Glory 0
Inglewood Stadium

Stirling sent a warning shot to the rest of the league with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over a 10-man Perth Glory. The Lions opened the scoring in spectacular fashion thanks to Milorad Vujacic’s rocket, and doubled their lead through Brodie Martin soon afterwards. Glory forward Joseph Knowles was then sent off for a poor challenge just before half time. Lawrence Shuruma made the points safe on the hour mark, and the rout was completed by Robert Petkov to complete a miserable day for the young side.


Cockburn City 0
Perth SC 2 (Ambrogio 22’, Wilkins 41’)
Dalmatinac Park

Perth kept their unbeaten start to the season going and kept the pressure on Bayswater and Balcatta with a 2-0 win away to Cockburn. After a flurry of early chances, Nick Ambrogio finished a nice team move to set the visitors on their way. Josh Wilkins then scored another just before the break to secure the points. Although Cockburn tried to find their way back into the game, they were unable to breach Perth’s defence, and the visitors walked away the happier of the two teams.


Round 4 Fixtures
Sorrento vs ECU Joondalup
Inglewood United vs Balcatta
Stirling Lions vs Floreat Athena
Subiaco vs Perth Glory
Armadale vs Cockburn
Perth SC vs Bayswater City