NPL WA Round 16 Wrap

Another week, another goalfest in the WA NPL; the ball found the back of the net 27 times over the six games, as the race for the Golden Boot heated up.

Bayswater's Gustavo Giron Marulanda and Rory Patterson both had big weekends, whilst Floreat's Ludovic Boi kept himself in the race. With six games left and an eight point lead, Bayswater are looking a safe bet to take out the title, whilst the rest of the league are simply playing for pride.

Perth Glory 2 (Vulin 42’ PEN, Talimdzioski 66’)
ECU Joondalup 2 (Doyle 81’, Amphlett 85’)
Inglewood Stadium
Late goals from Paddy Doyle and Tommy Amphlett saw ECU Joondalup come from two goals down to snatch a draw with Perth Glory. The home side proved a handful for ECU’s young backline all day long and custodian Jamie Serra had to be at his best to deny Jacob Collard and Dejan Spaseski early. However, he was unable to deny Slobodan Vulin, whose injury time penalty sent Serra the wrong way after Stefan Valentini had been brought down in the area. Despite a bright start to the second half from ECU, the Glory doubled their lead when Collard’s cross found Talimdzioski and the striker made no mistake from close range. Perth looked home and hosed, but Doyle stabbed home from a goalmouth scramble to set up a tense finale, before Amphlett outpaced the defence to seal a memorable draw.

Subiaco 1 (Milne 66’)
Floreat Athena 3 (Stynes 17’, Gate 36’, Boi 86’)
Rosalie Park
Floreat kept their flickering title ambitions alive with a comprehensive victory away to Subiaco. Jon Stynes opened the scoring after Subiaco were unable to clear Kris Gate’s square ball, before Ian McMurray missed a golden chance to equalize, hitting the post after he rounded goalkeeper Fraser Greenwood. The hosts were made to pay for their wastefulness minutes later, when Gate converted Ludovic Boi’s cross to make it 2-0 before half-time. Ignacio Dominguez missed a big chance to pull a goal back after the break, but Daniel Milne made up for the miss with a bullet header midway through the half. Subiaco pushed forward in search of an equalizer, and their quest was helped by Floreat’s Jack Allen receiving his marching orders. But the away side hit Subiaco on the break and Boi clipped past Ryan Montgomery in goals to stamp out any hope of a comeback.


Bayswater City 4 (Giron Marulanda 20, 27’, 70’ PEN, Sam 61’)
Cockburn City 3 (Kavanagh 47’, Patterson 58’, 60’)
Frank Drago Reserve
Gustavo Giron Marulanda scored his second hattrick of the season as Bayswater fought off Cockburn in a see-sawing match. The Columbian menaced Cockburn’s back four from kickoff, hitting both posts early and having a low strike ruled out for offside. It proved to be a case of third-time lucky for the striker, when he converted a one-on-one with Cockburn ‘keeper Curtis Aspden and promptly exploited a poor defensive header to make it 2-0 at half time. Conor Kavanagh’s response just after half time brought Cockburn back into the game, and it didn’t take long for their own foreign hitman, Northern Irishman Rory Patterson, to level the scores on the hour mark. Minutes later, Patterson took the lead for the away side with a powerful strike, only for Bobor Sam to immediately equalize up the other end for Bayswater. It was Marulanda who proved the difference when he was fouled in the box with 20 minutes to go, converting the penalty to keep Bayswater’s unbeaten record intact.

Stirling Lions 1 (Shuruma 51’)
Armadale 4 (Skorich 3’, 90+2’, Machochi 62’, Francis 81’)
Macedonia Park
New signing Anthony Skorich scored a brace as Armadale added to Stirling’s recent woes with a comfortable win at Macedonia Park. Skorich opened the scoring when he met Jesse Fuller’s low cross with a diving header, and should’ve had a second when Lance Alavakis parried a shot straight to him. Daniel Micevski and Shane Malcolm spurned chances to level for the Lions, before Laurence Shuruma tapped home after half-time to equalize. Armadale retook the lead however, as Faustino Machochi fired home form a tight angle. Darren Francis’ late, wonderful half-volley made the points safe, before Skorich added his second deep into injury time.


Sorrento 3 (Harnwell 38’, Eades 65’, Pearson 82’)
Inglewood United 0
Percy Doyle Reserve
Sorrento stretched their unbeaten streak to 10 games with a 3-0 win over a battling Inglewood outfit. United's Scott Witschge was the danger-man early, twice testing the Gulls' goalkeeper James Morgan. After struggling to break down the defence, Sorrento took the lead through Todd Harnwell’s exquisite curling shot just before half time. After a tight opening to the second half, Jack Eades found the net with a long-range free kick, before Ryan Pearson wrapped up the points late in the game with a powerful finish from outside the box.

Perth SC 3 (Pritchard 6’, Vittiglia 15’, Evans 37’)
Balcatta 1 (El Yassiri 87’)
Dorrien Gardens
Three first half goals powered Perth to victory over Balcatta and saw them claim the annual Ferrari Cup. After a minute’s silence in respect of the passing of Perth members Daniel Odina and Esad Djulbic, the home team were fired up and took the lead through Mark Pritchard, following some nice build-up play by Aden Da Luz. It didn’t take Perth long to extend their lead, as Reece Vittiglia’s sublime solo effort found the net.  Gustavo Catarcione and Cameron Teece came close for Balcatta, but Dean Evans’ free kick all but wrapped up the points before half time. In an uninspiring second half, Balcatta substitute Hasan El Yassiri scored a late consolation, but their day went from bad to worse when another substitute, James Sammut, was sent off for treading on Harley Orr.

Round 17 Fixtures
Perth SC vs Sorrento
Armadale vs Subiaco
Cockburn City vs Stirling Lions
ECU Joondalup vs Floreat Athena
Bayswater City vs Balcatta
Inglewood United vs Perth Glory