Report by Daryn McCleave

Armadale saw off a spirited fight-back from the 10 men of Subiaco to get their National Premier Leagues WA points tally off the mark with a 2-1 victory at Alfred Skeet Reserve yesterday.

But it wasn't plain sailing for the hosts, despite having the numerical advantage for 75 minutes following a straight red card to Subiaco defender Mitch Steinberg for denying Armadale's Jackson Bealey a goalscoring opportunity inside the box.

Young Subi shotstopper Jack Howard pushed away Billy Quinncroft's spot kick low to his right to keep the scores level, with former New Zealand Youth international Alec Solomans - making his Army debut- heading narrowly wide from the resulting corner.

However, goals either side of half-time from Mitch Castrilli (42 minutes) and Faustinho Machochi (47 minutes) seemingly put the game beyond the visitors before Subiaco pulled one back through Phil O'Callaghan with just over a quarter of an hour to play to set up a tense finish.

Armadale coach  Lee Bamber was "happy" to get the three points, if not in the way they were achieved. "I'm disappointed in the way we played,” he said. “We knew it would be the hardest game of the season, there was a lot of expectation on us. (But) it's always hard against 10. They were galvanized and at 2-0 we dropped off and invited them to play.”

Bamber, though, was pleased with his side's character, adding: "We did well to see the game out. We struggled to do that last year."

Subiaco coach Gerry McEwan was upbeat in his summary of the game.

"I'm proud of how we played,” he said. “We kept the ball and waited for an opportunity. We got caught out with the penalty and the second goal but I'm delighted with the effort and we deserved a draw.”

 Admitting the referee had no choice but to show the red card to Steinberg, McEwan added: "He's 18 years old and devastated.”

In a cagey opening, Subiaco got off to a bright start, forcing a number of corners and having an early penalty appeal waved away by the officials. But then Armadale got into the game, Llewellyn Bake firing over from distance before the dismissal changed the course of the game.

The 10 men of Subiaco were relying on set pieces to get the big men forward, and they were denied the lead from a free-kick as the home side scrambled clear in their own six yard area.

But the deadlock was finally broken in the 42nd minute, and in some style. Castrilli was the first to react to the visitors' partial clearance, hitting a cracking volley over the stranded Howard from around 20 yards to send the Army faithful wild.

Somehow it remained only 1-0 at the break, as Howard pulled off a magnificent reaction stop to prevent a close-range effort from Sam Loveless reaching the top corner.

Within two minutes of the re-start, however, it was 2-0 when the speedy Faustinho Machochi broke the offside trap and raced away to bury a low shot beyond the helpless Howard.

And it seemed as if Armadale were content with that but Subiaco kept plugging away and hauled themselves right back into the contest on 73 minutes when former State League Golden Boot winner O'Callaghan applied the finishing touch on the goal line from giant Laurence Gaughan's knock down following a corner.

And via a combination of long throws and corners the visitors may well have left with a point. Instead they almost left with another suspension as Alex Randell can count himself fortunate to have escaped with just a yellow card after a cynical foul on Alex Clarke deep into added time.

ARMADALE 2 (Mitch Castrilli 42' Faustinho Machochi 47')
SUBIACO AFC 1 (Phil O'Callaghan 73')
Saturday 15th, March, 2014
Alfred Skeet Reserve, Forrestdale
Kick Off: 3pm
Referee: Tim Mihevc
Assistant referees: Mark Williams and Marcus Watts
Crowd: Approx. 200

ARMADALE: 1. (GK) Matthew GOULD, 13. Sam LOVELESS, 4. Billy QUINNCROFT, 5. Nathan COSTELLO, 3. Luke BOGONI, 6. Jason BERRARA, (17. Alex CLARKE 64') 8. Llewellyn BAKE, 7. Faustinho MACHOCHI, 2. Jackson BEALEY, (10. Raveshlan KUPPUSAMY 82') 15. Alec SOLOLMANS, 14.Mitch CASTRILLI (16. Nicolas TATASCIORE 75')
Substitutes not used: 18. Malcolm TSHUMA, 20. Darren HAYWOOD
Yellow cards: Sam Loveless 81' Billy QUINNCROFT 90+4'
Red cards: Nil

SUBIACO AFC: 1. (GK) Jack HOWARD, 2. Nathan DIAZ, 17. Laurence GAUGHAN, 11. Mitch STEINBERG, 3. Rowdy YATES, 6. Brad McDONALD, 8. Guy McDONALD, (13. George TCHAMI 78') 4. Alex RANDELL, 14. Ian McMURRAY, (10. Jordan RHODES 60') 9. Max AKEHURST, 7. Ger FITZGERALD (15. Phil O'CALLAGHAN 55').
Substitutes not used: 12. Shatoosh BHAT, 21. Henry DAVIES.
Yellow cards: Laurence GAUGHAN 22' Alex RANDELL 90+4'
Red cards: Mitch STEINBERG 14'