Report by Daryn McCleave

Bayswater City coach Chris Coyne was pleased with the execution of the game plan as his side kept up their 100% start to the campaign with a solid performance in seeing off Perth 2-0 at Dorrien Gardens in Rivalry Round.

Clinical finishes in each half from Chris Saldaris and Steve Burton saw off Perth, who despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, couldn’t find the breakthrough they needed to hold on to their own unbeaten start to the National Premier Leagues WA season.

After an end to end opening 20 minutes, the game settled down and chances became few and far between, with visiting boss Coyne happy to see his team extend their winning streak.

“I was pleased with the execution and the discipline and obviously the three points against arch-rivals,” Coyne said.

“Every week we’ve been involved in blockbusters and free-flowing games. They’ve probably had 65 per cent possession, but it was pleasing the way we stood up and that our structure was good enough to deal with it.”

Perth coach Taki Nicolaidis was disappointed with the result, but was philosophical in his post-match thoughts when asked where his players went wrong.

“We were playing against Bayswater, who are the benchmark of the league, but to my mind we wasted too many balls,” he said. “The final ball let us down. Defensively I thought we did well, we battled hard and had a lot of possession.”

The game got off to a lively start with Perth the more threatening in the opening 10 minutes.

Mark Pritchard curled a free-kick just wide and Ash Rosindale almost broke clear but was denied by an excellent last ditch tackle by Saldaris, whilst Baysie responded with an effort from Burton which was deflected beyond the post.

Perth really should have taken the initiative when superb approach play created two gilt-edged chances, one that Robert Sciascia fired over, and almost immediately afterwards Rosindale shot wide after Sciascia and Friday Zico combined.

The Azzurri were to rue those missed chances when in the 15th minute, after Perth keeper Alex Dunn had turned James Asaia’s low free-kick around the post, Saldaris turned and shot into the bottom corner of the net following the resultant corner to give City the lead against the run of play.

It could have been worse for Perth at the break when a good attacking move from City saw Burton find the target from close-range, but his joy was short-lived as the linesman’s flag was raised.

The second half was a quiet affair but Perth did have a great opportunity to level things up when Bayswater stopper Devon Spence failed to get distance on his punch, and was relieved to find Adam Bachiller on the line to block out Mark Doninger’s powerful strike.

Nicolaidis’ men did have the ball in the net on 66 minutes after intricate passing around the edge of the box resulted in Aden Da Luz finding Rosindale, who found himself penalized for being in an offside position, much to the dismay of the home faithful.

And a game that had fizzled out was not to have a grandstand finish in the downpour that the dark grey skies had created, when with seven minutes remaining Burton finished off a swift visiting attack with a rasping drive at the near post after a delightful back-heel by Adrian Caceres had opened up the space.

Deep into stoppage time Da Luz was denied a consolation for Perth by a superb finger tip stop by Spence as Baysie kept their second clean sheet of the campaign.   

Bayswater’s Chris Saldaris notched his third goal in three games and was pleased to play his part in the win.

“It keeps my confidence going,” he said.

“Four wins from four now, we’re listening to Chris (Coyne) and learning all the time. It was pretty hard out there (towards the end), we’re not used to the wet weather and it was tough but we kept doing what we were doing for the whole game.”

Perth 0
Bayswater City 2 (Chris Saldaris 15’, Steve Burton 83’)
Saturday 29th March, 2014,
Dorrien Gardens
Kick Off: 3pm
Referee: David BRUCE
Crowd: Approx 350

Perth: 1. Alex DUNN, 2. Joshua WILKINS, 4. Craig SIMPSON, 20. James MARROCHI, 18. Thomas SOUTHGATE (21. Jarrod BELFORD 79’), 6. Clarke KELTIE, 14. Mark PRITCHARD, 11. Robert SCIASIA, 15. Mark DONINGER (7. Liam BOLAND 83’), 9.Friday ZICO (8. Aden DA LUZ 58’), 10. Ash ROSINDALE
Substitutes not used: 19. Andreas THEODOSIADES, 23. Domenic SAVOLDELLI 

Yellow cards: Ash ROSINDALE 74’, Joshua WILKINS 81’

Bayswater City: 1. Devon SPENCE, 5. Andy REALE, 13. Trent KAY, 23. Chris SALDARIS, 3. Adam BACHILLER, 16. Jamie COYNE, 8. Paul McCARTHY, 18. James ISAIA (21. Adrian CACERES 45’), 15. Brian FARRELL, 2. Declan HARGREAVES (14. Danny DIXON 67’), 12. Steve BURTON
SUBSTITUTES NOT USED: 22. Joel DRISCOLL, 17. Sahr MUSA, 10. Damien CATALANO.

Substitutes not win: Jamie COYNE 39’