Report by Tommy Doleman

Balcatta ensured they would remain in the NPL WA in 2019 and in the process ended Inglewood United's season with a 2-1 win at Grindleford Reserve.

Calum O'Connell and Alex Wild scored either side of half-time to the delight of a sizeable home crowd and all but secure their safety before the hour-mark.

Feisal Zaw pulled one back for Inglewood in a game they had to win to make the top four, but no late drama would ensue as Cockburn passed the visitors with a 4-1 win over Armadale.

It was a tough to swallow for Inglewood, who won only two of their last seven games.

But for Balcatta, they recovered sufficiently to stay up despite losing their first five NPL WA games in 2018, and their head coach Goran Stajic dedicated the win to the home crowd.

"The fans were brilliant. They were like having a 12th player and have been superb all season," he said.

"We are one of the best supported clubs out there, I feel, and they know what we put on every week – we are brave, we back ourselves, take on everyone and play for three points, and I'm so happy we got the win for them today."

Stajic was also proud of the performance of his young side and said he and the club will assess which direction Balcatta will go next season as they look to propel themselves up the league in 2019.

"They have been superb all year. When you look back at that, there were seven or eight starters out there who are under the age of 20, so you really can't complain about the result," he said.

"We have to absorb it. We will go through the reviews and take on 2019 when it comes around.

"We will see whether we want to bring in a visa player or whether we want to continue down the path we are going [with developing the young squad]."

Both teams knew they had to win to secure their respective targets pre-game.

O'Connell had two dangerous set-pieces that came to nothing before Kyle McDonald was forced into saves from Ellis Healing and Alex Salmon midway through the first half.

But the game sprung into life on the half-hour as Asher Nelson was felled in the area and O'Connell stepped up the penalty spot and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Chances then came at both ends as Barrera failed to connect sweetly on the volley, while at the other end Lawrence Shuruma's shot was saved by Alex Dunn as Balcatta led at the break.

The hosts doubled their lead seven minutes after the restart as Wild raced away from Inglewood's back four and scored at the second attempt after an initial block from Alex Ishida-Livings.

The visitors pulled one back with 20 minutes remaining as Kenny Keogh's cross was met by the head of Zaw, and Inglewood had a lifeline knowing they had to score twice more to finish in the top four.

The goals wouldn't come, though, and it was the home fans celebrating at the end.

Balcatta SC 2 (O'Connell pen 29 min, Wild 53)
Inglewood United 1 (Zaw 68)
Saturday 25 August
Grindleford Reserve
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Steven Gregory
Assistant referees: Nico Hoyle,

Balcatta SC: GK: Kyle MCDONALD, 3. Hayden STEVENS, 4. Calum O'CONNELL, 5. Tom PELLIZZARI, 7. Asher NELSON, 8. Carmelo GIUFFRE, 9. Alex WILD, 10. Jonathan CORNESS, 14. Lawrence SHURUMA, 18. Robert DEL BORRELLO, 20. Shubham MOKALA
Substitutes not used: RGK: Damien STANOEVSKI, 2. Joseph MARINO, 11. Nicholas CHALLOT, 21. Antoni D'ALESSO, 24. Renne ALBA
Yellow cards: O'Connell 80
Red cards: Nil

Inglewood United: GK: Alex DUNN, 2. Alex ISHIDA-LIVINGS, 5. Scott ROBERTSON, 7. Kenny KEOGH, 8. Jason BARRERA, 9. Alex SALMON, 11. Ellis HEALING (12. Feisal ZAW 62), 15. Brian FARRELL, 16. Jamie MURPHY, 19. Conor BESCI (4. Scott BLACKMORE 62), 23. Brian WOODALL
Substitutes not used: 6. Milorad VUJACIC, 14. Hanafi GHAZALI, 17. Rikki SMITH
Yellow cards: Blackmore 84, Zaw 90
Red cards: Nil