Report by Samuel Hays

Forrestfield United turned on the style to thump Balcatta 4-0 at Wildlife Safari Stadium on Saturday night.

Two goals apiece for Rhys Loxley and Hasani Sinclair secured a second win of the season for Forrestfield, who moved up to seventh on the National Premier Leagues WA table.

Forrestfield coach Rod Banjac was thrilled with his side’s win, especially after last week’s 5-0 home thrashing by Perth Glory.

“Very happy with the boys but more happy with the comeback from last week,” Banjac said.

“The boys have showed a lot of character to come out of that slump and to deliver a performance like that tonight was sublime.

“I suppose after the second goal they had to chase the game and it was easy for us to pick the right times and hit them on the counter attack.

“But probably the most important thing for us was that we kept a clean sheet.

“The defence has been working very hard in order to achieve that, so it’s very rewarding at both ends.”

Second-bottom Balcatta have just one point after five rounds and captain Calum O’Connell was disappointed with how his side failed to contain Forrestfield on the break.

“Unfortunately they were pretty good on the counter, we turned the ball over too many times and they punished us,” he said.

“I think the major thing is just keeping the ball, keeping possession in the opposition half and really treasuring and holding the ball because we turned it over cheaply which killed us in the end.”

Loxley opened the scoring in the 20th minute after he latched onto a through ball and slid it past Balcatta keeper Domenico Savoldelli.

Balcatta had a golden chance to equalise just before half-time when Adriano Jelenovic had a free header on the edge of the six-yard box but he could only send it wide and that allowed Forrestfield a 1-0 lead at the break.

Forrestfield almost made it two in the 58th minute when Sinclair made a great run into the box before squaring to Loxley, whose shot was off target.

Sinclair did double the lead though when he rounded Savoldelli and slotted the ball into an empty net on 73 minutes.

And it wasn’t long before he grabbed his second when he was gifted a goal after Savoldelli slipped.

Loxley completed the scoring in the 88th minute when he cut across the edge of the box and finished superbly.

Forrestfield United 4 (Loxley 20 mins, 88, Sinclair 73, 78)
Balcatta 0
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Wildlife Safari Stadium
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: Tom Glavovic
Assistant referees: Jatin Lodhia and Robert Read

Forrestfield United: 18. Benjamin Parry, 12. Callum Dobbs, 9. Hasani Sinclair, 10. Jordan Hart, 6. Leslie Mari, 11. Liam Merigan, 4. Mark Barnett, 23. Rhys Loxley, 5. Scott Barker, 16. Thomas Jebb, 2. Tom Southgate.
Substitutes:  17. Jamie Duncan, 15. Josh Appleby, 1. Caelan Miller, 14. Mitch Barker
Yellow cards: Mari 30, Barnett 75, Hart 90+1
Red cards: Nil

Balcatta: 1. Domenico Savoldelli, 15. Adriano Jelenovic, 12. Anton De Francesch, 17. Brody Kennedy, 4. Calum O’Connell, 3. Hayden Stevens, 10. Jonathan Corness, 2. Joseph Marino, 6. Kris Gate, 23. Lawrence Shurama, 5. Tom Pellizzari.
Substitutes:  13. Daniel Hepworth, 25. Kyle McDonald, 22. Bleron Mamudi, 11. Renee Alba, 24. Ben Pelizzari
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil