Report by Aidan Shaw

Subiaco have kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Inglewood United in Round 20 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues WA at Inglewood Stadium on Saturday.

A well-timed flick on by James Casserly midway through the second half was enough to see the bottom side cause a huge upset for the league leaders, who now drop to second.

Ian McMurray, standing in as player-coach on the day, was absolutely delighted with his side’s performance.

“We knew it would be hard as they are obviously pushing for the league title. We just had to go out and fight for our lives,” he said.

“I told them before the game they had to go out and give everything they can, and they’ve done very well and got the three points.”

Subiaco were hungry early on and caused some scares for the Inglewood defence, before the hosts pushed to assert their dominance in the latter stages of the first half.

In the 35th minute Kenny Keogh lost his footing in the area, before regaining it and firing a great left-footed shot that forced a diving save from Ryan Montgomery.

Keogh beat Montgomery moments later, firing into the bottom corner but the assistant had his flag raised.

The hosts controlled the remainder of the half but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities.

Subiaco came out positively in the second half and did well to get through a sustained period of pressure that carried them past the hour mark.

Ash Rosindale made a good run in from the left in the 63rd minute and squared it to Tim Robertson but he lifted his shot over the bar.

Inglewood were punished in the 68th minute for their earlier string of missed chances and for failing to deal with the ever present threat of Jackson Dongray’s long throws.

Dongray’s lengthy delivery was flicked on cleverly by James Casserly and Alex Dunn could only watch on as it nestled in the back of the net.

The goal sprung Inglewood into kitchen-sink mode as they tried desperately to claw back a much-needed result.

Substitute Scott Witschge got on the end of an Adam Tong long ball in the 83rd minute but his goal-bound header was kept out by a resilient Montgomery.

In the final minutes, Tong’s powerful header from a Mark Pritchard corner struck the crossbar and summarised his side’s day.
Inglewood’s Taki Nicolaidis credited his opposition but said his side’s performance was not acceptable.

“[Subiaco] fought hard, defended well and took the opportunity,” he said.

“I’m just disappointed with our output today and for a team that’s in that top mix, I expected better.”

The result sets up a mouth-watering clash on August 20 at Dorrien Gardens where Inglewood will look to reclaim top spot from Perth, who now sit top of the pile.

At the other end of the table, Subiaco’s win breathes some life back into their hopes of staying in the top flight in 2017.

“It’s do or die now for us,” McMurray said. “If we can just look after ourselves hopefully things will work out.”

Inglewood United 0
Subiaco 1 (Casserly 68mins)
Saturday, August 13, 2016    
Inglewood Stadium
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Tom Dowle
Assistant referees: Liviu Katona, Darren Quinlan

Inglewood: GK Alex DUNN, 4. Scott BLACKMORE, 5. Adam TONG, 6. Callum O’CONNELL, 7. Kenny KEOGH, 8. Jason BARRERA, 10. Ash ROSINDALE (12. Scott WITSCHGE 74), 11. John MIGAS, 14. Mark PRITCHARD (c), 17. Tim ROBERTSON (15. Matthew SPURLING 85), 18. Jason COLLI (9. Brian WOODALL 74)
Substitutes not used: RGK Luke HUTCHESON, 19. Ryan SARDI
Yellow cards: Pritchard 53’
Red cards: nil

Subiaco: GK Ryan MONTGOMERY (c), 2. Ross JARMAN (8. Kevin CASTLE 78), 4. Jackson DONGRAY, 5. James CASSERLY, 6. Michael LAWSON, 9. Ian MCMURRAY, 10. Rory FEELY, 11. Owen COATES (7. Asher NELSON 79), 12. Jonas DORLING, 13. Dylan ANDREWS (3. Ger FITZGERALD 74), 14. Stefan HILL
Substitutes not used: RGK Michael COHEN
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil