Football West News

Photo by FotoEnzo

Floreat Athena began the defence of their NPL Night Series title in the most impressive manner on Friday night with a thumping 5-0 win over Bayswater City at E&D Litis Stadium.

Garrett McDuling's side led 1-0 at half-time thanks to Jonathan Stynes' 40th-minute strike and then thrilled the home supporters after the interval with goals from Nick Ambrogio (48), Luka Ninkovic (51), Marco Santalucia (66) and Calvin Whitney in the second minute of injury time.

Bayswater, who were without high-profile signing Daryl Nicol, will look to bounce back when they host Perth Glory at Frank Drago Reserve this Friday.

Floreat sit top of Pool 2 on goal difference from Glory, who won 4-2 against Armadale at Dalmatinac Park.

Goals from Luke Salmon and Callum Timmins had Glory 2-0 ahead at half-time and Gomo Dukuly added a third for Richard Garcia's team after an hour.

Sam Garces pulled one back for Armadale before Ciaran Bramwell re-established Glory's three-goal buffer.

Chris Rizids scored Armadale's second late on.

The third match in the pool also had plenty of goals as Cockburn City and Balcatta drew 2-2 at Dalmatinac Park.

Cockburn went ahead on five minutes through Harry O'Brien yet found themselves behind 2-1 at half-time after Gavin Knight (14) and Tom Pellizzari (34) struck for Balcatta.

Cameron Edwards ensured the Cockerels took a point with an equaliser on 58 minutes.

In Pool 1 NPL new boys Rockingham City were too good for Stirling Lions at Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium. Lyndon Hodgkiss opened the scoring on nine minutes before goals from Riley van Dieken (77) and Shaz Ramlee (88) rounded off the scoring.

NPL WA champions Perth SC overcame a half-time deficit to defeat ECU Joondalup 2-1 at E&D Litis Stadium.

Joe Knowles' penalty gave the Jacks the lead but the Azzurri levelled after the break through Michael Domfeh, a pre-season signing from Perth Glory.

The game looked destined for a draw until Niccolo Sabatini popped up with a last-minute winner for Perth, who had earlier had Jackson Morgan dismissed.

The other game in Pool 1 between hosts Inglewood United and Sorrento finished 0-0 at Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium.

Results

Pool 1
Perth SC 2-1 ECU Joondalup
Inglewood United 0-0 Sorrento
Rockingham City 3-0 Stirling Lions

Pool 2
Armadale 2-4 Perth Glory
Cockburn City 2-2 Balcatta
Floreat Athena 5-0 Bayswater City

Week 2 fixtures

Friday, February 1

Pool 1
Inglewood United v Stirling Lions (Percy Doyle Reserve, 6.30pm)
Sorrento v ECU Joondalup (Percy Doyle Reserve, 8.30pm)

Pool 2
Bayswater City v Perth Glory (Frank Drago Reserve, 6.30pm)
Cockburn City v Armadale (Frank Drago Reserve, 8.30pm)

Sunday, February 3

Pool 1
Rockingham City v Perth SC (E&D Litis Stadium 5pm)

Pool 2
Floreat Athena v Balcatta (E&D Litis Stadium, 7pm)