Report by Ryan Borrett

Photo by Tom McCarthy

Balcatta rescued a 2-2 draw against Perth Glory on Saturday thanks to Jonathan Corness' brilliant half-volley with the last kick of the match.

Corness got on the end of Balcatta keeper Lewis Italiano’s long goal kick before striking the ball into the top right-hand corner to equalise for his side who had fought extremely hard in the second half.

The stoppage time equaliser in the DT38 Round match came just five minutes after it looked like Glory had sealed another three points after Jayden Gorman bagged his second goal of the match in the 88th minute.

But Balcatta’s 93rd minute leveller means they are level on points with three other sides above them, including Glory, in sixth place as the race for a top four spot becomes increasingly competitive.

Glory opened the scoring at Grindleford Reserve after a sloppy pass from Italiano was slipped through to Gorman who unleashed a powerful strike into the top corner to make it 1-0.

The away side controlled much of the first half and went close to grabbing a second in the 39th minute but Italiano made up for his early error with a great diving save.

Balcatta came flying out of the blocks in the second half and lifted their intensity. This, combined with the wet conditions limiting the Glory’s possession play, gave way to Adam Zimarino making it 1-1 in the 58th minute.

Balcatta continued to show a lot of fight as the second half wore on but Glory responded well to conceding and scored again and once more it was Gorman.

Henry Hore’s great pass over the top from midfield found the run of Gorman whose good first touch gave him time to place a nice finish into the net over the oncoming Italiano and make it 2-1.

It looked like Glory had sealed the result after going ahead so late into the match, but it wasn’t to be and Corness capitalised on the chance for Balcatta to level it at 2-2 in stoppage time.

The point for Balcatta comes on the back of three straight wins. Glory lost 6-0 to Floreat last time in the league and will hope they can turn their form around next week as they host Armadale.

Star player: Jayden Gorman (Perth Glory)

Balcatta FC 2 (Zimarino 58min, Corness 90+3)
Perth Glory 2 (Gorman 17, 88)

Saturday, June 22
Grindleford Reserve
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Michael Jasinski
Assistant referees: John Taran, Ethan Persse

Balcatta: 1. Lewis ITALIANO, 2. Joseph MARINO, 3. John KEARNEY, 4. Calum O'CONNELL, 5. Shubham MOKALA (13. Carmelo GIUFFRE 68), 7. Ben PELLIZZARI, 10. Jonathan CORNESS, 11. Adam ZIMARINO (9. Gavin KNIGHT 83), 12. Roberto DEL BORRELLO, 15. Calum STOCKS (8. Alex WILD 30), 16. Alex CASTIELLO
Substitutes not used: 22. Michael ZIMARINO, 25. David KEENAN
Yellow cards: O’Connell 63
Red cards: Nil

Perth Glory: 1. Nicolas SPECA, 2. Zayd FARAH, 3. Joshua RAWLINS, 4. Luca BODNAR, 5. Nicholas WALSH, 6. Josh SAMSON, 7. Ethan BROOKS (15. Gomo DUKULY 55), 8. Jack LEECH (16. Kristian POPOVIC 55), 9. Ciaran BRAMWELL (24. Gabriel POPOVIC 62), 10. Henry HORE, 11. Jayden GORMAN
Substitutes not used: 22. Alessandro CIRCALI, , 26. Jacob RANGE
Yellow cards: Rawlins 47, Farah 85
Red cards: Nil