Report by Tommy Doleman

Daryl Nicol nips in to lift the ball over Nic Speca and give Perth RedStar the points against Bayswater City. Photo by FotoEnzo

Perth RedStar and Stirling Macedonia are the early pacesetters in the NPLWA – Men’s competition after both sides recorded a second successive victory.

RedStar twice came from behind to defeat Bayswater City 3-2 at Frank Drago Reserve.

Two-time Gold Medal winner Daryl Nicol did the damage with a double in the final 18 minutes, as Kenny Lowe's side added to their opening round win over Gwelup Croatia.

Bayswater opened the scoring on 14 minutes with a patient team move, which finished with Ryan Pearson collecting Ndumba Makeche's lofted pass for his first league goal since 2016.

RedStar pulled level on the half-hour mark when Blair Govan headed Andy Higgins' corner back across goal with Ryan Lowry applying the finish from close range.

Gordon Smith and Higgins both had efforts blocked in a tight first half, but the hosts would retake the lead on 63 minutes. Substitute Jason Mirco latched onto a quicky taken free-kick and crossed for Jon Stynes to head in his first goal for Bayswater since joining from Gwelup in the off-season.

That put City in a strong position and Kostas Sparta tried his luck from distance to try and add a third, only for Nicol to turn the match on its head against his former side.

First, the Scot stepped up to level the scores with a penalty kick that was planted straight down the middle. He then made it three goals in the opening two games when following in from Ellis Healing's long-range effort and clipping the ball over City keeper Nic Speca.

Bayswater finished the match with 10 men after Declan Hargreaves collected a second yellow card six minutes into stoppage time.

Stirling are also on six points from their first two games after they defeated champions Perth 1-0 thanks to a late Sam Wynne goal.

Alex Silla's left-footed effort didn't have the power to test James Bosdet, while at the other end Luke Radonich's reflex save denied Luke Palmateer with the best of the first-half chances.

Bosdet was excellent last week in the win at Armadale and parried Shubham Mokala's free kick away before sprawling to his right to claw away a header from a set piece.

Alex Tanevski almost flicked a Calvin Whitney free-kick through a sea of bodies in the penalty area, but it was Wynne who struck on 87 minutes to give Stirling the points.

The former Joondalup United man cut in from the left and found the bottom corner for his second goal in successive weeks, while Macedonia Park celebrated a first NPL home game since 2019 in style.

Elsewhere, Floreat Athena and Sorrento both scored five to get their seasons up-and-running, having missed fixtures into Round One due to Covid.

Athena had five individual goal scorers in a 5-0 win over Balcatta.

Ludovic Boi got the first on 18 minutes when he hammered home the loose ball from a corner, and it was 2-0 at the break when Sean McManus crossed for Nick Ambrogio to finish from close range.

Robert Petkov scored a minute after the restart to all but seal the points for last season's league runners-up, before two goals in the final quarter of an hour added some gloss to the score.

Riley Woodcock's first goal for Floreat came in style when he curled low into the corner, and a fifth was added soon after when Ethan Mom's effort took a deflection on its way in.

There were high fives all-round at Percy Doyle Reserve, too, as Sorrento hammered Armadale 5-1.

Byungatae Ahn got proceedings under way when he arrived on the edge of the area to rocket home an unstoppable opener.

Scott Witschge made it two when he finished at the second time of asking from a Gulls counterattack, before Armadale pulled one back moments later as Adriano Jelenovic capitalised on a mistake at the back to score.

Dean Cummings netted from the spot on 40 minutes to restore Sorrento's two-goal break and early in the second half Witschge completed his brace with a superb curling strike which went in via the post.

An unfortunate late own goal from keeper Yousri Gharsallah summed up a tough day at the office for Armadale, who are winless in their first two alongside Balcatta at the bottom.

Finally, Ciaran Bramwell's first-half double gave Perth Glory a 2-1 win over Inglewood United.

This was Ago Mujic's first game in temporary charge of Glory, with Ruben Zadkovich and Chris Coyne on A-League duties.

Bramwell planted a sweet left foot volley past Alex Dunn on 19 minutes and made it 2-0 10 minutes later when collecting Tyler Vecchio's pass and finishing with aplomb.

Thiak Kuel came off the bench to finish via the post with a couple of minutes remaining, but Glory stood firm for the win as both teams sit on three points in the standings.

Cockburn's fixture with Gwelup was postponed due to Covid.

Results: Bayswater City 2-3 Perth RedStar, Floreat Athena 5-0 Balcatta, Inglewood United 1-2 Perth Glory, Sorrento 5-1 Armadale, Stirling Macedonia 1-0 Perth SC. Postponed: Cockburn City v Gwelup Croatia.