Report by Tommy Doleman

Inglewood keeper Alex Dunn. Photo by Tom McCarthy

Inglewood United will look to continue their mid-season surge towards the Top Four Cup places when they travel to third-place Bayswater City in Round 17 of the NPLWA - Men’s competition.

Five straight wins have moved Andres Oliveira’s side to fifth in the league, where they trail Saturday’s opponents by five points with a game in hand.

Frank Drago Reserve will be a tough venue to go to, though, with Gareth Naven’s team unbeaten home run extended to six games with last week’s 4-2 win against Sorrento.

Inglewood had only eight points after nine rounds, but now look a real threat to gatecrash the finals places and perhaps even the title picture. Last Saturday’s late 3-2 win over Gwelup in tough conditions will only further boost their confidence, according to Alex Dunn.

“It was a wet and wild day on Saturday. I don’t think it stopped from when we started warming up until the end of the game,” the Inglewood goalkeeper said.

“I thought we deserved the win and were good value, even though Gwelup scored two cracking goals to keep themselves in it. But we pushed through and managed to find the win.

“We’ve managed to win five on the trot now and there’s a bit of belief around at the moment. I think we’ve always believed we can score goals, but we’ve also knuckled down a bit more defensively lately. It showed at the weekend that we didn’t panic, played with maturity and won.

“We had a couple of chats internally with the coaching staff, Andres and all the players. There were some hard truths, but we’ve really just tried to simplify things, be defensively sound and not complicate things. If we don’t concede, we get a result and I’ll always back us to score goals. And the confidence has built as you see with any team who’s continuing to ride the momentum.”

Dunn has been with Inglewood since 2016 after previous stints with Floreat and Perth. The shot-stopper has seen plenty of ups and downs during his time at the club, but the latest crop of youngsters continues to provide hope they can win more silverware at Inglewood Stadium.

“I just try to stay as fit as I can with getting to the gym and things like that. Last year’s calf injury was probably the first real injury I’ve had in my playing career and then this year I picked up a (short-term) hamstring after coming back from Covid,” he said.

“But I’ve still got a bit of kick in me and a desire to keep on playing. I always want to win. And the boys know that I hate losing and I’m very competitive in nature.

“To have been up there for quite a few years around the top four, and then to be back there now gives me that hunger to try and win more silverware for the club. We’ve had some heartbreaking moments such as the Top Four Cup Final in 2019, but then we had that success in the Night Series at the start of 2021.

“That was more so for the guys who have been around the club for 20-30 years and have seen the big drought without that silverware. We saw what it meant and that sort of thing makes you want to bring even more success to the club.”

Inglewood still have to play the top three sides in the league, while also playing sixth-placed Sorrento twice in their final seven league matches. Dunn is looking forward to the challenge Bayswater will provide as they start this important stretch of games.

“Our target is still to make the top four and I’m sure that’s the goal for all the teams in that area, who are wanting to make finals and from there be competitive,” he said.

“At the moment, we’re trying to build to that game-by-game. Bayswater is always a big game and we’ve always had a few good battles while I’ve been at the club.

“We’re feeling confident and don’t fear any club at the moment because we’ve shown we can play a good brand of football against the top sides and are able to match it on our day. So we’ll go there on Saturday, keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully get the three points again.

“It’s a different scenario playing the top teams compared to the bottom sides who are scrapping for survival. But it’s in our own hands really. If we do the business against the teams above us, we’ll naturally climb the ladder and don’t have to hope for results elsewhere.”

Elsewhere, leaders Floreat Athena travel to Gwelup Croatia looking to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Vas Vujacic’s side have only lost once in their last nine, but last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at home to Cockburn City allowed Stirling Macedonia to join them on 33 points. Gwelup have scored twice in each of the past two games and are fighting to maintain a three-point margin over bottom side Balcatta.

Stirling now trail Athena only on goal difference and go to Cockburn on Saturday, having turned a corner with three wins in a week giving them some timely momentum.

The Cockerels, though, have a State Cup Final and Australia Cup Round of 32 match around the corner and have proven their worth against the top sides with league and cup wins over Floreat, RedStar and Stirling this term.

Like Cockburn, Armadale have big cup clashes on the horizon but have an important game at Perth RedStar prior as they look to keep tabs on the top four places. Fourth-placed RedStar are five points clear of John O’Reilly’s side, but have lost their past three in the league to Inglewood, Floreat and Stirling.

Sorrento are also hoping to stay in touch at home to bottom side Balcatta, who are still to win this season but have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks under Glen Grostate.

Perth SC also host Perth Glory, with the game at E&D Litis Stadium. The Azzurri’s games in hand means they are not completely out of contention for finals, but points on the board are required against a Glory team coming off a 5-1 win at Armadale last week.

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Round 17 fixtures

Saturday (3pm): Bayswater City v Inglewood United, Cockburn City v Stirling Macedonia, Gwelup Croatia v Floreat Athena, Perth RedStar v Armadale, Perth SC v Perth Glory, Sorrento v Balcatta Etna.