<strong><em>NPL WA Men’s Round 2 Review</em></strong> | OneFootball

There’s a good reason why we enjoy the NPL WA men’s competition. On a Saturday filled with comebacks, upsets, and goals-galore, Round Two showcased its unpredictable side to the fullest.

Perth Glory vs Armadale SC

In arguably the most thrilling game of the weekend, Glory overcame the Skeets 4-3 to spoil their promising start to the season and propel themselves in to first place.

Early on, Corey Sutherland scored a brace to bring his season total to three; Jack Overy also scored. But just as the first half came to a conclusion, Pieter Jacobsz trimmed the lead to two.

Early in the second half, Royce Rahamim regained a comfortable three-goal advantage. But once more, Armadale replied instantly. This time, Daniel Robinson successfully deflected a shot from winger Amir Ajan past the goalkeeper.

Jacobsz’s third goal in as many games for the visitors, coming from a close angle after Tim Berger’s attempt was blocked, brought the score back to 4-3. But, despite the extra man, Armadale was unable to capitalise, and Glory triumphed as deserving victors.

Inglewood United vs Balcatta

Etna reversed the tables after their painful round one loss and staged their own comeback to defeat Inglewood 2-1.

In the 37th minute, Shubham Mokala gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. But, Andres Oliveira’s team was unable to withstand Etna’s late charge, and thanks to a Chris Tilson own goal, they leveled the score.

Glen Crostate’s men were thoroughly in the driving seat; the pressure spilled over, and with three minutes left, Kotaro Yamamoto, a new Japanese recruit, raced behind the defense and curled the winning goal past Dunn.

Olympic Kingsway vs Floreat Athena

Under their newly installed floodlights, league newcomers Olympic Kingsway came up short against reigning champions Floreat Athena, 2-0.

Vas Vujacic’s team grabbed the lead after only seven minutes when Nick Ambrogio’s thumping header from a corner left Malek Kuc frozen. Just before the first half ended, Bayley Brown-Montgomery’s shot trickled its way to Noah Shamaki at the back post, doubling the scoreline.

Cockburn City vs Bayswater City

After their demoralizing defeat in round 1, Cockburn fought back and, like so many other teams this week, staged a valiant comeback, with the goal this time coming late on from Ivan Skorich.

A header from Bayswater’s Jonathan Stynes opened the scoring, making it two goals in two for the attacker.

With 20 minutes remaining and his team in desperate need of a boost, Zico rose up and, with a strike alone worth the victory, equalized. Later, with minutes remaining, Skorich scored the game-winning goal via a lofted ball, which left him unmarked and one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Perth Redstar vs Stirling Macedonia

Stirling Macedonia kept their winning record intact after coming from behind to defeat Perth Redstar 2-1.

All of the goals came in the first half, first with Daryl Nicol seizing on a defensive blunder to score inside the first ten minutes. Then, minutes later Calvin Whitney’s low driven effort into the bottom corner made it 1-1. But it was former Ghanaian youth international, Kingsley Eshun, who scored the game-winning goal with a thunderous strike into the top corner.

Perth SC vs Sorrento

A hard-fought 1-0 victory kept the Sky Blues unbeaten run in-check while also elevating them to third place.

Julian Teles netted the game’s single goal after a series of miscues and deflections in the goalmouth following a wide free-kick.