There was no let-up in the goal glut from Round One of the NPLWA – Men’s Night Series as the opening weekend concluded at Macedonia Park on Sunday night.
There were 31 goals scored over the six matches, with Perth RedStar ending the round leading Group A and Stirling Macedonia sitting top of Group B.
Stirling were too strong for NPL newcomers Fremantle City, winning 4-0. Ciaran Byrne, recruited from Olympic Kingsway over the summer, wasted no time in making an impression with two goals inside the first 20 minutes. Dejan Spaseski added a third before half-time, while Brent Quick got the fourth in the second half.
Also in Group B on Sunday, Bayswater City beat Perth Glory 3-1. Samuel Dweh opened the scoring for City in the first half before three goals in the final nine minutes saw the game come to life. Sebastian Despotovski levelled for Glory, only for new Bayswater striker Chris Jackson to restore his side’s lead and Jon Stynes complete the win.
The first match in Group B took place on Thursday, with Perth SC overcoming Floreat Athena 4-3. Federico Achilli, David Ninkovich, Ethan Banks and Jack Cawley scored for Perth, while Mohammed Al-Zaidy and Nicholas Ambrogio (2) got Floreat's goals.
On Saturday night there were two games in Group A at Alfred Skeet Reserve.
Perth RedStar and Western Knights served up a classic, with last season’s NPL champions RedStar beating the State League Division One winners 5-4. Knights were out the blocks quickly and new boys Kristian Santich and Jesse Lazzaro fired them into a two-goal lead. Gomo Dukuly pulled one back and before half-time RedStar were level thanks to Daryl Nicol.
The goals continued to flow after the break as three-time Golden Boot winner Nicol showed he is once more going to be a headache for opposition defenders. The Scot struck within three minutes of the restart, and despite Alex Da Rocha levelling soon after, Nicol then completed his hat-trick on 56 minutes to make it 4-3. Knights were up for the battle, however, and Shay Donovan got their fourth, before Dukuly settled a breathtaking encounter with the winner on 81 minutes.
The second game on Saturday ended in anti-climax with a power outage forcing the abandonment of the Armadale-Balcatta Etna game at half-time, with the score at 1-1. Purvishna Appadoo had given hosts Armadale the lead from the penalty spot, while Luke Alessandrino got Etna’s goal.
The other Group A clash was on Thursday as Olympic Kingsway recovered from 2-0 down to beat Inglewood United 3-2. A Shubham Mokala double had Inglewood in a strong position at the interval, only for Luke Hewings (2) and Tyler Garner to turn the tide in Olympic’s favour.
The Round Two matches take place this weekend:
Group A
Saturday 3 February
Inglewood United v Perth RedStar (Frank Drago Reserve, 7pm)
Armadale v Olympic Kingsway (Alfred Skeet Reserve, 7pm)
Sunday 4 February
Balcatta Etna v Western Knights (Macedonia Park, 5pm)
Group B
Saturday 3 February
Fremantle City v Perth Glory (Alfred Skeet Reserve, 5pm)
Perth SC v Bayswater City (Frank Drago Reserve, 5pm)
Sunday 4 February
Stirling Macedonia v Floreat Athena (Macedonia Park, 7pm)
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