CHAMPIONS Bayswater City lead the way as the National Premier Leagues WA soccer campaign hits the halfway mark in the season.
Chris Coyne’s Bayswater maintained its three-point gap at the top of the table with a 1-0 win against ECU Joondalup at Frank Drago Reserve on Saturday.
Luka Ninkovic scored the only goal after two minutes and Bayswater were able to outlast a late ECU onslaught.
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READ NOW“We looked really leggy in the second half. We have nine first squad players missing and we knew it would catch up with us eventually and today was the day,” Coyne said.
“We had to tweak it a little in the second half and had to absorb the pressure and defensively we were magnificent today, and all that matters is we got the three points.
“I thought ECU were magnificent, they went on till the last minute and they will be disappointed to come away nothing.”
Cockburn City is breathing down the necks of the league leaders following a 1-0 away win at Armadale through a ninth-minute header from Rueben Tristao.
Cockburn captain Euen Grant praised the defence and said when the big moments counted, the side stood up well against Armadale.
The young legs of Perth Glory again told late on as it eventually brushed aside Subiaco 3-0 to cement third spot.
Daniel Stynes struck on 11 minutes but it wasn’t until the final stages that Glory sealed the win with Joe Knowles and Michael Domfeh giving the scoreline a slightly flattering look.
Perth SC moved up to fourth on the NPL WA table with a 3-0 win over Joondalup United, who was unable to build on its first win of the season last week.
Inglewood United bounced back from that shocking defeat with a 3-1 victory against Balcatta to move to fifth while ECU is now sixth.
Stirling Lions continued its hot run of form and made it three wins in a row to condemn Forrestfield United to the bottom three.
David Micevski netted twice with coach Keegan Ashley hailing a “dominant display.”
Sorrento moved out of the relegation zone but coach Jamie Harnwell was left frustrated after his side conceded a last-minute equaliser to Floreat Athena, who remains second bottom.
“Our first half wasn’t good enough; the second half was a bit better but a goal like that just sours everything,” he said.
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