State League soccer: UWA lose 5-2 to Forrestfield United

UWA were unable to continue their stretch of positive results as they were eventually broken down by a hard working Forrestfield United outfit and beaten 5-2.

United entered the game sitting second last on the State League Division 1 ladder but had been extremely competitive in all four games and could perhaps consider themselves unlucky .

The home side was eager to rectify this and started strongly putting UWA on the back foot from the first kick of the game.

UWA struggled to keep possession and United begun mounting pressure on Ranjeet Sekhon’s goal, forcing the keeper into a couple of early saves.

United finally broke through after 15 minutes when a Rhys Loxley corner was fired home by Jordan Hart following a goalmouth scramble.

It did not take United long to double their advantage when a free kick on the right wing was played quickly and the resulting cross was tapped in from close range by Liam Merrigan.

It took two goals and 20 minutes, but UWA finally picked up their game following the second goal.

Strong midfield combinations from Andrew Xydas and Bryce Conway started to break down the United back four and UWA’s pressure broke through on the half our mark.

Conway played Lloyd Prout in down the right and the midfielder’s first time ball across the United back for was taken down by Alex Kretowicz, who made no mistake sliding it past the United keeper and reducing their lead.

UWA were playing with confidence and their passing game left the United midfield stood still as spectators at times; with the majority of the ball it didn’t take long for UWA to draw level.

Conway picked the ball up in midfield and split the United defence in two with a sumptuous ball over the top.

Kretowicz latched onto the ball and made no mistake rounding the keeper and slotting it home to make it 2-2 at half time.

UWA took their momentum into the second half and started the better side.

An early corner was almost headed home by Robbie Black but the fullback’s header rattled the crossbar.

Prout found himself in a good position to score after great passing from Conway, Taylor and Kretowicz found him one on one with the keeper.

However, the midfielder could not get a clean strike away and his effort was parried to safety.

On the hour mark, United had their first chance of the half and it led to a goal.

UWA were caught flat at the back and a delightful through ball from midfield played through United striker Sani Sinclair.

The forward found himself one on one with Sekhon and calmly picked his spot in the bottom corner to give United the lead.

UWA begun to push numbers up front in search of an equaliser that saw gaps emerge in the backline.

Sinclair found himself one on one with Sekhon yet again and was fouled by the UWA keeper as he attempted to round him.

Sekhon was given his marching orders by referee Brendan Skinner and Sinclair stepped up to take the penalty.

The United forward fired home into the bottom right hand corner to score his second for the game and give United a 4-2 lead.

Despite being down to 10 men, UWA continued to press forward and at times looked like they had the extra man.

Golden opportunities to reduce the gap back to one were squandered by substitute Marc Zagami and Kretowicz.

In an attempt to salvage anything from the game, UWA were left short at the back and United made them pay on the break.

Play broke down their right flank and a cross was fired home by a Ben Rodgers volley.

The loss sees UWA slip back down to ninth while Forrestfield United leapfrog UWA up into seventh place.

UWA will look to recuperate in the next two weeks and will face Dianella White Eagles SC on May 21.

The other State League sides were unable to sweeten the day for UWA with the reserves being held to a scoreless draw despite dominating the game. Viny Kapur’s 18’s will look to work hard in the week off as they fell to a strong United outfit 7-0.