Inglewood United endured an afternoon to forget as Stirling Lions came away from a wet and cold Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium with a hard-fought 3-1 victory. Andy Keogh’s first loss since taking the coach reins in late April means Inglewood have now gone two years without tasting success against the men from Macedonia Park.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do over the next two weeks,” Keogh said in reference to his team’s lacklustre performance. “Stirling dominated in every aspect, they thoroughly deserved their victory. They got an early goal, fought hard, played better football and were more committed.”
Inglewood were on the back foot as early as the 5th minute when Daniel Micevski lashed in low from 15-metres after the home defence failed to properly deal with a corner. Goalkeeper Alex Dunn prevented the margin from being doubled two minutes later by racing off his line to smother at Moses Kalau’s feet.
Keogh and counterpart Rob Milevski were forced to go to their benches midway through the half with John Migas (groin) and Alex Suleski (concussion) exiting the action. It was only as half-time approached that Inglewood began to spark but Scott Blackmore headed high while Alex Salmon and Ashley Rosindale were thwarted by John Perkins’ gloves.
Inglewood returned from the break confident of a getting back in the game, however, it wasn’t to be. Nicholas Ashley doubled Stirling’s lead by heading in Miki Vujacic’s 54th minute corner. And the offside flag stayed down soon after allowing Cameron Teece to race clear to angle between Dunn and the near post.
Despite being three goals down, Inglewood refused to give up hope and continued to create openings. Adam Tong stabbed wide before Salmon dragged the wrong side of the upright. The game was close to an end when Salmon grabbed a late consolation by sending Perkins the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Match stats
Inglewood United 1 (Alex Salmon 87)
Stirling Lions 3 (Daniel Micevski 5, Nicholas Ashley 54, Cameron Teece 63)
Inglewood United: Alex Dunn, John Migas (David Cyrus 25), Scott Blackmore, Adam Tong, Jason Colli, Matthew Ntoumenopoulos, Jason Barrera (Brian Farrell 46), Ashley Rosindale (Kenny Keogh 56), Brian Woodall, Chok Dau, Alex Salmon
Stirling Lions: John Perkins, Nicholas Ashley (Robbie McNeill 78), Shane Cassidy, Alex Suleski (James Mathiang 36), Michael Pugliese, Moses Kalau (Adam Falcone 87), Miki Vujacic, Darren O’Riordan, Alex Tanevski, Daniel Micevski, Cameron Teece
Bookings: Ashley, Rosindale (45), Ntoumenopoulos (59), Salmon (63)
Dismissals: Nil
