Greg Sharland’s dead ball prowess earned Inglewood United a 1-1 draw from a bruising encounter with bottom-of-the-table Armadale at Intiga Stadium. The hosts’ dominance looked like going unrewarded until Sharland’s precision free-kick late in the piece cancelled out Faustino Machochi’s opening goal, the result of a dreadful defensive mix-up. The single point leaves Inglewood in ninth place and with fading hopes of a National Premier Leagues finals appearance.
Inglewood emerged from a cagey opening to create to first opportunity of the day, Ryan Francis working his way deep inside the penalty area before goalkeeper Matthew Gould robbed him of a clean shot. A vicious David Perich strike that flashed just past the upright was followed three minutes later by Ryan Clarke’s low attempt which Gould did well to turn wide.
Armadale breathed another collective sigh of relief just before the half hour when Francis then David Sesay failed to connect with Clarke’s ball across the top of the 6-yeard box. Play was by no means one-way but rarely did the team in red threaten in the final third. Inglewood was just as guilty of wastefulness with neither Sean Browne nor Clarke able to find the target.
Clarke went close again soon after the break, the attacker skipping around Gould before Mitch Castrilli nipped in to steal possession. Disaster struck Inglewood two minutes later in the form of a mix-up between Pickering and Luke Martino, the ball deflect kindly for Machochi to stride forward and tuck into an empty net from a few metres.
Sensing the game was now there for the taking, Armadale began to spark. Castrilli surged down the left before finding Dannie Richman but his low strike found only Martino’s gloves. Time was fast running out for Inglewood when a foul on Andrija Jukic produced a free-kick just outside the area, from where Sharland expertly lift over the defensive wall and under the bar to bring the sides level.
The next action saw visiting captain Billy Quincroft issued his marching orders following an altercation with Clarke. The pressure on Armadale went up another notch in the 87th minute when Alec Solomons was shown a straight red card for man-handling Perich behind the play. But, despite having two extra men, Inglewood were unable to conjure the second goal their efforts deserved.
Match stats
Inglewood United 1 (Sharland 80)
Armadale 1 (Machochi 53)
Inglewood United: Luke Martino, Jarrad McNally, Greg Sharland, Shane Pickering, Jason Colli (Abdul Sesay 69), David Perich, Sean Browne (Teeboy Kamara 60), Andrija Jukic, David Sesay, Ryan Clarke, Ryan Francis
Armadale: Matthew Gould, Mitch Castrilli, Nathan Costello, Billy Quinncroft, Alec Solomons, Sam Loveless, Alex Clarke (James Atkins 80), Dannie Richman, Jackson Bealey (Lyon Varney 65), Josh Kuser, Faustinho Machochi (Ravi Kuppusamy 90)
Bookings: Sharland (14), Castrilli (79), Atkins (83), Gould (93)
Dismissals: Quinncroft (81), Solomons (87)
