Photograph by Peter Simcox

A late lapse has denied Inglewood United their first National Premier Leagues win of the season after Balcatta came from behind to steal a 1-1 draw this afternoon at Inglewood Stadium. Matthew Izzo gave the home side the lead just before half time but with the clock ticking down Balcatta captain Adam Tong struck an equaliser.

“It’s the third week running we’ve done that (dominated possession) and we’ve failed to capitalise on the scoreboard,” Garcia said. “Conceding the goal late on was fairly sloppy and it’s something we have to minimise going forward if we want to compete with the best teams.”

A pulsating start had Aleks Vrteski save from Luke Randazzo after which Ryan Clarke headed wide from Jarrod McNally’s delivery. Chances on goal then became much scarcer but in the shadows of half-time Izzo curled a dead ball over the defensive wall into the top corner of Clint Davies’ net.

Inglewood picked up after the break where they’d left off, Clarke placing wide before Kenny Keogh’s header caught momentary panic in the visiting defence. With eleven minutes to go Randazzo played through for Tong to race inside the penalty box and finish past Vrteski.

Match stats

Inglewood United 1 (Izzo 43)
Balcatta 1 (Tong 79)

Inglewood United: Aleks Vrteski, Rikki Smith, Jovo Pavlovic, Scott Blackmore, Jarrod McNally, Ryan Clarke, Matthew Izzo, David Sesay, Scott Witschge, Kenny Keogh, Abdul Sesay
Balcatta: Clint Davies, Hanafi Ghezali, Kieren Stallard, Adam Tong, Luke Randazzo, James Sammut, David Cyrus, Marc De Francesch, Alex Caniglia, Shazalee Ramlee (Dejan Andric 65), Gustavo Catarcione
Bookings: Cyrus (36), Smith (73), De Francesch (86)
Dismissals: Nil