Ryan Clarke scored with just minutes to spare to earn Inglewood United a 3-3 draw this afternoon’s trip to Dorrien Gardens. Friday Zico and Ashley Rosindale were on the board early for the Perth but that lead was halved just before the break by Clarke. Rosindale returned the difference to two-goals only for Scott Blackmore to keep Inglewood in the game before Clarke salvaged a richly-deserved point.
Coach Graham Normanton said it was good to return to his old stomping ground, but he would have preferred to come away with a win. “I thought we did pretty well, but once again we get punished for basic errors and that’s been our nemesis all season,” he said. “We did have a bit of a slow start to the game, so to come back and get a draw shows a bit of character in the team.”
It took Perth only 7 minutes to open their account with Zico firing in at the far post from Mark Pritchard’s inch-perfect delivery. A defensive error two minutes later was punished by Rosindale, who slid the ball low into Luke Martino’s net to double the Blues advantage. Inglewood refused to let these setbacks get them down and in the 41st minute Clarke lashed past Alex Dunn after a mishap in the Perth backline.
The second half had barely begun when Craig Simpson’s through ball allowed Rosindale to race away from the defence and put away Perth’s third goal of the day. Inglewood’s response was swift, Blackmore firing in at close-range after Perth failed to clear from a Greg Sharland corner. The pace dropped off after this and it looked as though would record the win. However, with two minutes remaining Clarke’s in-swinging corner came to rest in the back of the net.
Match Stats:
Perth SC 3 (Zico 7, Rosindale 9, 46)
Inglewood United 3 (Clarke 41, 88, Blackmore 48)
Perth SC: Alex Dunn, Josh Wilkins, Craig Simpson, James Marocchi (Nathan De Abreu 86), Alex Castiello, Aden Da Luz, Clark Keltie, Mark Pritchard, Mark Doninger (Andreas Theodosiades 5), Friday Zico, Ashley Rosindale (Tim Robertson 67)
Inglewood United: Luke Martino, Jonathon Stripe, Shane Pickering, Scott Blackmore, Jason Colli, Ryan Clarke, Ryan Francis, Andrija Jukic, Greg Sharland, (David Sesay 85), Teeboy Kamara (Jarrod McNally 40 (Scott Witschge 95)), Million Butshiire
Bookings: Sharland (57)
Dismissals: Nil
