Coach Michael Garcia has put his underperforming squad on notice following this afternoon’s shock 3-1 home loss to Armadale. The loss – Inglewood United’s sixth in seven games – delivered a crushing blow to the teams’ hopes of a top five finish, dropping them to eighth in the National Premier Leagues with only three games remaining.
“Clearly we need to make changes with our playing group,” Garcia said post-game. “As has been the case all season, we were unable to keep a clean sheet and were punished on set-pieces. Offensively, we have been extremely poor this season considering the football we play and the chances we create.”
“The players have been unable to follow basic instructions more often than not, and we have been punished for that lack of application. We will be vigilant in making sure we move forward with players capable of executing fundamentals, including following instructions, so that next year we can complement the good football we play with good results.”
Armadale were on the scoreboard first through Jackson Bealey’s free-kick into the top corner, the end result of Jarrad McNally’s shirt-pull on Faustino Machochi. Kenny Keogh brought the teams level with a moment of pure brilliance, the attacker latching onto Jason Colli’s long ball which he expertly flicked over a defender before arrowing low into Luke Radonich’s net.
The second half was only a few minutes old when Jesse Fuller headed the visitors back into the lead. Inglewood worked tirelessly to find a way back in but lacked the creativity to unlock their opponents’ defences. The game near its’ end when Ryan Sardi’s error gifted Armadale possession, allowing substitute Darren Kingston to seal the result.
Match stats
Inglewood United 1 (Kenny Keogh)
Armadale 3 (Jackson Bealey 17, Jesse Fuller 49, Darren Kingston 92)
Inglewood United: Aleks Vrteski, Jason Colli, Rikki Smith, Ryan Sardi, Jarrad McNally (Scott Witschge 63), Kenny Keogh, Paul Zimarino (Mark Barnett 68), David Micevski, Andrija Jukic (Jacob Mustafa 62), David Sesay, Abdul Sesay
Armadale: Luke Radonich, Sam Loveless, Shaydon Passalacqua, Castiello, Jake Sardelic, Sam Khankhalili (Sam Cole 27), Jackson Bealey, Darren Francis, Jesse Fuller, Faustino Machochi, Kuppusamy (Darren Kingston 80)
Bookings: Nil
Dismissals: Nil
