Inglewood United’s miserable record against ECU Joondalup has continued with this afternoon’s 3-0 loss at Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium. It was the second time in six days, and the eighth time in eleven meetings that the northern suburbs outfit have got the better of Inglewood.
Assistant coach Saul Contera lamented his team’s inability to break through Joondalup’s defences. “It’s disappointing to lose 3-0 in a game that we dominated from start to finish,” Contera told nplwa.com.au post-game. “We looked good, but we didn’t do anything with it.”
It took Joondalup only a couple of minutes to take the lead, Shane Cassidy playing through the defence for Daryl Nicol to finishing past goalkeeper Alex Dunn. Alex Salmon wasted a golden opportunity to restore parity nine minutes later by firing wide from the penalty spot following Johnny Perkins foul on Ash Rosindale.
Ellis Healing was also presented with a chance to level the game but his free-kick was too close to ‘keeper Perkins. That miss was compounded soon after when Cian Hirrell rose unchallenged to nod in Adam Tong’s long thrown to the far post.
Some positional and tactical changes at the break by Andy Keogh saw Inglewood return to the park with some extra spring in their step. Scott Robertson hit the upright with a flicked header and a Rosindale’s sizzling volleying flew just wide of the target.
Dunn had his gloves stung by substitute Tommy Amphlett’s fierce drive as the clock slowly edged towards the end of regulation time. An away win was sealed in stoppage time when Nicol picked himself after being felled by Dunn to convert from the spot.
Match stats
Inglewood United 0
ECU Joondalup 3 (Daryl Nicol 2, 93, Cian Hirrell 26)
Inglewood United: Alex Dunn, Alex Ishida-Livings, Scott Robertson, David Cyrus (Jamie Murphy 46), Brian Farrell, Scott Blackmore, Jason Barrera, Ellis Healing (Miki Vujacic 68), Ash Rosindale (Feisal Zaw 82), Brian Woodall, Alex Salmon
ECU Joondalup: Johnny Perkins, Andy Higgins (Ryan McDarby 87), Adam Tong, Shane Cassidy, Cian Hirrell, Cameron Murray, Declan Hughes, Josh Whitmore, Ross Millard (Tommy Amphlett 73), Lukas Da Lima (Steven McGarry 67), Daryl Nicol
Bookings: Salmon (45), Cassidy (53), Hirrell (69), McGarry (75), Dunn (93)
Dismissals: Nil
