Ellis Healing came off the bench to score one of the goals of the season and secure Inglewood United a 2-0 win over Forrestfield United this afternoon. A tidy close-range finish Alex Salmon had given the home side an early second half lead but it was Healing’s sensational finish from distance that will be long remembered.
The opening 45 minutes were for the most part played out between the boxes and, with offside flags catching both teams, very few genuine scoring opportunities were created. The first shot in anger was fired by Forrestfield’s Rhys Loxley whose effort rose over the crossbar.
Ash Rosindale squandered a great chance by placing wide after being picked out by Jamie Murphy’s centring ball. And the hosts breathed a collective sigh of relief leading into the break after Hasani Sinclair’s shot was headed off the line by David Cyrus and Alex Dunn somehow kept out Kristian Despotovski’s follow-up.
Inglewood made a dream start to the second half when an unmarked Salmon side-footed in Rosindale’s near post corner. The momentum would remain with the hosts. Salmon fired into the side-netting after being forced wide by Luke Martino who, two minutes later, was grateful Kenny Keogh scooped into his arms.
The defining moment arrived just after the hour, Healing lashing in from 20-metres via the underside of the bar. Jason Barrera was unlucky not to add to Forrestfield’s woes in stoppage time when a mazy run took him deep inside the 18-yard box only for Martino to eventually claim possession.
Match stats
Inglewood United 2 (Alex Salmon 48, Ellis Healing 62)
Forrestfield United 0
Inglewood United: Alex Dunn, Alex Ishida-Livings, Scott Robertson (David Cyrus 20), Connor Becsi, Brian Farrell, Jason Barrera, Brian Woodall, Ash Rosindale (Ellis Healing 53), Kenny Keogh, Jamie Murphy, Alex Salmon (Miki Vujacic 78)
Forrestfield United: Luke Martino, Jamie Duncan (Wilbert Tshubangu 70), Josh Appleby, Tom Southgate, Thomas Jebb, Scott Barker, Liam Merrigan, Callum Dobbs (Jordan Hart 64), Kristian Despotovski (Mitchell Crocker 74), Rhys Loxley, Hasani Sinclair
Bookings: Barrera (71), Despotovski (73), Keogh (79)
Dismissals: Nil
