Inglewood United slipped to their third successive defeat after succumbing 3-1 to a rejuvenated Balcatta this afternoon at Grindleford Reserve. David Micevski had the team in yellow in front midway through the first half only for Balcatta to hit back with three unanswered goals, dropping Inglewood to eighth on the National Premier Leagues ladder.
“We were well below par in the second half,” assistant coach Saul Contera said. “We’ve gone from five wins in a row to three losses in a row, so things can turn around very quickly – one win and we can start a run. We need to pull out fingers out and perform to a better standard than what we did today.”
Balcatta made a positive start with Aleks Vrteski called upon after only a few minutes to keep out Patrick Quinn’s volley. However, it was at the other end that the opening goal arrived after 19 minutes when Micevski measured his run well to stroke a bobbling ball past Clint Davies from inside the area.
Attack was the flavour of the day and nine minutes later Balcatta drew level through Cameron Teece, who rose highest to powerfully head into the net. Both teams had their chances to enter the break in front, Gustavo Catarcione lobbing high of the crossbar before Andrija Jukic’s well-flight free-kick was just beyond substitute Scott Witschge.
Vrteski found himself in the thick of the action at the start of the second half, the Inglewood custodian saving from Steve Sokol after Catarcione hit the upright. But there was little Vrteski could do on 66 minutes when Sokol brought the ball down on his chest before lashing in on the turn.
Inglewood immediately set about finding a reply. Mohamed Awad went down inside the area but appeals for a penalty were dismissed and Brian Woodall placed straight at Davies after Witschge’s deflected effort came his way. Catarcione sealed the win by rolling into a net left vacant by Vrteski’s decision to join the attack for a late corner.
Match stats
Balcatta 3 (Cameron Teece 29, Steve Sokol 66, Gustavo Catarcione 88)
Inglewood United 1 (David Micevski 19)
Balcatta: Clint Davies, Hanafi Ghazali, Kieron Stallard, Aleks Suleski, Patrick Quinn, Steve Sokol, Kieran Colwell, Ross Diamond, Blamo Quaqua (Jackson Amosa 88), Cameron Teece (Adrian Caceres 67), Gustavo Catarcione
Inglewood United: Aleks Vrteski, Jason Colli, Jovo Pavlovic, Milan Ognjenovic (Rikki Smith 68), Jarrad McNally, Mohamed Awad, Tim Gould, Andrija Jukic (David Sesay 57), David Micevski, Kenny Keogh (Scott Witschge 32), Brian Woodall
Bookings: Stallard (3), Diamond (19), Witschge (37), Jukic (57), Pavlovic (64), McNally (86)
Dismissals: Nil
