NPL WA: Western Knights continue winning start to life in the top flight as Perth hit Inglewood for six

Newly-promoted Western Knights have continued their winning start to the NPL WA season as a 70-yard stunner from Jake Sardelic helped them to a 4-2 win over Floreat Athena.

Bayswater City and Perth Glory also extended their unbeaten starts with a win and a draw against Stirling Macedonia and Balcatta Etna respectively, while Perth SC put six past Inglewood United without response.

Perth RedStar were held to a 1-1 draw by Armadale, while Olympic Kingsway got back in the winner’s circle with a 2-0 win over Fremantle City.

At Nash Field, there were six goals after the break, which started when Ben Steele’s instinctive finish gave Athena a lead over the Knights shortly after half-time.

But roughly five minutes later, Sardelic’s clearance from defence caught the Mosman Park sea breeze and carried all the way to the penalty area, where it bounced over a despairing Jason Saladaris and found the net.

Albert Luwi and Kristian Santich then found the net for the hosts to give the Knights a 3-1 lead, and while Nick Ambrogio pulled one back for Floreat, Shay Donovan made the points safe late.

Ethan Books got the ball rolling for Perth on Friday night when he won possession high up the pitch before firing past the goalkeeper, and Abdul Osman’s header doubled their lead.

Toby Snook made it 3-0 after beating the offside trap before Banks ensured Perth would have a four-goal lead at the break, while Osman and Daniel Faichney added further goals after half-time to complete the rout.

Bayswater jumped to second on the ladder with their win over Stirling, as Jon Stynes was at the double late to snatch three points.

The attacker took advantage of a lack of a marker to deftly head home in the 86th minute, before firing home again three minutes late to seal victory.

The Glory also scored late in their draw against Balcatta, having taken the lead through a Royie Rahimim strike following an Etna mistake 15 minutes in.

But Johnathan Corness hit back from a corner not long afterwards, and then Hasani Sinclair’s header gave the hosts the lead before half-time.

It took until the 94th-minute for the Glory to draw level, but Sam Byrne was the hero when he turned home at the near post to earn his side a draw.

Perth RedStar are yet to hit their straps this season, but they took the lead when former A-League forward Joel Chianese scored from close range.

However, Pieter Jacobsz smashed home in the 96th-minute to rescue a point and a 1-1 draw for Armadale.

Fremantle headed to Kingsway unbeaten in their first two games, but after last week’s thrashing, Olympic responded positively and took the lead through a wicked Sasa Njegic strike.

And Kingsway’s quality came to the fore in the second-half when Joe Knowles’ inch-perfect chip found Liam Murray to steer home.

Every game of the 2024 NPL WA men’s and women’s season will be streamed live on Streamer.com.au.