Report by Tommy Doleman

Pictured: Greg Sharland in action. Photo: Football West News

Greg Sharland scored a dramatic late penalty as Inglewood United earned a first point of their PS4 NPLWA campaign in a 1-1 draw with Perth SC at Inglewood Stadium on Saturday.

Sharland, who announced his retirement during the week, stepped up and fired into the roof of the net after David Sesay was tripped in the area.

Perth looked set to open their season with back-to-back wins, as they weathered a late storm from the hosts after Andreas Theodosaides scored a peach from 20m.

But the final say went to Sharland against his former club and he was elated by the fairytale finish.

“There’s a lot of emotion after that,” he said. “I would have loved to go out with a win today, but I wouldn’t have it any other way really. It was really special out there.

“It’s a good opportunity for the young brigade to come through now and I’m glad to go out like this.”

This was a much-improved performance from Inglewood after last week’s 5-1 defeat to Cockburn with both goalkeepers in fine form throughout.

Ash Rosindale was frustrated twice in five minutes, firstly by a desperate block from Scott Blackmore, before Aleks Vrteski stuck out a hand to save his toe-poke.

But the best chances came just before half time as Alex Dunn smothered from David Micevski one-on-one, before Vrteski was down sharply to palm away Reece Vittiglia’s drive.

The deadlock was broken a minute after the break though, as Theodosaides ran through midfield unchallenged, before blasting brilliantly into the top corner from 20m.

Carlo Coelho came close to adding a second for Perth, when he side-footed onto the post, moments after coming off the bench.

Inglewood could have equalised 15 minutes before time when Abdul Sesay raced clear, but Rocco Pizzata did just enough on the cover and Sesay couldn’t hit the target.

And they got their reward for a sustained spell of pressure, when Sharland capped off a remarkable afternoon with a decisive penalty, before being shown a yellow card for leaping over the sideline fence to celebrate.

“It’s something Greg (Sharland) deserved after an outstanding career,” said Inglewood coach Michael Garcia.

“It was a surprise to us this week when it was announced, but it was definitely a worthy moment for him.”

Garcia also emphasised the importance of bouncing back with a positive result after last week’s heavy loss.

“I’m very pleased with the performance. There was definitely a turn-around after last week,” he said.

“The players were disappointed, but the season has only just begun and it may take time for the players to gel.

“Now we need to feed off the energy from today’s result. Bayswater are the benchmark, so it certainly doesn’t get any easier next week.”

Inglewood United 1 (Sharland 94min’ pen)
Perth SC 1 (Theodosaides 46mins’)
Saturday 4 April 2015
Inglewood Stadium
Local kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Matthew Cheeseman

Inglewood United:- GK: Aleks VRTESKI, 2. Rikki SMITH, 5. Scott BLACKMORE, 6. Matthew IZZO (21. Abdul SESAY 66’), 9. Ryan CLARKE, 10. Greg SHARLAND, 11. David SESAY, 13. Jovo PAVLOVIC, 18. Jason COLLI (8. Scott WITSCHE 61’), 22. David MICEVSKI (20. John THORNLEY 83’), 23. Andrija JUKIC.
Subs not used: 14. Jarrod MCNALLY, 25. Mitchell PAPAS.
Yellow cards: Sharland 94min
Red cards: Nil

Perth SC:- GK. Alex DUNN, 4. Calum O’CONNELL, 5. Dean EVANS, 6. Clark KELTIE, 10. Ash ROSINDALE (16. Nicholas AMBROGIO 87’), 11. Joshua WILKINS, 12. Marco SANTALUCIA, 13. Rocco PIZZATA, 14. Mark PRITCHARD, 17. Reece VITTIGLIA (7. Carlo COELHO 71’), 19. Andreas THEODOSIADES (8. Aden DA LUZ 77’).
Substitutes not used: 15. Jordan DE LEO, 24. Dom SAVOLDELLI.
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil